| The translation of the postcolonial Arabic novel into English and French is an interesting case in which cultural representation can be examined in a way to shed light on its diverse aspects and repercussions as well as explore the role of the translators, among other agents, in negotiating the cultural distance between Arab novelists and the target audience, namely the Western one. This thesis looks closely at the notions of assimilation and non assimilation. It aims at reviewing their function, effect and axiological value as well as reconsidering some common assumptions about translation and its representational dimension. A historicist and more inclusive approach is adopted so as to study the novels and (re)translations selected, to highlight the complexity of literary translation and to further explore the ways in which cultural traits, especially the situation of women, are rendered in the translated versions.;Moreover, this study offers a brief overview of the translation of Arabic literature into French and English from 1968 to 2004. It illustrates several aspects of the latter, including economic, (geo)political, literary and cultural factors. In addition, it presents an evaluation of relevant studies and analyses conducted on the translation of Arabic literature into these languages. An attempt is made to promote a different vision of this translation, one that is more favourable to the creation of diversified tastes for Arabic literary works and to greater convergence of the worldviews of Arab and Western cultures at a time when mutual understanding is crucial and the debate on the relations between Self and Other (the Arab and/or the Muslim) has proven increasingly relevant since the beginning of the third millennium. The ethics of the translation from Arabic into English and French is discussed not only in terms of the preservation or omission of cultural alterity, the effects of which are not necessarily predictable, but also according to the undeniable aesthetic issues raised by this activity. |
