Ideology, Media and Conflict in Political Discourse and Its Translation During the Arab Spring

290 Pages·2016·4.45 MB·English

Ideology, Media and Conflict in Political Discourse and Its
Translation During the Arab Spring: Syria as a Case Study

School of Languages, Cultures and Societies
University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy

By
Husam Haj Omar
Supervised by Professor James Dickins
Co-Supervised by Professor Jeremy Munday

June 2016
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DECLARATION AND STATEMENT OF COPYRIGHT

The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has
been given where reference has been made to the work of others.

This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no
quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement.

© 2016 The University of Leeds and Husam Haj Omar

The right of Husam Haj Omar to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by
him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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DEDICATION

To the martyrs of the Syrian Revolution; to the thousands of tortured detainees; to
the millions of displaced families and refugees, know that your sacrifices have not
been in vain.

To the martyrs of the Arab Spring, you will always be remembered.

To my father, and my mother, thank you for everything.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Praise is due to almighty Allah whose compassion and mercifulness has allowed me to
complete this Ph.D. thesis.
I offer my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor, Professor James Dickins, who has supported
me throughout my thesis with his patience and knowledge whilst allowing me the room to
work in my own way. He has helped me through extremely difficult times over the course of
the analysis and the writing of the thesis and for that I sincerely thank him for his confidence
in me. I attribute the level of my Ph.D. degree to his encouragement and effort and without
him this thesis, too, would not have been completed or written. One simply could not wish
for a better or friendlier supervisor.
I would also like to thank my co-supervisor Professor Jeremy Munday. The door to his
office was always open whenever I ran into a trouble spot or had a question about my
research or writing. He consistently allowed this thesis to be my own work, but steered me
in the right the direction especially in the first stages of the writing process.
I would additionally like to thank Dr. Sameh F. Hanna for his advice in the data analysis
process that has led to this document. His knowledge and understanding of the subject has
allowed me to fully express the concepts behind this research.
I am thankful to Karen Priestley, Education Service Officer, who has offered her kind
support and guidance throughout the Ph.D. journey. She has greatly facilitated all
administrative work related to this research.
I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my parents, Jihad and Baraeh, my sisters,
Lama and Nada, and my brother Muhammad Nour without whose love, support and
understanding I could never have completed this doctoral degree. I owe my deepest gratitude
and love to them for their dedication and the many years of support during my
undergraduate and postgraduate studies that provided the foundation for this work. My
parents made me the person I am now. To them I will always be in debt.
Last but not the least, my words of gratitude go to my cousin Adnan Haj Omar, and dear
friends, Momen Kanadil, Maher Turifi, Abdullah al-Anezi, Sara Tahboub, Dania Issa and
the rest of my friends, who have supported me during my Ph.D. studies, and encouraged me
to strive towards my goal. I would like to thank Susan Barber and her lovely family who
have been very kind to me during my stay and studies in the UK.
Without the help of the above and many others whom I cannot mention in one page, the
writing of this thesis would not have been possible.

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ABSTRACT

Translation, although often invisible in the field of politics, is actually an integral
part of political activity. Which texts get translated, from and into which
languages is itself already a political decision.
(Schäffner and Bassnett, 2010: 13)
Translation has recently shifted its focus from the notions of originality and equivalence to
those of power and patronage. This has proven essential, especially in relation to the
translation of political discourse. Samuel Butler maintains that every person’s production,
whether literature, music, pictures, architecture, or anything else, is a portrait of themselves.
Translation is no exception. The translator’s role is no longer perceived as a transparent means
of communication that is expected to relay the exact message of the original producer of the
discourse. This thesis will view translation as a rewriting of the original text, recognising the
translator as an author who modifies and changes the ST according to his or her ideology,
political stand, or general interests. The translator is also foremost a reader who brings his or
her own judgments, imposing them upon the text, perhaps reshaping the entire political
discourse. Media outlets employ certain strategies and techniques to superimpose the media
outlet’s agenda and objectives onto translations, promoting certain ideological convictions and
political views.
This thesis examines the relationship between a number of issues in relation to ideology,
media, political discourse, language, and translation. Illustrative examples are extracted from
the political discourse communicated during the Arab Spring. It uses Critical Discourse
Analysis and narrative theory as a theoretical framework. It also aims to detect political tools
and strategies often used in political discourse production and media discourse to analyse the
data circulated on the Arab Spring. It seeks to look for the ideological influence of both
translator and patronage on the outcome of the translation process. The data used for analysis
in this thesis is taken from the political discourse communicated during the Arab Spring, in
particular the Syrian revolution. The data corpus consists of translated interviews, political
articles, and political speeches. Examples of revolutionary discourse produced by protesters
are also included, alongside their translations. This is a qualitative study that lists and analyses
representative samples of the translated political discourse, drawing conclusions and findings
conclusions that apply to most of the data found in the context of the Arab Spring.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION AND STATEMENT OF COPYRIGHT ..................................................... 2
DEDICATION ......................................................................................................................... 3
ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................. 5
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... 10
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 13
A Background to the Study ................................................................................................ 13
Research Scope and Statement of the Problem .................................................................. 15
Research Questions ............................................................................................................ 16
Significance of the Research .............................................................................................. 17
Methodology and Data ....................................................................................................... 17
Thesis Structure ................................................................................................................. 19
Significance of the Structure .............................................................................................. 21
CHAPTER ONE: THE STORY OF THE ARAB SPRING .................................................. 24
1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 24
1.2 Democracy in the Arab World before the Arab Spring ......................................... 25
1.2.1 Democracy in Arab Thought .......................................................................... 25
1.2.2 Reasons for the Absence of Democracy in the Arab World .......................... 27
1.2.3 Arab Civil Society and Democratisation........................................................ 28
1.2.4 The Oppressive State and Human Rights in the Arab World ........................ 31
1.2.5 State and Political Opposition in the Arab World .......................................... 32
1.2.6 Full versus Liberalised Autocracy ................................................................. 34
1.2.7 Democratisation and the Arab-Israeli Conflict .............................................. 36
1.2.8 Islam, Islamism, and Democracy ................................................................... 36
1.3 Towards an Arab Spring ........................................................................................ 40
1.3.1 Lack of Political Reform ................................................................................ 40
1.3.2 Socio-Economic Decline ................................................................................ 42
1.3.3 The Media Revolution ................................................................................... 43
1.4 The People Demands the Overthrow of the Regime .............................................. 46
1.4.1 Tunisia: The Jasmine Revolution ................................................................... 46
1.4.2 Egypt: The January 25th Revolution ............................................................... 48
1.4.3 Yemen: The Youth Revolution ...................................................................... 51
1.4.4 Libya: The February 17th Revolution ............................................................. 53
1.4.5 Syria: The March 15th Revolution .................................................................. 56
1.5 Thinking the Arab Spring ...................................................................................... 59
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1.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 63
CHAPTER TWO: THE ARAB SPRING: LANGUAGE INTO ACTION ........................... 65
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 65
2.2 Speaking as Stance-Taking at Time of Revolution ................................................ 65
2.3 Mass Protest Mobilising Discourse ........................................................................ 69
2.4 Online Discourse .................................................................................................... 71
2.5 The History of Prominent Slogans of the Arab Revolutions ................................. 75
2.6 Chanting as Action ................................................................................................. 77
2.7 Revolutionary Humour .......................................................................................... 80
2.8 Counter-Revolutionary Discourse .......................................................................... 85
2.9 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 87
CHAPTER THRHEE: POLITICAL DISCOURSE: ANALYSIS AND TRANSLATION .. 88
3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 88
3.2 Political Discourse ................................................................................................. 88
3.2.1 Text and Discourse......................................................................................... 89
3.2.2 Politics and Political Discourse ...................................................................... 90
3.2.3 Features and Strategies of Political Discourse ............................................... 94
3.2.4 Genres and Types of Political Discourse ....................................................... 98
3.2.5 Revolutionary Discourse .............................................................................. 100
3.3 Political Discourse Analysis ................................................................................ 103
3.3.1 Political Tools .............................................................................................. 103
3.3.2 Critical Analysis of Political Discourse ....................................................... 108
3.4 Political Discourse Analysis and Translation ...................................................... 112
3.4.1 Translation of Politics .................................................................................. 112
3.4.2 Translation of Political Discourse at Macro-Level: Translation-Oriented Text
Typology ..................................................................................................................... 114
3.4.3 Translation of Political Discourse at Micro-Level ....................................... 117
3.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 120
CHAPTER FOUR: IDEOLOGY AND TRANSLATION .................................................. 122
4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 122
4.2 Ideology in Discourse .......................................................................................... 122
4.2.1 Concept of Ideology ..................................................................................... 123
4.2.2 Ideology and Politics .................................................................................... 125
4.2.3 Ideology and Language: Ideological Discourse ........................................... 126
4.2.4 Ideological Discourse Analysis and Structures ............................................ 129
4.3 Ideology in Translation ........................................................................................ 136
4.3.1 The Influence of Ideology on the translator as a Reader ............................. 136
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4.3.2 The Influence of Ideology on the Translator as a Re-Writer ....................... 138
4.3.3 Ideology, Patronage, and Translation........................................................... 141
4.3.4 Translation and Manipulation: Illustrative Examples .................................. 143
4.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 148
CHAPTER FIVE: MEDIA AND TRANSLATION ............................................................ 149
5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 149
5.2 Media and Politics: Media Discourse .................................................................. 149
5.3 Ideological Strategies in Media Discourse ........................................................... 152
5.4 Ideological Devices in Media Discourse ............................................................. 154
5.5 Media and Translation ......................................................................................... 157
5.6 Stages of News Translation.................................................................................. 160
5.7 News Translation Strategies................................................................................. 163
5.8 Translation Strategies for Ideological Conflict .................................................... 166
5.9 Tools of Manipulation: Hyperbole, Understatement and Framing ...................... 168
5.10 Newsroom Translation and Interpreting .............................................................. 170
5.11 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 172
CHAPTER SIX: TRANSLATION AND NARRATION OF CONFLICT ......................... 173
6.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 173
6.2 A Narrative Approach .......................................................................................... 173
6.3 A Narrative Typology Model ............................................................................... 179
6.4 Features of narrativity .......................................................................................... 183
6.5 Framing Narratives in Translation ....................................................................... 187
6.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 190
CHAPTER SEVEN: DATA ANALYSIS: SYRIA AS A CASE STUDY .......................... 191
7.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 191
7.2 Data and Selection Criteria .................................................................................. 192
7.3 Political Data Analysis: Translator’s Standpoints................................................ 193
7.4 Ideological Data Analysis: Translator’s Role and Patronage............................... 207
7.5 Media Discourse Analysis: Strategies and Techniques Used by Media Outlets .. 218
7.6 Narrative Analysis: Manifestations of Conflicting Narratives ............................. 229
7.7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 245
CHAPTER EIGHT: FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS ................................................... 247
8.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 247
8.2 General Summary of the Study ............................................................................ 247
8.3 Results and Findings ............................................................................................ 248
8.3.1 Language into Action: Main Findings ......................................................... 248
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8.3.2 Political Discourse Analysis and Translation: Main Findings ..................... 250
8.3.3 Ideology and Translation: Main Findings .................................................... 253
8.3.4 Media and Translation: Main Findings ........................................................ 254
8.3.5 Translation and Narration of Conflict: Main Findings ................................ 256
8.4 Evaluation and Contribution to the Field of Knowledge ..................................... 258
8.5 Limitations of the Study ....................................................................................... 260
8.6 Recommendations for Further Research .............................................................. 261
8.7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 262
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 263
English Sources ................................................................................................................ 263
Arabic Sources ................................................................................................................. 281
Audio-Visual and Social Media Sources ......................................................................... 285

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