by Maria Grazia, My Jane Austen Book Club
Jane Austen’s works
have crossed centuries, borders, and languages—continuing to speak to readers
around the world. Recently, Persuasion has taken on new life in Arabic,
thanks to the thoughtful work of freelance translator Maha Mahmoud Saleh, based
in Cairo.
When she reached out to share news of her translation, I was immediately intrigued—not only by the beautiful cover of the Arabic edition, but also by the opportunity to explore how Austen’s elegant irony and emotional depth could be reimagined for a different linguistic and cultural audience. Maha shared that she began her translation process by watching a 1990s film adaptation of Persuasion, and was struck by how familiar the story felt—almost like an old Arabic romantic drama. “If it weren’t for the distinctly English setting,” she told me, “I would have thought I was watching an old Arabic movie starring Faten Hamama and Omar Sharif—dubbed into English!”
For her, Anne’s emotional
journey and the social pressures that shape her decisions echoed the plots of
classic Egyptian cinema. This sense of resonance shaped her approach to the
novel, which she describes as rich with emotion and cinematic detail. “In my
opinion—and I’m no expert—the novel’s text is quite suitable for adaptation
into a film or TV drama,” she added, noting Austen’s sensitivity to place,
character behaviour, and the subtleties of feeling.
I invited Maha for a short
interview to learn more about her experience translating Austen’s final
completed novel and I’m delighted to share our conversation with you.
Interview with Maha Mahmoud Saleh
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| Still from Persuasion movie adaptation (1995) |
What inspired
you to translate Persuasion into Arabic?
As a matter of fact, my relationship with Jane Austen was not particularly strong, and my familiarity with her came mainly through artistic adaptations of her works—especially the novel Pride and Prejudice. One publisher drew my attention to the novel Persuasion, noting that it was the last work she wrote and that it was only published after her death. I was excited to translate it, considering it the culmination of her thoughts and the peak of her maturity in writing—especially since I had read some excerpts from her works and found them quite admirable.
What was the
most challenging aspect of translating Jane Austen’s language and style into
Arabic?
When I began reading Austen with the intention of translating her, I discovered that I knew of her more than I truly knew her. The excerpts I had read from her works did not do justice to her distinctive style. Austen’s writing is marked by long sentences, digressions, and parenthetical clauses, along with a subtle undercurrent of irony that flows effortlessly through the text. My plan was to determine first where a sentence begins and where it ends,and what is the main idea, then render it into Arabic in a way that stayed as close as possible to her original style. The difficult balance in translation lies in presenting the reader with a beautiful text in the target language, while preserving a style that is as true as possible to that of the original author.
Austen’s wit and
irony are famously subtle. How did you approach preserving that tone in Arabic?
This was a real challenge. I thought it was essential to understand the parts of the text that contained irony or cultural references which were unclear to me. To make sure I didn’t miss any of these nuances, I consulted two additional books alongside the original text of the novel: The Annotated Persuasion by David M. Shapard, and Persuasion in Modern English, from the 'Classics Retold' series. I found these resources extremely helpful in clarifying ambiguous passages, and this in turn allowed me to convey them confidently in Arabic—either by translating them directly or by using a familiar Arabic equivalent of a proverb or saying. I also occasionally added punctuation marks to clarify subtle cues that might not be obvious in Arabic translation—for instance, using an exclamation mark to indicate surprise, astonishment, or evene disapproval.
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| Sally Hawkins as Ann Elliot in Persuasion 2007 movie |
Were there any
cultural references or expressions in Persuasion that were
especially difficult to render in Arabic? How did you handle them?
There is no doubt that life in
early 19th-century England included certain concepts and tools used in daily
life that we do not know today—or that the Arabic language does not recognize.
However, this did not really pose a significant difficulty. For example, the
military ranks in the British navy or the various titles of nobility—I kept
these as they are, because the Arabic reader is generally familiar with them,
and I included a footnote explanation for readers who wish to explore the
meaning further.
As for everyday tools, an example would be the bathing machine, which was unknown in Arab societies. I translated it according to the function it served: “عربات للسباحة” (swimming carriages), and then explained its meaning in a footnote so the reader could understand what the expression refers to. As for ideas and emotions -at least the ones depicted in Persuasion, they do not differ from one culture to another, once the translator grasps them in the source language, there is no difficulty in expressing them in the target language.
How is Jane
Austen generally received in the Arab literary world? Is she widely read or
studied?
As far as I know, all of Jane Austen’s novels have been translated into Arabic, and some of them more than once. She also has devoted readers in the Arab region who read her works in English. On the other hand, there is no doubt in my mind that many dramatic works in Arabic, over the past few decades have, in fact, been inspired by Jane Austen’s novels.
Do you have a
favourite scene or character in Persuasion? Did your feelings
change as you worked on the translation?
Yes, I definitely have favorite characters in
the novel. Let me ask you—who could not love Anne? I truly loved her and was
deeply moved by those moments when she spoke to herself, wondering about
Captain Wentworth’s feelings toward her: Does he hate her? Is he indifferent?
Does he love Louisa? Or does he love her and feel jealous? I also loved Admiral
Croft and his wife, and my feelings toward them remained unchanged throughout
the novel.
I’d like to add that Mary Elliot was not one of
my favorite characters in the novel, but I was impressed by Austen’s skill in
portraying this hysterical personality—as if she were an expert in psychology.
As for the scenes I liked, there are many of
them, for example, the long conversation between Anne and Mrs. Smith, through
which she learns the truth about Mr. Elliot, and the other conversation between
Anne and Admiral Croft in Chapter Eighteen. I don’t want to share more details
so as not to spoil the plot for the prospective reader.
What do you hope Arabic-speaking readers will take away from this translation of Persuasion?
I hope readers will find real enjoyment in
reading such a romantic novel, rich with a wide range of human emotions felt by
normal people in normal life , especially; at a time when the prevailing trend
among readers, particularly younger ones, has shifted toward books of horror,
crime, and all kinds of the fantastical.
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| Dakota Johnson starred in the latest adaptation of Persuasion (Netflix, 2022) |
Have you translated other literary works? Do you plan to translate more of Austen’s novels in the future?
Yes, I have translated four other novels:
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, The Call of the Wild and White Fang by Jack
London, and Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
In fact, I do not currently have plans to
translate more of Jane Austen’s works, but I would be happy to do so if a
publisher showed interest.
Where can readers find your translation of Persuasion? Is it available online or in bookstores?
Readers can find my translation of Jane Austen’s novel clicking HERE or HERE
About the Book
Jane Austen’s final completed novel, Persuasion
tells the story of Anne Elliot, a quiet and thoughtful woman who is given a
second chance at love with Captain Frederick Wentworth, the man she was once
persuaded to reject. Set against the backdrop of shifting social values and
personal regret, the novel explores themes of constancy, maturity, and
emotional resilience.
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