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ROGER ALLEN In celebration of Denys Johnson-Davies Denys Johnson-Davies was a pioneer in the project of translating works of modern Arabic literature into English and in the complex process of persuading publishers of the value of publishing such works in the Anglophone market. What is truly remarkable is that he has been doing it now for well over half a century.That is an achievement that deserves the warmest gratitude of students and teachers of Arabic everywhere. Modern Arabic Short Stories (1967) was the result of an enormous process of reading and sifting in order to find a group of characteristic, representative, and excellent examples of the short story genre culled from an increasingly vast output of collections across the breadth of the Arabic-speaking region. If I dwell on this 1967 collection, it is because – some forty years later – it is possible to gauge how prescient the choice of authors and stories was. It includes classic examples byYusuf Idris, Ghassan Kanafani, Fuad al-Takarli,Yusuf al-Sharuni,Tayeb Salih,Yahya Haqqi, Zakariyya Tamir, Layla Baalbaki, Naguib Mahfouz, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, and Mahmud Taymur, among others. In spite of the enormous variety in styles, techniques, and subject matter, Denys Johnson-Davies managed to produce an anthology in English which conveys to the reader the content and nuances of the original in a natural style, all these being characteristics of his translation mastery.The collection remains in print. Johnson-Davies has also compiled similar works devoted to single authors. His earliest, in the 1940s, was of course the anthology of stories by MahmudTaymur, but to it should be added other volumes for Tayeb Salih, Alifah Rifaat, Naguib Mahfouz, Buthaina al-Nasiri, Yahya Haqqi, Mohamed el-Bisatie, Yahya Taher Abdallah, Zakariyya Tamer, Said el-Kafrawy and Salwa Bakr. Whatever awareness there may be among an English readership of the riches presented by the 54 BANIPAL 43 – CELEBRATING DENYS JOHNSON-DAVIES
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modern Arabic short story tradition it is substantially due to the efforts of Denys Johnson-Davies during the latter half of the 20th century. Later, the sheer excellence of his translation of Season of Migration to the North byTayeb Salih . . . turned his English version into the one through which this novel has garnered such a world-wide reputation. This work remains for me the finest Arabic contribution to the worldwide tradition of the novel genre thus far, a verdict which would seem to find some corroboration in its “induction” a few years ago into the pantheon of Penguin World Classics. I finish this tribute then with expressions of admiration and gratitude: admiration for the role that Denys Johnson-Davies has played in bringing the riches of the Arabic literary tradition – particularly its modern one – to the attention of an Anglophone readership; gratitude as a member of that “younger” (albeit relatively younger) generation of Arabic literature students who began their careers grateful that . . . there were also those early and lively translations in English of short stories and novels. It has been indeed a remarkable career. Roger Allen is Emeritus Professor of Arabic & Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania, and a literary translator. P h o t o: sP a ol aCr o ci a ni Denys and Mahmoud al-Wardani . . . and with Bahaa Taher BANIPAL 43 – SPRING 2012 55

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ROGER ALLEN

In celebration of Denys Johnson-Davies

Denys Johnson-Davies was a pioneer in the project of translating works of modern Arabic literature into English and in the complex process of persuading publishers of the value of publishing such works in the Anglophone market. What is truly remarkable is that he has been doing it now for well over half a century.That is an achievement that deserves the warmest gratitude of students and teachers of Arabic everywhere.

Modern Arabic Short Stories (1967) was the result of an enormous process of reading and sifting in order to find a group of characteristic, representative, and excellent examples of the short story genre culled from an increasingly vast output of collections across the breadth of the Arabic-speaking region. If I dwell on this 1967 collection, it is because – some forty years later – it is possible to gauge how prescient the choice of authors and stories was. It includes classic examples byYusuf Idris, Ghassan Kanafani, Fuad al-Takarli,Yusuf al-Sharuni,Tayeb Salih,Yahya Haqqi, Zakariyya Tamir, Layla Baalbaki, Naguib Mahfouz, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, and Mahmud Taymur, among others. In spite of the enormous variety in styles, techniques, and subject matter, Denys Johnson-Davies managed to produce an anthology in English which conveys to the reader the content and nuances of the original in a natural style, all these being characteristics of his translation mastery.The collection remains in print.

Johnson-Davies has also compiled similar works devoted to single authors. His earliest, in the 1940s, was of course the anthology of stories by MahmudTaymur, but to it should be added other volumes for Tayeb Salih, Alifah Rifaat, Naguib Mahfouz, Buthaina al-Nasiri, Yahya Haqqi, Mohamed el-Bisatie, Yahya Taher Abdallah, Zakariyya Tamer, Said el-Kafrawy and Salwa Bakr. Whatever awareness there may be among an English readership of the riches presented by the

54 BANIPAL 43 – CELEBRATING DENYS JOHNSON-DAVIES

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