Stylistics in Badawi’s English translation of Qindīl Umm Hāshim

Abstract

This study compares Yahya Haqqi’s Qindīl Umm Hāshim with Mahmoud Badawi's English translation, The Saint's Lamp, by analysing recurring shifts in style between the two editions. The major stylistic features used by Haqqi in Qindīl Umm Hāshim and translated into English by M. M. Badawi, are divided into three distinct categories: use of the historical present, use of passive voice, and the use of scenic mode of presentation. These stylistic features imbue the Arabic original with meaning; when the translation deviates from the original's style, the translation's meaning is distorted. This study analyses those deviations, concluding that the inadequacies of Badawi’s translation are due to not replicating the vividness and immediacy of the Arabic original, the passivity of characters, and the voice of the original speaking character. Thus, these shifts not only affect the dramatic structure of the novel but also change the reception of ideas and themes in the translation language.