Translating Syrian Politics: Teaching Activities Based on Dima Wannous’s Writings

Contemporary Syrian literature is an interesting case study for both the translation of political discourse and the politics of translation. Many literary works describe the political context of the past decades, and some of them also cover the scenario after the 2011 uprisings. In terms of global circulation, some recent novels and memoirs have been translated into several languages and are read as an account from within, sometimes overlooking their aesthetic features. This chapter investigates the possibility of teaching the language of Syrian politics through the analysis and translation of the novel al-Khāʾifūn (2017; The Frightened Ones 2021) by Dima Wannous (Dīma Wannūs, b. 1982). This novel stages two conflicting political discourses: official slogans circulating in public spaces, such as schools and television, and the language of the demonstrations that breaks imposed silence. This battle over words reflects the resurgence of some identity-related divisions fuelled by sectarianism. These three axes of political discourse (slogans, oppositional discourse vs. imposed silence, and battle over words) are examined by looking at the character’s interiorization of politics, their lexical choices, and linguistic variation with a focus on the Alawite accent. Each topic is accompanied by a translation activity to train the students in searching secondary sources to understand the political references, foster debate on the relation between language and ideology, and experience translation as a creative process.