Palestine: A Nation of Translators
Monday, 26 January 2015 by Mahmoud Al-Hirthani One field in which Palestinian intellectuals and writers have invested heavily, particularly since the Nakba in 1948, is translation. Interestingly, translating from Russian preceded translation from English due to the early exposure of Palestinian intellectuals to Russian literature, disseminated in Palestine via Russian schools and missionaries during the 19th century. Translation from English started to flourish in the 1920s. While translating from Russian focused on fiction, with translators such as Khalil Baidas as pioneers, translation from English focused more on political works during the British Mandate (1920-1948), influenced by the Pan-Arab awakening against British rule throughout the region.