Translating Arab Cuisine Into English: 101 Recipes
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University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Masters Theses Dissertations and Theses March 2018 Translating Arab Cuisine into English: 101 Recipes Paiman Salih University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2 Part of the Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons, and the Translation Studies Commons Recommended Citation Salih, Paiman, "Translating Arab Cuisine into English: 101 Recipes" (2018). Masters Theses. 614. https://doi.org/10.7275/10686524 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/614 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TRANSLATING ARAB CUISINE INTO ENGLISH: 101 RECIPES A Thesis Presented by PAIMAN M.A. SALIH Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS February 2018 Comparative Literature © Copyright by Paiman M.A. Salih 2018 All Rights Reserved Permission granted by Chef Osama El-Sayed for the translation of the selected recipes and the use of images from the original cookbooks. TRANSLATING ARAB CUISINE INTO ENGLISH: 101 RECIPES A Thesis Presented by PAIMAN M.A. SALIH Approved as to style and content by: _________________________________________________ Edwin Gentzler, Chair _________________________________________________ Moira Inghilleri, Member _________________________________________________ Nahla Khalil, Member _____________________________________________ Moira Inghilleri, Coparative Literature Program Director Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures _____________________________________________ William Moebius, Department Head Comparative Literature Program Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures DEDICATION I wholeheartedly dedicate this thesis to the most influential figures in my life, especially… To my best Arabic Chef of all times, Chef Osama El-Sayed for inspiring me beyond measures; To my dad and mom for their endless love, support and patience; To my sisters, Jeehan, Jwan, Bayan and Zina for their encouragement and motivation; To my brothers, Abdul Salam, Mohammed, and Ahmed for drawing a smile on my face whenever I would feel down – may you also be motivated to reach your dreams. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost I wish to express my warmest thanks and deepest gratitude to my advisor Edwin Gentzler for his incisive comments, deep insight and unfailing patience. It is through him that I was first introduced to the Translation Center and subsequently became interested in this field of Translation Studies. I will remain very much grateful to all those people who taught me during the qualifying year, namely, Julie Calendar Hayes, Mohammed Jiyad, and Cristiano Mazzei. I would also like to thank professor MJ Peterson from the department of Political Science and professor Florence Sullivan from the School of Education for the opportunity and encouragement to take their courses. I would like to extend my gratitude to professor Kathryn Lachman for giving me this opportunity to come back and finish this project. I would also like to express my deep appreciation and indebtedness to the members of my committee, Moira Inghilleri and Nahla Khalil, for their thoughtful and valuable comments on my project. I owe a great debt to my professors at the University of Iowa, Maureen Robertson, Aron Aji, Nataša Durovicová, Christopher Merrill, and Russell Scott Valentino for their endless support and efforts in providing me a smooth transference to this program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Without their assistance, I would never be able to accomplish my academic goals. I would also like to express my appreciation to the Fulbright and Amideast teams back in Iraq and here the United States. Special thanks are due to my Amideast advisors, Joseph Pearce and Ayad Zien who endured this long journey with me, offering assistance and guidance throughout the course of my Fulbright Scholarship. I am also thankful and indebted to all my friends and colleagues at the Translation Center who helped me in one way or another over the course of the study. Finally, heartfelt thanks also must go to my friends Amy Fagin, Wayne Hachey, Görkem Cılam, Tina Johnston, Nidal Kadim, Katherine Lundy, and Roja Omer who constantly and patiently encouraged and supported me throughout my study. Special thanks are also extended to my good friends Christian Renson and Gianni Notaro for their support and kind and understanding spirit during the last phase of my study. The friendships we developed will last a lifetime. v ABSTRACT TRANSLATING ARAB CUISINE INTO ENGLISH: 101 RECIPES FEBRUARY 2018 PAIMAN M.A. SALIH, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF MOSUL M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MOSUL M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Edwin Gentzler This thesis provides a practical translation of 101 Arabic recipes selected from three cookbooks by the distinguished Egyptian chef and author Osama El-Sayed, plus a long introduction discussing the history of Arab cuisine including cultural and linguistic factors and the translation strategies employed. The cookbooks are entitled Bil Hanna Wa Shiffa, (With Joy and Good Health) 2001; Maa Osama… Atyab, ‘With Osama, Food is more Delicious’1, 2007; and Al-Halawiyat Al-Sharqiy, (Sweets of Arabia) 2010. I argue that food plays a defining role in shaping a culture and its identity. In general, Arabic recipes have been translated and many gaps exist in terms of adequate cooking terms and processes in English. This study attempts to reduce cross-cultural barriers by translating recipes both well-known Arabic dishes as well as lesser known dishes that also represent values, customs, and traditions important to Arabic language and culture. The study adopts terminology from Venuti’s dichotomy in translation, “foreignization” vs. “domestication” and draws upon both depending upon the circumstances and availability of adequate terms and expressions in English. After following a blended translations vi strategy, results show that out of 101 recipes, 35 are fully domesticated, 15 fully foriegnized, 19 partially domesticated and partially foreignized, and 32 foreignized with domesticated translations also provided. The last factor in determining the final version was a process of taste-testing. Each step of the translated recipe carefully “proofed” to ensure the edibility and overall quality of the dishes, showing that anyone who can read English can prepare any of the translated texts even with a humble knowledge of cooking. 1 This title, ‘With Osama, Food is more Delicious’ is my own English translation of the Arabic original Maa Osama…Atyab. The two other books have been published with their English on the Chef Osama El-Sayed’s main website. More details can be found in the following chapters. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x CHAPTER 1. AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF ARAB CUISINE ............................................1 Venuti’s Strategies in Translation: Foreignization vs. Domestication .........................13 Language, Culture, and Identity in Food Translation ...................................................33 Home Cooking, Arab Cuisine, and the Role of Women...............................................40 2. ONE HUNDRED AND ONE ARABIC RECIPES AND THEIR TRANSLATIONS .............................................................................................................48 An Overview about the Recipes .......................................................................................48 Osama El-Sayed, The Arab World’s most Celebrated Chef ..........................................52 3. CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................62 APPENDICES 1. ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND ONE RECIPES…….67 2. THE ARABIC ORIGINAL TEXT OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND ONE RECIPES……………………………………………………………………………….245 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................... 369 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Text Analysis of the Recipe Titles by adopting Venuti’s dichotomy of Domestication vs. Foreignization ...............................................................................................................29 2. The Selection of the Recipes from Chef Osama’s Cookbooks ......................................56 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 1. Chef Osama El-Sayed ..................................................................................................... 52 Figure 2 Alharirah Soup................................................................................................................. 72 Figure 3: Whole Wheat Soup ........................................................................................................