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Full text release has been delayed at the author's request until November 30, 2024

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THE READER'S TURN: THE PACKAGING AND RECEPTION OF CONTEMPORARY ARABIC LITERATURE IN ARABIC AND IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Alzahrani, Mohammed Omar
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3245-4528
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1606425465610702

Abstract Details

2020, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Modern and Classical Language Studies.
Although the study of reception has not been ignored in the field of Translation Studies, the role of lay readers largely has been. Some of the reasons for this are practical; before the advent of the Internet, reader reaction could be gauged mostly through statistical analysis of books sales or library records. The Internet has made possible the collection of actual reviews by readers, which makes more nuanced, qualitative analysis of reader response feasible. The research possibilities represented by online reader reviews, however, have yet to be exploited in a systematic way. Hence, this research argues that it is time for the full integration of end-readers into reception studies of translated literature. This research aims to explore images and representations of the Arabs and their cultures transmitted to the West through translated Arabic literature. Previous studies have adopted positivist approaches, investigating how accurately the Arabs and their cultures were represented in the translations as well as what images are inserted in them. This research, informed by post-positivist approaches, explores not how the source culture and its images have been depicted and represented in translations, but how lay readers interpreted and constructed those images and representations after reading. To carry out the investigation, four case studies were selected for this corpus-based, corpus-driven study. The responses of readers in the form of online book reviews of original Arabic works and their translations were compiled for analysis using corpus tools. The analysis explored how each of these works was packaged and received in the source and target cultures.
Brian Baer (Advisor)
Judy Wakabayashi (Committee Member)
Kelly Washbourne (Committee Member)
M'Baye Babacar (Committee Member)
Andrew Barnes (Committee Member)
327 p.
Foreign Language; Linguistics; Literature; Middle Eastern Literature; Modern Language; Modern Literature; Sociology
reception theory, packaging, reviews, lay readers, imagology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Alzahrani, M. O. (2020). THE READER'S TURN: THE PACKAGING AND RECEPTION OF CONTEMPORARY ARABIC LITERATURE IN ARABIC AND IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1606425465610702

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Alzahrani, Mohammed. THE READER'S TURN: THE PACKAGING AND RECEPTION OF CONTEMPORARY ARABIC LITERATURE IN ARABIC AND IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION. 2020. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1606425465610702.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Alzahrani, Mohammed. "THE READER'S TURN: THE PACKAGING AND RECEPTION OF CONTEMPORARY ARABIC LITERATURE IN ARABIC AND IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1606425465610702

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1606425465610702
© 2020, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.