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Knowledge in Motion

Marwa S. Elshakry

Article offers inquiry into:


Problem of global circulation of modern
scientific knowledge
Science translations in modern Arabic
language is a key instruments in the
continuing process of:
Socio-political & epistemological
transformation and intrusion

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy


concerned with the nature, scope and
limitations of knowledge.
It addresses the questions:
What is knowledge?
How is knowledge acquired?
To what extent is it possible for a given
subject or entity to be known?

End of the 19th century


Dilemma of importing Western scientific
vocabulary into Arabic
Finding lexical i.e. verbal equivalents in
cross-lingual scientific discourse
Transliteration (conversion) of technical
terms created issues
Issues related to the intense, ongoing cultural
and political debate over language

These issues were played against the


background of colonial rule
Included were questions of:
Linguistic tradition
Cultural purity
Modernity
In a nutshell:
The problem of translation

Historians of science addressed all


problems related to the theory of science:
Its meanings, relationship to other
disciplines
Paid little attention to language as the
medium through which modern scientific
ideas travel
Ignored:
Actual process of translation
Its implications for the communication of
scientific thought

Historians of science overlooked translations


vital importance for the understanding of the
geography of knowledge
The way science travels across borders and
through time
The work was left to:
Philologist
Those who study words, their history and
Development in a particular language

Literary studies
Translation scholars

Most significantly, they took for granted that


science has a unified and coherent
universal language
A body of perfectly translatable conventions,
signs, and concepts
Marwa suggests:
Stop looking for a neutral scientific lingua franca
mother tongue
Focus on the practice of translation to discover how
and where local roots rest
How production of knowledge really matters

What does translation involve?


Extensive epistemological, authorial and literary
modifications
Texts are relocated:
Carrying across linguistic and conceptual
schemes and boundaries
Resolved by historical possibilities, geopolitical
and social change
All-inclusive engagements
Merging or fusion systems of belief
Translators can shift the meaning and reference
of the originals they work from

Translation is an open-end unspecified


process
Translators do not need to be always faithful
to the original text
Clarity is more essential
A legitimate equivalent remains an option
Refashion texts to make them accessible to a
different reader
Their audience might not have the same level
of knowledge as the original

Example:
Shibli Shumayyil a radical scientific
materialist
Translated essays on Darwin written by a
German scientist
Shumayyils was interested in conveying the
essence of Darwins new philosophy of
evolution and progress
His translation was not even based on the
original but on a later French edition

He employed frequent transliterations


for French terms
Helped the reader by using Arabic
explanations
His technique was most unorthodox
but it served his purpose:
Conveying the essence of important
ideas to his readers as quickly as
possible

This example illustrates:


Languages of scientific translations are
dynamic
Altered in the process of translation
Shumayyil was aware of difficulties of finding
equivalents in Arabic
Frequently translated a term in many ways
For clarity, he typically added an neologism
(slogan or saying) based on Arabic

Example:
The word paleontology
Study of prehistoric life or the science of excavations

Shumayyil transliterated it to al-baliyuntulujiya


For clarity he added:
(i.e.) ay `ilm al-ahafir
What he actually did was:
Highlight to the Arab reader the novelty of
this new science
Make it more clear through a familiar
paraphrase

Scientific terms might also have multiple


meanings and need to be portrayed in different
ways
Conclusion:
Words convey different shades of meaning
Carry different cultural and linguistic
associations
Translators choice might be a matter of
preference
As such, results were often contested

What were the criteria for acceptance or rejection of


certain words?
In 19th-20th centuries intense debate appeared
in al-mashriq al-`arabi about:
Correct linguistic derivations
Conformity to literary traditions
Unjustified foreign borrowings
Improper assimilations
Translated terms were continuously challenged
Formulated on basis of: rational, linguistic and
political concerns

Interest in modern science, technology, and


medicine
Was accompanied by linguist upheaval
Language wars over the reform of Arabic
Local press was the center for discussions raised
by the translations of science
Provided a public platform for debating the
nature of:
Cultural authority
Social change
Literary tradition

New Knowledge
Communities

Rifa'a al-Tahtawi 18011873


Writer, teacher, translator, Egyptologist and renaissance intellectual.

Among the first scholars to write about Western cultures


Attempts reconciliation between Islamic and Christian
civilizations
Founded School of Languages in 1835
Effective in development of science, law, literature and
Egyptology in 19th century Egypt.
His work influenced many later scholars including
Muhammad Abduh.
Jurist, religious scholar and liberal reformer, founder of Islamic
Modernism.
Regarded as the founder of the neo-Mu`tazilism
Islamic school of theology based on reason and rational thought

Tahtawi studied in France


Wrote: takhlis al-ibriz fi talkhis Bariz

The Extraction of Gold or an Overview of Paris,

A report on his trip to France


He deliberates on patriotic responsibility of
citizenship:
To protect one's country, is to accept
the changes that come with a modern
society

Tahtawi noted that in the West the word


(scholar)`alim refers to: a rational scientist
Has no religious connotations
By contrast alim (savant) among Arabs was first
and foremost a religious scholar
With modernity the status of the `ulama
changed
A new educated class emerged
Ready to engage in knew methods and
vocabulary of science

Printing Press a focal point in modernity


coined as revolution
Helped in formulating al-nahdah (Renaissance)
Created a wider class of readers
New pressure for language reform
Extensive translation
Newspapers outlined the community of knowledge
Their readers were neither the `ulama nor the
illiterate
They came from civil service, political or
professional elite.

Readers play a major role in:


Creating widespread socio-epistemological and
geo-political networks
Journalist were not all Egyptians
Cross-regional
Cross-confessional groups
The press mobilized an emerging professional
and political elite
Allowed them to take over both the new means
and the new discourses of knowledge
production

Readers transformed the notion of `ilm


and `ulama
ulama now refers to both:
Traditionally religious scholarly
class
Even when their prestige in 19th was waning

New Scientist class

Science, Knowledge and


Wisdom

The Lewis Affair:


al-ma`rifa, al-`ilm wa-al-hikma
Knowledge, Science and Wisdom

Is essentially a reflection on the nature and


limits of science
Testimony of the review of the categories of
knowledge in Arabic
Al-ma`rifa (knowledge) is not the same as `ilm
Not the same as al-hikma (wisdom)
`ilm is knowledge of things human
hikma is knowledge of things divine

What does Lewiss speech represent?


One case in the epistemological reorientation of the
word `ilm
In the Quran ilm refers to:
1) Human knowledge of definite things
2) In wider sense `ilm includes revealed and
acquired knowledge
3) `ilm is also equated with understanding and
obtaining perception and approval
(tasawur wa tasdiq )

4. Intuition (al-badihah )and believing


(i`tiqad bima huwa bihi )

Lewis did not taking the Quranic meaning


of ilm into consideration
He was following neo-Baconian "inductive
reasoning"
To generalize a finding based on accumulating data

`ilm is committed to both positive facts


and fundamental reasoning

Bacon suggested:
When you are trying to explain something
Draw up a list of all things when - what you are
studying - does happen
A list of things when it does not.
Rank both lists according to the degree in
which the phenomenon occurs in each one.
Then you should be able to deduce some
conclusions
Positivism

This new approach was reflected in the


translation of the Bible
Extensive lists of all words were prepared
Missionaries and natives assistants were
influenced by European styles
Deliberately moved from decorative style of
classical Arabic
Stressed on standardization and concise
expression
Compiled new and highly simplified Arabic
grammars

Editors of al-muqtataf - Sarruf & Nimr reported on the Lewis incident as did other
Arabic newspapers
They were part of the epistemological
revolution in the Arab lands
Goal: provide a prcis of latest scientific and
technical works published abroad
Their translations also included the Christian
commentary written by European scientists

The outcome of the Lewis affair disappointed


editors of al-Muqtataf
They rejected meddling of missionaries in the
questions of science
Promoted a new gospel of science
A sphere of inquiry and knowledge that is defined beyond
religious beliefs

In Egypt, they participated in more radical


rewriting categories of knowledge
As well as technological translation and
transmission

The Lexicon of Science


Includes all possible forms, meanings,
synonyms of a word

New discoveries require new terminology


Composing lexicons involves new conceptions
and styles
al-Muqtataf provided, transliterations,
neologisms (slogans, catchwords, proverbs) and
explanations
Provided a column entitled: mu`arrabat
Arabicizations; technical terms translated
from foreign languages
Popularized Tahtawis glossary commissioned
under Mohammad `Ali in 1833

Tahtawi encountered complexity of translating


scientific terms
He avoided word-for-word translations
Words that did not exist in Arabic were
transliterated i.e. Arabicizing
He added descriptive paraphrases
Example: Hydraulics fann al-miyah
(the art of liquid)

Added indexes with each entry


Aimed at a comprehensive Arabic scientific
dictionary

Sarruf and Nimr relied on transliteration


more than Tahtawi
They actually expanded the language
Often created words to represent or replace
foreign ones
They played off linguistic tensions
Searched for equivalences by creating
expressions that could be identified as both
foreign and domestic

All faced major problem with classical linguistic


rules
Root derivations ishtiqat compounding aht
or borrowing ta`rib
Preference was to the universal nature of
science
Often transmitting terminology wholesale

Their work was tightly linked to


the creation of:
Modern Arabic language
The move from the classical models
and linguistic traditions
At the core rested significant
political implications

The political Neologisms

In the challenge of scientific popularization,


al-muqataf shaped the way toward a radical
literary break with the past
Its readers were cross-regional and
cross-confessional
It aimed at a language easily read and
understood by all
We should write in a style the
learned will not despise,
the ignorant will understand

But this also had its problems

Many words created problems for translators


Translating Darwin proved problematic:
Darwinism was translated as:
Madhhab Darwin or al-Darwiniyya
Madhhab had different implications in the
Islamic shari`a
It refers primarily to one of the Orthodox
Schools of fiqh (Muslim Law)

The word Race was a problem


It cannot be translated as umma
Because umma is a concept meaning
community, peoples, and nation
Translators opted for:
al-anwa` al-bashariyya
Literarily: human kinds

Origin of the Species: asl al-anwa`



Literarily: source of varities

There is no word in Arabic for species


Some opted for:
al-tanawwu`at al-bashariyya

In Arabic the terms implies varieties
Is this what Darwin wanted?
Probably not

Evolution: various translation were used for


this word
Theory of Evolution and Progress translated by
Shummayil:
madhhab al-nushu wa-l-irtiqa

Others would use tatawwur relying on


the Quranic verse:
He created you in stages
The aim was always about making the
unfamiliar familiar

Sarruf and Nimr faced problems of a


different kind
Some of their readers claimed Darwins theory
was not original
That it was only a reformation of medieval
Arabic ideas

The editors of al-muqtataf focused on the


novelty, or modernity
Not the antiquity of contemporary scientific
concepts
When in a fix they used ancient Greek words
as a basis

In defense Jirji Zaydan wrote:


It is well known that the makings of our recent
scientific renaissance are derived, wholly or in part,
from the Europeans.

At the basis of such debates was politics of


neologism i.e. finding new words
Carrying foreign words wholesale mu`arabat
or ta`rib Arabicized created criticism
Some thought it was becoming
excessive

Accusations ran deep:


Corrupting the Arabic language
Ignoring the rules of classical language
Translators position:
Arabicized words were more familiar
Did not corrupt the language
This was the same problem of translation
from Greek in the earlier centuries
Therefore, we need no justification for our
actions

Concern with tradition raised the question of


linguistic change and canonical fidelity
Great debates ensued
The people of al-nahda liberal and openminded talked about the evolution of
languages
Evolution is a natural process
Some even listed Arabicized words in the
Quran

Others pointed out dangers of borrowing


It will distort the language
Make it into an cultural and political amalgam a
hybrid
The debate came at a time of growing antiimperial feelings
Even the question of origins of science itself
were put to question
Many looked back at the cultural history of the
Arabs and their contributions to western
civilization

Conclusions:
Some believed that language constantly
evolved through borrowing
Others, coined new terms on the basis of
old rules
In practice, translators often wavered
between alternative strategies
Similar to the politics of language and the
politics of science that shifted ground

The Peoples Prose


The Peoples Science

Debates about translation developed into


debates about fundamental issues of:
Style, aesthetics, taste and rhetorical tradition

Some believed the link between Arabic


language and the Quran is absolutely critical
language is tied to religion like the body is to the soul

19th Century classical style was under fire:


It was overly poeticized, complex and
cumbersome
Purpose was: more accessible style

The key achievement of the nahda was the


creation of new and concise prose
The press had a major role in this respect
They created a scientific form
Aim: transmission of useful knowledge
Clarity and communicability were
paramount

A new debate begins about spoken and


written Arabic
That the difference between East and
West in terms of scientific achievements
is due to:
The gulf between written and spoken
Arabic
It was considered a drawback

Sarruf and Nimr proposed three


solutions:
Replace Arabic by new language entirely
Rejected as distasteful
Written form replaced with colloquial
Politically undesirable it will fragment the
watan
Spoken dialects replaced by simplified
correct Arabic al-`arabiyya al-sahiha
The preferred solution

Preferred solution renders a great service to


the watan
Arabic language is more flexible than most
It will easily adapt to demands of new scientific
terminology through Arabicizations ta`rib
They called for a language academy to
monitor these developments
Such views were highly controversial and
elicited responses negative and positive

This issue rests at the heart of cultural


debate in the Arab world
Some called for a new and simplified Arab

lingua franca
This will be especially helpful in translating
technical terms for the lower classes
It will lead to popularization of knowledge
Some objected that it stressed social over
geographical inclusiveness

Others objected that the classical was already


an Arab lingua franca
Pointed to the Arab cultural heritage
The united character of literary Arabic
Importance of preserving its classical identity as
the language of Islam

Their anxieties were justified


Many foreigners were already promoting
the colloquial option
And Latin alphabet
As a means to Christianize the people

Foreign involvement elicited negative criticism


They aim to destroy the culture and fragment
the watan
Regardless, foreign writings left their impact
Most Arab intellectuals agreed the written
language needed to be simplified
A new concise style should be promoted
But must avoid fakh al-taqlid
(emancipation from imitation)

What was the role of translators?


Good translations were essentially reformist in
nature
Accepted on condition: they will uphold basic
architecture of classical Arabic
At the same time making its prose style more
supple
Goal: communicability, elegance and simplicity
Purists: criticized what they called lughat aljaraid (language of the press)

Science Standardized

The debates were actually about:


Who held the authority over language
How to make it uniform or
standardized
Reformists and Purists called for
linguistic supervision and
standardization
Suggested government institution to
oversee and reform Arabic prose

Royal Academy of Cairo


Established by king Fuad

Arabic Academy in Damascus


al-majma` al-`ilmi al-`Arabi
Established by Emir Faysal

Underlying the anxiety of purists and


some intellectuals
The radical reforms introduced by
Mustafa Kamal Ataturk

The goal of the academies was to revive and


enhance the language
Simplify prose and grammar especially in
schools
Problems remained
Members of the academies differed on the
language question
Debates among them slowed the process

New terms were subject to criticism and scrutiny


Some opted for ishtiqat
(extension of root tri-lateral forms)

Others opted for ta`rib


(Arabicize)

Cairo Academy created new terms


Example:

Sayyarah for automobile


(root sayyara moved)

Hatif for telephone


(root hatafa call)

Miqyas al-harara for thermometer


(root qasa: measure; harr: heat)

This type of transliteration was scorned by those who


felt: it was a losing battle.
Salamah Musa
An influential science supporter, radical materialist, and socialist
mocked their clumsy alternatives

The nation needs useful books on the subject of the:


utumubil (car) tilifun (telephone) and radyufun (radio)
It does not need to be told that these are actually called:
sayyarah, misra, and midhya`

Words must serve the needs of society, in close


contact with social evolution, or become useless

Government interference in the


academies led to stalemate
Purists appointed as part of a broad
political strategy
Failed to recognize that language was a
matter of usage and convention
Not only a matter of standardization and
elite decision making

Influence of journalism and print


capitalism outmaneuver official
attempts
They argued:
Neither `ulama can be replaced by
appointed committee men
Nor the pace and direction of
linguistic change can be determined
by government mandate

Knowledge in Motion

Marwa cites Isma`il Mazhar


A progressive Egyptian liberal thinker
One of the pioneers of contemporary scientific renaissance in
Egypt and the Arab world
One of the pioneers of thought, science and translation

Transliteration comes from the notion that


language of science is universal
It remains foreign to Arabic
Create a proper scientific language in Arabic
which is well equipped for such a task
He died before realizing the dream of an
Arab scientific dictionary

Colonialism had a great impact on


translators
They were provoked by the status of
science as a Western import
Language of modern science was,
therefore, treated as highly
contested, ambiguous and often
arbitrary

Impact of imperialism
Rapid sociological
Political fragmentation that came in its
aftermath
All led to an intense and deeply political
debate over the language question.
Efforts to assess and standardize
terminology
Failed to satisfy the requirements of the
elite or even public opinion

Marwa ends her article:


Message of historian of science:
The focus on translation throws light on:
The multinational scopes of knowledge
production
Active and critical role of language in shaping
the ways in which scientific ideas traveled
In translation rests:
Major cause of transformations and
compromises involved, as scientific knowledge
travels across borders

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