1.Introduction

Ferguson (1996 [1959]Ferguson, Charles A. 1996  Sociolinguistic Perspectives: Papers on Language in Society, 1959–1994 . New York: Oxford University Press. , 435) defines the phenomenon of diglossia as “a relatively stable language situation in which, in addition to the primary dialects of the language (which may include a standard or regional standards), there is a very divergent, highly codified (often grammatically more complex) superposed variety, the vehicle of a large and respected body of written literature”. In the Arabic sociolinguistic context, Standard Arabic (fuṣḥā) functions as the standardized High variety that carries a lot of prestige as “the language of the Koran and the Islamic heritage, the language of a rich literary tradition, and as a marker of pan-Arab identity” (Daniëls 2018Daniëls, Helge 2018 “Diglossia: A Language Ideological Approach.” Pragmatics 28 (2): 185–216. ., 198). Colloquial Arabic (ʿāmmiyya) serves as the non-standardized Low variety that refers to diverse dialects spoken across the Arab world. The complexity of the Arab diglossic situation resides in the observation that the High variety “has no native speakers” (Saiegh-Haddad 2017Saiegh-Haddad, Elinor 2017 “Learning to Read Arabic.” In Learning to Read across Languages and Writing Systems , edited by Ludo Verhoeven, and Charles Perfetti, 104–126. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , 127). Yet, fuṣḥā is a mutually intelligible code and a source of unity among Arabs and Muslims, whereas ʿāmmiyya is “linked to eras of Arab division, disunity, and weakness” (Albirini 2011Albirini, Abdulkafi 2011 “The Sociolinguistic Functions of Codeswitching Between Standard Arabic and Dialectal Arabic.” Language in Society 40 (5): 537–62. , 557). It is thus hardly surprising that Arabic diglossia remains a source of conflict and tension among traditionalists, modernists, Islamists, secularists, and nationalists. The dynamic interplay between the two varieties manifests in the phenomenon of codeswitching that operates as a regularization mechanism through which two codes index sociolinguistic functions of varying prestige, importance, complexity, and seriousness — “a High code dedicated to important, serious, and sophisticated functions, and a Low code assigned to less important, less serious, and accessible issues” (Albirini 2011Albirini, Abdulkafi 2011 “The Sociolinguistic Functions of Codeswitching Between Standard Arabic and Dialectal Arabic.” Language in Society 40 (5): 537–62. , 555). This conceptualization foregrounds the functional, rather than the contextual, nature of codeswitching between the two varieties.

In Egypt, there has been a longstanding tension between the proponents of fuṣḥā and Egyptian Arabic, a non-standard variety of ʿāmmiyya mainly used in oral communication. While many spoken varieties of ʿāmmiyya are used in multiple cities and villages across Egypt, some dialects carry more prestige than others. The symbolic capital attached to Cairene Arabic, the dialect of the capital city and center of power, “is much greater than that associated with other regional dialects spoken in Egypt, especially in the south” (Hanna 2019Hanna, Sameh 2019 “When Jesus Speaks Colloquial Egyptian Arabic: An Incarnational Understanding of Translation.” Religion 49 (3): 364–87. ., 371). Small wonder, then, that speakers of other dialects feel the need to switch to Cairene Arabic in their conversations in order to advance their social standing. That being the case, several attempts have been made to standardize ʿāmmiyya through the creation of a national literary heritage in Egypt. In the early twentieth century, Egyptian modernizers, most notably Aḥmad Luṭfī al-Sayyid (1872–1963), “established it as an aim of the nation to effect a rapprochement between the colloquial as the language of the speech and the standard as the language of writing” (Suleiman 2003Suleiman, Yasir 2003  The Arabic Language and National Identity: A Study in Ideology . Washington: Georgetown University Press., 173). While much ink has been spilled debating the link between language ideologies and nationalism in Egypt, treatments of the role of translators in resisting the orthodoxy of fuṣḥā are rare.

This article contributes to the debate on Arabic diglossia and language standardization from below by examining the role of translation in the struggle to standardize and imbue ʿāmmiyya with legitimacy as a medium of literary expression and a national language in Egypt. To that end, it uses as a case study a recent wave of translations of literary classics into ʿāmmiyya between 2018 and 2023. Egyptian YouTuber Hīktūr Fahmī translated Le Petit Prince ‘The Little Prince’ (1943) and L’Étranger ‘The Stranger’ (1942) into ʿāmmiyya in 2018 and 2022, respectively. In 2023, Egyptian writer Majdī ʿAbd al-Hādī made a third attempt along these lines with his translation of The Old Man and the Sea (1952). The three translations triggered fierce criticism, not only because they deviated from the standardized practice of using fuṣḥā in literary translation but also because the translators used designations, such as ‘the Egyptian language’ and ‘the Egyptian fuṣḥā’, to describe the target language.

Drawing on Haugen’s (1966)Haugen, Einar 1966  Language Conflict and Language Planning: The Case of Modern Norwegian . Cambridge: Harvard University Press. model of language standardization, this study examines the sociolinguistic and cultural factors that influenced the production and reception of the translations. In so doing, it argues that the translations were undertaken not only on literary but also on nationalistic and feminist grounds. The translators negotiated the norms of the literary field, where literariness has been coded by fuṣḥā, by conceptualizing Cairene Arabic as a separate diglossic language with its own intrinsic grammaticality and orthographic rules. The processes of codification and elaboration occurred simultaneously through diffusing folk linguistic views in the paratexts of translated works from different literary genres, as well as through media interviews and social media platforms. The new wave of translations deserves particular attention because they came as part of a large-scale project supported by a feminist publisher and coincided with growing state support for literary writing in ʿāmmiyya. More specifically, the translations were published by Elles, a Cairo-based publisher that describes itself as the first feminist publishing house in Egypt. The link between feminism and the production of the translations will become clear in due course. In what follows, I briefly introduce Haugen’s model and the study’s corpus.

2.Haugen’s model of linguistic standardization as a methodological approach

This study’s methodology derives from Haugen’s (1966Haugen, Einar 1966  Language Conflict and Language Planning: The Case of Modern Norwegian . Cambridge: Harvard University Press. , 933) model of linguistic standardization, which includes four major components of development: (1) “selection of a norm, (2) codification of form, (3) elaboration of function, and (4) acceptance by the community”. The first two phases relate to the form of the variety, whereas the subsequent two phases pertain to its purpose or function. Codification refers to “the form of a language, i.e., its linguistic structure, including phonology, grammar, and lexicon” (1966Haugen, Einar 1966  Language Conflict and Language Planning: The Case of Modern Norwegian . Cambridge: Harvard University Press. , 931). Elaboration describes the process by which a language variety is employed in a wider range of situations, leading to an increase in its social status. The aim is to legitimize the selected standard variety through “utilization in writing” (1966Haugen, Einar 1966  Language Conflict and Language Planning: The Case of Modern Norwegian . Cambridge: Harvard University Press. , 931). The fourth phase pertains to acceptance “even by a small but influential group” (1966Haugen, Einar 1966  Language Conflict and Language Planning: The Case of Modern Norwegian . Cambridge: Harvard University Press. , 931). As will be argued, explaining the four processes of language standardization in terms of linear reasoning does not do justice to their complexity and entanglement. Understanding this complexity can be achieved when language standardization is grounded in a deep understanding of the historical and social aspects of the four processes.

Besides the translations, the study draws on a corpus of epitextual material, such as media interviews with the translators, publisher, and literary critics. Paratext as a term was coined by Genette (1997Genette, Gérard 1997  Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , xviii) to refer to those liminal materials, both within (peritext) or outside (epitext) the book, that mediate it for the reader. These interviews offer insights into the rationale behind the production of the translations and their reception in Egypt. The fact that the translators and publisher felt the need to address multiple media outlets bolsters the observation that “when publishers take the risk of publishing literary works in ʿāmmiyya, they strive to justify this move to the reader in different ways” (Hanna 2016Hanna, Sameh 2016  Bourdieu in Translation Studies: The Socio-Cultural Dynamics of Shakespeare Translation in Egypt . London: Routledge. , 171). The analysis of epitextual material goes hand in hand with examining the translations’ peritexts, such as prefaces, covers, and blurbs. The peritextual elements play a crucial role in influencing the reception of a text since the broader public relies heavily on them to generate an opinion about the text without even delving into the actual content. Referring to this point, Tahir Gürçaglar notes that translators draw on paratexts to “bridge translated texts with their readers and therefore shape their reception in a major way” (2011Tahir Gürçaglar, Şehnaz 2011 “Paratexts.” In Handbook of Translation Studies , ed. by Yves Gambier, and Luc van Doorslaer, 2:113–16. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. , 113). Numerous newspapers included the translations’ blurbs and cover pages in their articles in order to shape the public’s perception of the translations (e.g. Muṣtafā 2022Muṣtafā, Īhāb 2022 “Hīktūr Fahmī Yuwaḍiḥ ʾasbāb tarjamatuh li-riwāyat al-gharīb bi-al-‘āmmiyya al-Maṣriyya [Hīktūr Fahmī explains the reasons for his translation of the novel ‘The Stranger’ into the Egyptian vernacular].” al-Dostor. Available at: https://​www​.dostor​.org​/3686874 (Accessed 13 August 2023).; Al-Saʿīd 2023Al-Saʿīd, Usāmah 2023 “Tarjamat riwāyat Hemingway ‘al-‘ajūz wa-al-baḥr’ ilā al-‘āmmiyya al-miṣriyya tuthīru jadalan [Translating Hemingway’s novel ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ into the Egyptian vernacular causes controversy].” Asharq Al-Awsat. Available at: www​.aawsat​.com​/home​/article​/4085751​/ترجمة​-رواية​-هيمنغواي​-«العجوز​-والبحر»​-إلى​-العامية​-المصرية​-تثير​-جدلاً (accessed 29 November 2023).). Notwithstanding the significance of paratexts, they should not be taken at face value because they only show how translations are presented rather than how they are (Tahir Gürçaglar 2011Tahir Gürçaglar, Şehnaz 2011 “Paratexts.” In Handbook of Translation Studies , ed. by Yves Gambier, and Luc van Doorslaer, 2:113–16. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. , 115). Researchers, according to this view, should treat paratexts as “complementary devices” and should not abandon textual analysis (2011Tahir Gürçaglar, Şehnaz 2011 “Paratexts.” In Handbook of Translation Studies , ed. by Yves Gambier, and Luc van Doorslaer, 2:113–16. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. , 115). Some of the significant textual features are analyzed to support the theoretical arguments of the study. Before examining the translations, it is necessary to situate them within the historical context that led to a recent upsurge in colloquial literature and translations.

3. Fuṣḥā and ʿāmmiyya in Post-Arab Spring Egypt

Language planning involves the recognition of two distinct categories of agency: governmental and non-governmental (Klöter 2020Klöter, Henning 2020 “One Legacy, Two Legislations: Language Policies on the Two Sides of the Taiwan Strait.” In Language Diversity in the Sinophone World: Historical Trajectories, Language Planning, and Multilingual Practices, ed. by Henning Klöte, and Mårten Söderblom Saarela, 101–121. New York: Routledge. , 103–104). The past decade has witnessed dramatic transformations in the political scene in Egypt. In his early days in office, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who became Egypt’s de facto leader in July 2013, called for Al-Azhar, an Islamic mosque-university founded in Cairo in 972, to undertake reforms and modernize religious discourse (Bano and Benadi 2018Bano, Masooda, and Hanane Benadi 2018 “Regulating Religious Authority for Political Gains: Al-Sisi’s Manipulation of al-Azhar in Egypt.” Third World Quarterly 39 (8): 1604–21. ., 1615). Central to the modernization of religious discourse is the employment of modern forms of expression. In 2021, the Supreme Administrative Court set nine principles to modernize religious discourse, including “the use of the internet’s language because it is the language of the age with which to guide societies to truth, justice, and peace” (ʿAbd al-Hādī 2021ʿAbd al-Hādī, Aḥmad 2021 “Al-ʾidāriyyah al-ʿulyā tuḥadid 9 ʾaliyat li-tajdīd al-khiṭāb al-dīnī ... taʿaraf ʿalayhā [The ‘Supreme Administrative Court’ identifies nine mechanisms for renewing religious discourse... Learn them].” Youm7. Available at: https://​www​.youm7​.com​/story​/2021​/8​/5​/الإدارية​-العليا​-تحدد​-9​-آليات​-لتجديد​-الخطاب​-الدينى​-تعرف​-عليها​/5413158 (accessed 18 October 2023).). More telling is the fifth principle that calls for renewing and promoting religious discourse in several languages, in keeping with the universal message of Islam. In response to these modernization calls, the Academy of the Arabic Language, established in 1934 to develop and regulate the Arabic language in Egypt, organized a seminar entitled ‘Renewal of Religious Discourse’ in 2018. The Academy also launched the project of tafṣīḥ al-ʿāmmiyya ‘the fuṣḥā-ization of ʿāmmiyya’ to bridge the gap between fuṣḥā and ʿāmmiyya by regularly authorizing the use of many vernacular expressions (Aḥmad 2022Aḥmad, ʿAbd al-Raḥman 2022 “Baynahā al-faskbakah wa al-ʾistiʿbāṭ .. kalimāt ‘āmmīyah wa ʾAjnabiyyah ʾAjāzahā mujamaʿ al-lugha al-Arabiyyah bi maṣr ʾAthārat al-jadal [Including ‘al-faskbakah’ and ‘al-ʾistiʿbāṭ’... Colloquial and foreign words approved by the Academy of Arabic Language in Egypt sparked controversy].” Al Jazeera. Available at: www​.aljazeera​.net​/misc​/2022​/11​/1​/بين​-الفسبكة​-والاستعباط​-كلمات​-عامية (accessed 16 September 2023).).

This shift in language politics can be further glimpsed in the publishing of multiple literary works and translations in ʿāmmiyya over the past decade. The publication of Fahmī’s translation of L’Étranger coincided with the release of the vernacular-written novel Bil-khitm al-kīnī ‘With the Kenyan Seal’ by the Egyptian novelist Shīrīn Hilāl in 2022. The publication of the novel by the state-owned General Book Authority indicates clear state support for the production of literary works in ʿāmmiyya after long years of reluctance. A watershed was crossed in the history of the recognition of ʿāmmiyya as a literary language when two novels won the Sawiris Cultural Award in 2019: al-Mawlūdah ‘The Newborn’, written entirely in ʿāmmiyya by Nadia Kamel, and Misk al-Tall ‘Musk of the Hill’, written in a combination of fuṣḥā and ʿāmmiyya by Sahar El-Mougy. Against this backdrop, it becomes evident that the translations emerged from a sociopolitical context marked by a growing literary activity in ʿāmmiyya. An important corollary is that the translations benefited from the increasing acceptance of ʿāmmiyya at the official and non-official levels.

While these literary works play a crucial role in legitimizing ʿāmmiyya, they do not antagonize the gatekeepers of linguistic propriety for two reasons. First, such works do not explicitly aim to overthrow fuṣḥā as the dominant form of literary expression. Second, there is a growing trend in novels to pragmatically utilize ʿāmmiyya as a functional resource for writing dialogues, with the aim of replicating the language commonly used in everyday conversations and signifying the social status of different characters. Notable examples of novelists combining fuṣḥā and ʿāmmiyya in their writing include Yūsuf Idrīs and Aḥmad Murād. The inclusion of ʿāmmiyya in novels is justifiable since it enhances their potential for adaptation for the screen or stage. Conversely, translation does not allow for such flexibility in the pragmatic distribution of language variety use, mainly because translators are expected to reproduce the register of the source text and conform to the norms of the receiving context. In his sharp criticism of Fahmī’s translation of L’Étranger, Salāḥ Faḍl, president of the Academy of the Arabic Language, claims that “translating the French novel into ʿāmmiyya is inappropriate and detrimental to the integrity of the creative work, for the translation deviates from the original formulation in the standard or literary language” (al-Sayyid 2022Al-Sayyid, ʾAmānī 2022 “Ba‘da jadal ‘al-gharīb’.. Hal taṣluḥ al-‘āmmiyya li-tarjamat klāsīkiyyāt al-adab al-‘ālamī? [After the controversy surrounding ‘The Stranger’... Is the vernacular suitable for translating the classics of world literature?].” Asharq News. Available at: https://​asharq​.com​/ar​/6Vy3lG2OcmCAT7mZyakQsf​-بعد​-جدل​-الغريب​-هل​-تصلح​-العامية​-لترجمة/ (Accessed 14 March 2023).). Here, Faḍl refers to literariness as the norm governing both the source and target cultures. He contends that ʿāmmiyya can be employed in specific literary genres such as poetry, which gains more significance when sung due to its artistic nature.

What makes the problem even more complex is that the translators selected literary masterpieces written by winners of Nobel laureates and presented their translations as being articulated in the Egyptian language, capable of meeting all linguistic needs. They did more than just translate: they attempted to create a standard through discussing matters of vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation. Furthermore, the translations highlight the need to end diglossia in Egypt and enrich the stock of ʿāmmiyya resources by borrowing words and grammatical forms from foreign languages. Unlike the original literary works, the translators and publisher take a revolutionary path by evoking the discourses of Egyptian nationalism and feminism. Delisle and Woodsworth (2012Delisle, Jean, and Judith Woodsworth eds. 2012 “Translators and the Development of National Languages.” In Translators through History , Rev. ed. Benjamins Translation Library (BTL) 101. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. , 54) note that “through their association with great projects of religious reform or nationalism — or both of these causes — translators played a significant role in the development of receiving cultures, and in the genesis of language itself”. All these factors contributed to the broad influence that the translations have enjoyed.

4.Selection: Negotiating the norms of the literary field

5.Codification

6.Elaboration: The turn to print culture

The processes of codification and elaboration are interconnected and inseparable, as can be inferred from the diffusion of the linguistic features of the selected norm through the translation of diverse literary texts from different genres, ranging from children’s literature to philosophical writings. The focus on literature might be explained by the observation that “it is mainly the standard written language which is used for literature, laws, formal institutional documentation which imbues the written form with prestige and often also makes it emblematic of the nation-state” (Ayres-Bennett and Bellamy 2021Ayres-Bennett, Wendy, and John Bellamy 2021 “Introduction.” In The Cambridge Handbook of Language Standardization , ed. by Wendy Ayres-Bennett, and John Bellamy, 1–24. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , 4). The three translations underline the need to create a literary heritage in the Egyptian language. Fahmī intended his translation to enhance the written literary heritage in the Egyptian language, with the goal of achieving a level of richness and diversity comparable to the oral literary heritage (Camus 2022Camus, Albert 2022 Al-Gharīb [The Stranger]. Translated by Hīktūr Fahmī. Cairo: Elles., 7). Similarly, ʿAbd al-Hādī emphasized that his translation aimed to “create a legacy in fiction in the language of the people, similar to the evolution that occurred in poetry” (Al-Saʿīd 2023Al-Saʿīd, Usāmah 2023 “Tarjamat riwāyat Hemingway ‘al-‘ajūz wa-al-baḥr’ ilā al-‘āmmiyya al-miṣriyya tuthīru jadalan [Translating Hemingway’s novel ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ into the Egyptian vernacular causes controversy].” Asharq Al-Awsat. Available at: www​.aawsat​.com​/home​/article​/4085751​/ترجمة​-رواية​-هيمنغواي​-«العجوز​-والبحر»​-إلى​-العامية​-المصرية​-تثير​-جدلاً (accessed 29 November 2023).).

The selection of canonical texts written by Nobel laureates is strategic in the process of elaboration, for it shows the translators’ awareness of their target social groups as well as their determination to dispute the belief that ʿāmmiyya is inadequate for translating works of high culture. The front cover of ʿAbd al-Hādī’’s translation carries the Nobel medal awarded to Hemingway in 1954. In this regard, the prominent novelist ʿIzat al-Qamḥāwī described the recent trend of translating world literature into ʿāmmiyya as “a decline in the cultural level”, pointing out that fuṣḥā “accommodates all forms of expression and creativity” (Al-Saʿīd 2023Al-Saʿīd, Usāmah 2023 “Tarjamat riwāyat Hemingway ‘al-‘ajūz wa-al-baḥr’ ilā al-‘āmmiyya al-miṣriyya tuthīru jadalan [Translating Hemingway’s novel ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ into the Egyptian vernacular causes controversy].” Asharq Al-Awsat. Available at: www​.aawsat​.com​/home​/article​/4085751​/ترجمة​-رواية​-هيمنغواي​-«العجوز​-والبحر»​-إلى​-العامية​-المصرية​-تثير​-جدلاً (accessed 29 November 2023).). These criticisms are laden with class references, with fuṣḥa being associated with high culture and ʿāmmiyya with low culture.

The aspect of elaboration explains why Fahmī’s translation of L’Étranger received a disproportionate share of criticism compared to his translation of Le Petit Prince. The latter is classified as children’s literature in the Arab world, whereas the former is viewed as a philosophical work that explores absurdism and hence requires a high register of fuṣḥā. Equally important, the Amiri Press, the publisher of the first edition of Fahmī’s translation of Le Petit Prince, labeled it as a translation in “al-lahja al-ʿāmmiyya” (the vernacular) on the front cover (Saint-Exupéry 2018Saint-Exupéry, Antoine 2018 Al-amīr al-Saghīr [Le Petit Prince]. Translated by Hīktūr Fahmī. Cairo: Amiri Press.). Small wonder, then, that this particular edition did not attract criticism and that it was “a best-seller” at the 2019 session of the Cairo International Book Fair (Muṣtafā 2022Muṣtafā, Īhāb 2022 “Hīktūr Fahmī Yuwaḍiḥ ʾasbāb tarjamatuh li-riwāyat al-gharīb bi-al-‘āmmiyya al-Maṣriyya [Hīktūr Fahmī explains the reasons for his translation of the novel ‘The Stranger’ into the Egyptian vernacular].” al-Dostor. Available at: https://​www​.dostor​.org​/3686874 (Accessed 13 August 2023).). This point becomes more salient when relating it to Fahmī’s reasoning in the preface to his translation of L’Étranger, wherein he suggests that it would have been logical for him to translate another children’s book in order to replicate the success of his translation of Le Petit Prince (Camus 2022Camus, Albert 2022 Al-Gharīb [The Stranger]. Translated by Hīktūr Fahmī. Cairo: Elles., 5). In referring to children’s literature, he uses the Arabic term ḥadūtat aṭfāl (a children’s tale) that implies a sense of orality. It should be noted that translation for children in the Arab world is “governed by the same rules that govern writing for them” (Mdallel 2003). The translation adheres to some dominant norms, such as favoring international children’s classics that focus on adventure and imagination, while also upholding the tradition of story-telling through appropriate style and register (Mdallel 2003). Challenging the restriction of ʿāmmiyya to children’s literature, Fahmī retranslated L’Étranger to demonstrate that the success of his translation of Le Petit Prince was neither a coincidence nor a result of the book’s simple style. He advances the view that “while the Egyptian language can be used to narrate a children’s tale, it can also convey the complexity and philosophical underpinnings of L’Étranger” (Camus 2022Camus, Albert 2022 Al-Gharīb [The Stranger]. Translated by Hīktūr Fahmī. Cairo: Elles., 5).

The significance of legitimizing ʿāmmiyya in print culture can be further explained in light of what Haeri (2003)Haeri, Niloofar 2003  Sacred Language, Ordinary People: Dilemmas of Culture and Politics in Egypt . New York: Palgrave Macmillan. calls “text regulators” in newspapers and publishing houses in Egypt. The term refers to those whose responsibility is to check manuscripts for adherence to the guidelines of fuṣḥa before publication (2003Haeri, Niloofar 2003  Sacred Language, Ordinary People: Dilemmas of Culture and Politics in Egypt . New York: Palgrave Macmillan. , 55). She observes that text regulators employ diverse resources, including dictionaries, grammar handbooks and Qur’anic concordances, in the course of their work. In their interviews with Egyptian and regional newspapers, the translators and the publisher sought to neutralize the role of text regulators by insisting on publishing their answers in ʿāmmiyya (Al-Saʿīd 2023Al-Saʿīd, Usāmah 2023 “Tarjamat riwāyat Hemingway ‘al-‘ajūz wa-al-baḥr’ ilā al-‘āmmiyya al-miṣriyya tuthīru jadalan [Translating Hemingway’s novel ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ into the Egyptian vernacular causes controversy].” Asharq Al-Awsat. Available at: www​.aawsat​.com​/home​/article​/4085751​/ترجمة​-رواية​-هيمنغواي​-«العجوز​-والبحر»​-إلى​-العامية​-المصرية​-تثير​-جدلاً (accessed 29 November 2023).). In so doing, they attempted to expand the range and importance of ʿāmmiyya as a print language. The unfavorable reactions from the literary establishment and newspapers are understandable when we consider that the calls for replacing fuṣḥa with ‘āmmiyya could result in a re-hierarchization of dominant positions held by the proponents of fuṣḥa within the fields of literature and journalism.

As part of extending the applicability of the selected norm to multiple contexts, Fahmī actively promotes the Egyptian language by posting mass-mediated translations of short stories from French into Arabic on his Facebook page ‘The World in Egyptian’ and YouTube channel. The main objective of this endeavor is to reveal the potential of the Egyptian language for literary expression. It follows that the emergence of social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube as sites of elaboration is challenging traditional notions of language standardization, which mostly focus on written communication. It is telling that the translators posted excerpts from their translations on their personal Facebook profiles, which garnered reactions from the public and press. In 2020, the podcast website Bilmasri ‘In the Egyptian’, which adapts texts into Egyptian Arabic and targets mainly the overseas Egyptian community, dedicated a whole episode to reading chapters from Fahmī’s translation of Le Petit Prince.

Of particular note is the participation of the Egyptian diaspora in promoting the Egyptian language, as demonstrated by the fact that both Fahmī and ʿAbd al-Hādī are residents in France and England, respectively, and that the podcast website Bilmasri is run by Egyptian immigrants. As immigrants, the translators faced a barrage of criticisms and defamation. For example, Salāḥ Faḍl, president of the Academy of the Arabic Language, stated that “these actions [the translations] are solely perpetrated by individuals who have experienced a growing sense of detachment from their homeland, resulting in a disconnection of their moral compass and a subsequent immersion in a state of delusion” (al-Sayyid 2022Al-Sayyid, ʾAmānī 2022 “Ba‘da jadal ‘al-gharīb’.. Hal taṣluḥ al-‘āmmiyya li-tarjamat klāsīkiyyāt al-adab al-‘ālamī? [After the controversy surrounding ‘The Stranger’... Is the vernacular suitable for translating the classics of world literature?].” Asharq News. Available at: https://​asharq​.com​/ar​/6Vy3lG2OcmCAT7mZyakQsf​-بعد​-جدل​-الغريب​-هل​-تصلح​-العامية​-لترجمة/ (Accessed 14 March 2023).). However, it can be argued that their status as immigrants perhaps shielded them from legal action and heightened their resolve to challenge the gatekeepers of linguistic standards. The utilization of profane language makes the translations vulnerable to censorship because of their undermining effect on “public morality” (Najjar 2001Najjar, Fauzi M. 2001 “Book Banning in Contemporary Egypt.” The Muslim World 91 (3–4): 399–424. , 12). The absence of reactions from the censorship authorities over the translations may also attest to the state’s growing tolerance towards ‘āmmiyya in literary production.

7.Acceptance by the community: ‘Āmmīyya as a feminist counterforce to fuṣḥā

The phase of acceptance implies the spread of the selected norm “from above” and “from below” (Kristiansen 2019Kristiansen, Tore 2019 “Language Standardization.” In Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science , ed. by Jeroen Darquennes, Joseph C. Salmons, and Wim Vandenbussche, 384–97. Berlin: De Gruyter., 390). As indicated earlier, the translations coincided with a significant surge in literary works written in ʿāmmiyya, which received support from state-owned cultural institutions. The production of the translations shows forms of acceptance from below. Besides acceptance by members of the community of the Egyptian diaspora, the publisher makes a case for the endorsement of Cairene Arabic as the norm by the community of Egyptian urban women. A prominent feature of the new wave of translations is the rise of publishers who actively support and promote ʿāmmiyya. Elles is known for its publication and translation of literary works authored by women. According to the publisher’s mission, as stated on their website, feminism can transform power relations within Egyptian society by resisting patriarchal and masculine writings.

The publisher has enlisted several male figures to support its language-centered ethical view of feminism. Perhaps nothing exemplifies this orientation than the fact that the director of Elles is a man. Little wonder then that male translators have coalesced around the publisher and that their choice of literary works written by men did not provoke any concerns. Director Mūsā, in his statements to the press regarding the controversy over the translation of L’Étranger, expressed his belief that social stratification has led to inferior attitudes towards ʿāmmiyya that constitutes a distinct layer of the Egyptian language (Rāmī 2022Rāmī, ʿAbd Allāh 2022 “Tarjamat riwāyat “al-gharīb” lil-‘āmmiyya: mawqif īdyūlūjī am ḥāja lil-tajrīb? | kāmū ‘al-miṣr’ yujaddid al-ḥarb bayna al-fuṣḥā wa-al-‘āmmiyya [Is translating the novel ‘The Stranger’ into the vernacular an ideological position or a need for experimentation? | Camus ‘The Egyptian’ renews the war between classical and colloquial].” Al-akhbar. Available at: https://​al​-akhbar​.com​/Literature​_Arts​/328403 (accessed 23 February 2023).). Consequently, the publisher considers fuṣḥa to be patriarchal. Mūsā further contends that the Egyptian language employed by Fahmī uses a higher register than ʿāmmiyya, and that only the elite class speaks fuṣḥa. These statements establish a dichotomy between fuṣḥa-masculinity-elite and ʿāmmiyya-femininity-common folk in society. The publisher’s website exclusively features content written in ʿāmmiyya, which might be linked to their patriarchal view of fuṣḥa and their efforts to elaborate the use of Cairene Arabic in diverse contexts.

Ample evidence suggests that Cairene Arabic serves as a strong marker of the in-group identity of Egyptian urban women. Haeri (2000)Haeri, Niloofar 2000 “Form and Ideology: Arabic Sociolinguistics and Beyond.” Annual Review of Anthropology 29: 61–87. notes that women attach far less importance to fuṣḥa as a marker of religious and Arab identity. The translators’ determination to neutralize the role of text regulators and publish their media interviews in ʿāmmiyya can be better explained by Haeri’s assertion that individuals from marginalized groups in Egypt, such as women and Christians, are seldom given the opportunity to assume this role, which explains the predominance of male Muslims among text regulators (Haeri 2003Haeri, Niloofar 2003  Sacred Language, Ordinary People: Dilemmas of Culture and Politics in Egypt . New York: Palgrave Macmillan. , 65). The feminist publisher’s investment in the publication of vernacular translations might also be attributed to the fact that novelists and poets writing in ʿāmmiyya, most notably Bayram al-Tūnīsī (1893–1961), have been recognized for their advocacy of women’s rights (Faḍl 2019Faḍl, Salāḥ 2019 Shu‘arā’ al-‘Āmmiyya: Min al-Sūq Ilā al-Mataḥaf [Vernacular Poets from the Market to the Museum]. Cairo: Al-Dār Al Maṣriyya Al Lubnāniyya.). The same holds for the translators. Fahmī’s YouTube videos on relationships take a feminist stance, evident in his criticism of philanderers, who are expected to show respect towards their female partners and refrain from infidelity.

While the publisher admitted that the translations of L’Étranger and The Old Man and the Sea did not generate a substantial profit, they are adamant about continuing to produce colloquial translations “out of their intellectual and moral commitment” (Al-Saʿīd 2023Al-Saʿīd, Usāmah 2023 “Tarjamat riwāyat Hemingway ‘al-‘ajūz wa-al-baḥr’ ilā al-‘āmmiyya al-miṣriyya tuthīru jadalan [Translating Hemingway’s novel ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ into the Egyptian vernacular causes controversy].” Asharq Al-Awsat. Available at: www​.aawsat​.com​/home​/article​/4085751​/ترجمة​-رواية​-هيمنغواي​-«العجوز​-والبحر»​-إلى​-العامية​-المصرية​-تثير​-جدلاً (accessed 29 November 2023).). The motivation behind the ongoing efforts to publish translations in ‘āmmiyya can be understood in reference to Bourdieu’s (1996Bourdieu, Pierre 1996  The Rules of Art: Genesis and Structure of the Literary Field . Translated by Susan Emanuel. Stanford: Stanford University Press. , 227) argument that “to produce effects is already to exist in a field, even if these effects are mere reactions of resistance or exclusion”. Similarly, Hanna (2016Hanna, Sameh 2016  Bourdieu in Translation Studies: The Socio-Cultural Dynamics of Shakespeare Translation in Egypt . London: Routledge. , 167) notes that “in modern Egypt, fuṣḥa continues to occupy a position of authority in the socio-cultural space with instances of challenge from ‘āmmiyya”. The fact that the two translations did not turn a profit lends credence to the argument that “publishing in ‘āmmiyya is financially unrewarding, because it means that the much larger number of consumers in the Arab world are sacrificed for a limited literary market in Egypt” (Hanna 2016Hanna, Sameh 2016  Bourdieu in Translation Studies: The Socio-Cultural Dynamics of Shakespeare Translation in Egypt . London: Routledge. , 170–171). Hence, the case can be made that the constraint of symbolic achievement overpowered that of economic power in the struggle to transform power relations within the literary field.

8.Conclusions

This study has investigated the sociolinguistic factors that influenced the production and reception of three vernacular translations of literary classics: Le Petit Prince, L’Étranger and The Old Man and the Sea. It has shown a struggle to imbue ‘āmmiyya with recognition as a national and literary language. The heated controversy over the new wave of translations was not triggered in the main by the use of ʿāmmiyya, but because of the translators’ attempts to codify and inscribe ʿāmmiyya with recognition as a separate language. By challenging the norm that high literary works should be written in fuṣḥa, the producers of the translations aimed to contribute to constructing a field of fiction in what they call ‘the Egyptian language’ that operates independently with its own norms. In the process, they set themselves the task of creating a written literary heritage in this language. The producers utilized Nobel Prize-winning classics as valued symbolic resources to increase the social distinction of the Egyptian language in the literary field.

The publisher and translators sought to establish ʿāmmiyya as a print language by conceptualizing it as a diglossic language with its own high and low varieties. To that end, the translations served as sites of folk linguistics, where the translators and publisher attempted to codify the Egyptian language in a prescriptive manner. The folk linguistic attitudes instigated strong, unfavorable reactions from critics, newspapers, and publishers in Egypt and across the Arab world. The unfavorable reception from literary critics and readers exemplifies counter-nationalist politics that resist the homogenization of Egyptian society by promoting a Cairene-based national culture. The findings confirm those in previous studies that the language ideologies of fuṣḥā and ʿāmmiyya “are maintained in the postcolonial climate through discourses on the purity of classical Arabic, on the linguistic corruption of the dialects, and on the increasing use of English as a symbol of Western capitalism and modernity” (Stadlbauer 2010Stadlbauer, Susanne 2010 “Language Ideologies in the Arabic Diglossia of Egypt.” Colorado Research in Linguistics 22 (June). , 1). A key pattern of incorporating loanwords from French, Spanish, and English into the Arabic language has been identified.

Haugen’s model of language standardization offers useful methodological tools to describe the various phases of standardization. The analysis has revealed that these phases do not occur in a sequential manner, as demonstrated by the observation that the publisher relied on the presumed acceptance of ʿāmmiyya by urban Egyptian women, even before selecting a specific variety of ʿāmmiyya for standardization. Codification and elaboration occurred simultaneously through the diffusion of folk linguistic views in the paratexts of translated works from different genres, as well as promoting the codified norm in media interviews and social media. That being the case, a relational understanding of the phases of standardization could benefit from taking as a starting point the wider sociocultural context in which the standardization process takes place.

Overall, the study has brought to the fore the ideological significance of the new project of translations in the so-called Egyptian language. This project is likely to gain traction over the coming years, considering that the publisher claims a moral duty to advocate feminism in Egypt and the Arab world. Still, it is too soon to measure the real impact of the increasing wave of vernacular translations. Currently, such translations are well under way, with a vernacular translation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm by ʿAbd al-Hādī to be published soon.