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PAUL STARKEY Putting modern Arabic writing on the map It has become something of a cliché to describe Denys JohnsonDavies as the pioneer, or doyen, of translators of modern Arabic literature into English. Any glance at a list of his translations will, of course, show that, with a series of publications covering more than twenty-five volumes and spanning over sixty years, all such descriptions are beyond dispute. It is no exaggeration to say that it was almost entirely through his pioneering efforts, not least through his establishment of the much missed Heinemann Arab Authors series, that modern Arabic writing in English translation was originally put on the map.At the same time, through his varied and unconventional life, Denys Johnson-Davies has belied the traditional image of the ‘invisible’ translator. His memoir Memories in Translation: A Life between the Lines of Arabic Literature (2006) not only provides a colourful account of the jsoys and perils of attempting to master Arabic at English universities around the time of the Second World War, but also offers fascinating glimpses of some of the authors whose works he subsequently translated, including, among many others,Tayeb Salih, Naguib Mahfouz and Edwar al-Kharrat. Less well known, perhaps, is his book of original stories, Fate of a Prisoner (1999), which with its varied and often exotic settings and themes reveals a talent for original story-telling that stretches well beyond the traditional attributes of a translator. Denys JohnsonDavies will remain a truly unique figure in the field of translation from Arabic; his achievement can never be repeated, but all of us who have attempted to follow – however hesitantly – in his path will remain forever in his debt. Paul Starkey is Professor of Arabic at Durham University UK, and a literary translator. 60 BANIPAL 43 – CELEBRATING DENYS JOHNSON-DAVIES
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HUMPHREY DAVIES He made me a translator D enys Johnson-Davies made me a translator.Which is to say that he intervened in my life on two occasions (even though in one case he was totally unaware that he had done so) in such a way as to make me change its direction.The first was when I read his translation of the collection of short stories by Alifa Rifaat titled View of a Distant Minaret. Despite a recently completed undergraduate training in Arabic that had included a laborious introduction to a few modern classics, when I read Rifaat I was unconvinced, in my callow way, that modern Arabic literature could speak to a different readership. But here was the real thing – stories that excited, stories that made one think “Yes! It can be done!” The second time was when I first met Denys a few years later. I was a travelling publisher’s rep in the Middle East and Denys, hearing that I’d studied Arabic simply assumed that of course I would translate – and provided me with notes of introduction to all his writer friends in Beirut, where I was bound. I didn’t contact any of them and it was perhaps twenty years before Denys’ sublime confidence bore fruit, but the seed had been planted. I owe him much. Humphrey Davies is an award-winning literary translator BANIPAL 43 – SPRING 2012 61

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PAUL STARKEY

Putting modern Arabic writing on the map

It has become something of a cliché to describe Denys JohnsonDavies as the pioneer, or doyen, of translators of modern Arabic literature into English. Any glance at a list of his translations will, of course, show that, with a series of publications covering more than twenty-five volumes and spanning over sixty years, all such descriptions are beyond dispute. It is no exaggeration to say that it was almost entirely through his pioneering efforts, not least through his establishment of the much missed Heinemann Arab Authors series, that modern Arabic writing in English translation was originally put on the map.At the same time, through his varied and unconventional life, Denys Johnson-Davies has belied the traditional image of the ‘invisible’ translator. His memoir Memories in Translation: A Life between the Lines of Arabic Literature (2006) not only provides a colourful account of the jsoys and perils of attempting to master Arabic at English universities around the time of the Second World War, but also offers fascinating glimpses of some of the authors whose works he subsequently translated, including, among many others,Tayeb Salih, Naguib Mahfouz and Edwar al-Kharrat.

Less well known, perhaps, is his book of original stories, Fate of a Prisoner (1999), which with its varied and often exotic settings and themes reveals a talent for original story-telling that stretches well beyond the traditional attributes of a translator. Denys JohnsonDavies will remain a truly unique figure in the field of translation from Arabic; his achievement can never be repeated, but all of us who have attempted to follow – however hesitantly – in his path will remain forever in his debt.

Paul Starkey is Professor of Arabic at Durham University UK,

and a literary translator.

60 BANIPAL 43 – CELEBRATING DENYS JOHNSON-DAVIES

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