Literature Basics

L. 1
Prof. Ashraf B. Fahmi, PhD
0100 56 91 784
www.Ashrafahmy.com
Ashrafahmy Literature Basics L. 1
Lecture One

 Why does a translator study literature?

• The importance of studying literature is that it allows the translator
to get acquainted with the culture of the SL (source language) and
the TL (target language) through getting familiar with
representative literary works.
• Literature can be considered a mirror of life/culture and/or thought.
• Whether oral or written, literature has language as its medium.
• Since the language of the text is the material and tool used by the
translator, the knowledge of literature, which uses language as a
tool, is indispensable to a translator.
• The knowledge of literature increases a translator’s linguistic
competence.

‫األدب يمكن اعتباره مرآة الثقافة و لما يجرى في حياة البشر؛ فالعمل األدبي يصور حياة الشعوب‬

‫أو خيالها وتفكيرها سواء كان األدب مكتوبا أو شفهيا— فالعمل الشفوي يمكن تدوينه باعتباره نوع‬

‫ لذلك البد‬- ‫أدبي و المثال على ذلك تدوين القصائد الشعرية و العروض المسرحية كأعمال أدبية‬

‫للمترجم من أن يدرس بعض النصوص األدبية المكتوبة باللغة التي يترجم منها و كذلك النصوص‬

.‫المكتوبة باللغة التي يترجم إليها؛ فدراسة األدب تساعد على اكتساب اللغة و اثراءها‬

The Literary Genres are:

• The novel and the short story
• Drama (plays)
• Poetry (poems)
Prof. Ashraf B. Fahmi, PhD
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Ashrafahmy Literature Basics L. 1
The Novel and the Short Story
Both the novel and the short story are genres meant to be read (not oral
literature like poetry – not performed like drama).
We can listen to the recital of a poem or read it, we can watch a play or
read it; but we MUST read a novel or a short story: we cannot listen to a
novel or watch it unless it is changed into a totally different genre by being
made a film or a play. The same goes for the short story.
A novel is a narrative and a short story depends on narration
so, what is the difference?
The difference is in length and focus.
A novel is much longer than a short story;
a novel may fall into 400 pages while a short story may not exceed 4000
words.
A short story has a point of focus, dealing with one character, idea, symbol,
or more.
“Old Man at the Bridge”, by E. Hemingway deals with the atrocities of
war by portraying an old man leaving his home at the time of war and all
that concerns him is the fate of three helpless animals (a cat, a goat and a
dove) after he leaves. The 3 animals are symbols that show the reader the
effect of war on helpless human beings.
Notice that the punctuation used in English is a sign:
the title of a short story is written between inverted commas
but the title of a novel is underlined.
A long poem and a drama have their titles underlined
while a short poem or a lyric have their titles between inverted commas.

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Ashrafahmy Literature Basics L. 1
A novel does not have a point of focus, for it usually deals with main
themes (ideas) and sub themes and it usually portrays many characters
and symbols or images.
Types of narrative include
the autobiographical novel,
the historical novel,
the narrative poem.
A novel can include dialogue
but drama never uses narration.
Drama can be poetic drama and can include songs or verse.
A novel can include a lyric or a song as well. It usually includes description
of characters and places.
The events in a novel can be narrated in a chronological order i.e.
according to time sequence (event 1, event 2, event 3,.) or the author may
use flashback as a technique, i.e. reversed order (event 5, event 1, events 2,
3,4)
‫الحظ أن ترجمة كلمة رواية‬

novel
‫و ترجمة كلمة قصة قصيرة‬

Short story
‫أما ترجمة كلمة سيرة‬

biography
‫ولكن ترجمة كلمة سيرة ذاتية‬

autobiography
‫أما ترجمة كلمة بيان السيرة التي يقدمها الشخص عند اإللتحاق مثال بوظيفة‬

Curriculum Vitae or CV
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Ashrafahmy Literature Basics L. 1
What is drama/ a play?
A play is mainly written to be performed=acted out in front of audience.
Drama started as improvisation ‫ارتجال‬but later on roles or parts were

written down to be memorized by actors/actresses who played their parts

in front of others.
The basic formal element in a play is DIALOGUE and it is meant to be
understood at once.
What is a poem?
A poem can be recited in front of audience, like drama, or read by the
readers, like a novel.
What distinguishes a poem from a play or a novel is its musicality.
Music can take the form of rhyme, rhythm or other technical features.
However, the only element that is found in all kinds of poetry and that
distinguishes the lines from poetry from any lines is RHYTHM.
Both English and Arabic poetry have rhythm
but rhythm in English poetry is different from rhythm in Arabic poetry
because each language has a different system of sounds.
rhythm ‫الوزن فى الشعر مرتبط بالتفعيلة و هذا ما يسمى‬

rhyme ‫أما القافية فترتبط بنهاية الصوت المنطوق فى كل كلمة وهذا يسمى‬

EXAMPLES:
The words book, took, look (rhyme words.)
There is rhyme in burn, turn
:‫الكلمات اآلتية لها قافية واحدة‬
‫ ماضى‬-‫ قاضى‬-‫ فاضى‬- ‫راضى‬

‫ باكر‬-‫ سافر‬-‫ماهر‬

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Ashrafahmy Literature Basics L. 1
Application One
Write whether the following statements are True or False and correct false ones:

1. A novel should not exceed 5000 words.

2. The title of a short story must be underlined.
3. Dialogue is a basic element in drama.
4. A poem is distinguished from any kind of writing by rhythm.
5. The words “leave” and “live” rhyme.
6. A poem must be written down.
7. A novel is a narrative.
8. A novel can make use of dialogue.

9. Chronological order means arrangement according to time order.

10. A short story has a point of focus.

Answers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Prof. Ashraf B. Fahmi, PhD

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