Nabil Haffar
Nabil Haffar ( Arabic نبيل الحفار, DMG Nabīl al-Ḥaffār , born January 11, 1945 as Mohammed Nabil al-Haffar in Damascus , Syria ) is a Syrian Germanist , theater scholar and translator of fiction from German into Arabic , who has translated numerous novels and plays. He is regarded as an important cultural mediator in the German-Arab literary exchange and as a dramaturge and expert on Arab theater in the 20th century.
Life and activity as a cultural mediator
After graduating from high school in Damascus, Haffar first studied German language and literature at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig in the 1970s and then, on his return to Syria in 1987, completed his doctorate in theater studies at the Humbolt University in Berlin on Brecht's reception in Syria in the 1970s and eighties of the 20th century.
In addition to teaching as a dramaturge at the Syrian National Theater and lecturer in theater studies at the University of Theater in Damascus, he has translated plays by Bertolt Brecht , Peter Weiss , Heinar Kipphardt , Stefan Heym , Peter Hacks , Roland Schimmelpfennig and others from German into Arabic. He also worked for the Syrian section of the International Theater Institute (ITI) as Vice President, published numerous articles on Syrian, Arab and international theater and was editor of the Syrian theater magazine Theaterleben ( al-hayāt al-masraḥiyya ).
Since 1974 Haffar has translated more than fifty novels, fairy tales and plays into Arabic. Due to his services to the translation and mediation of German contemporary literature in the Arab cultural area, he received numerous awards, including the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Prize of the GDR in 1982 , the German-Arabic translation prize of the Goethe Institute in Egypt in 2010 and the Sheikh Hamad Prize for Translation and International Understanding in Qatar .
In his decades of intensive study of German and Arabic literature , Haffar has set himself the goal of writing appropriate translations for the respective literary content and its style for interested readership and theater audiences in Arab countries. This prompted him, for example, to translate Kafka's novel The Process , which had previously appeared several times in Arabic, or, when translating the extremely successful novel Das Parfum by Patrick Süskind, corresponding expressions for fragrances, smells or the historical context in France of the 18th century.
According to the Syrian literary scholar Abdo Abboud, his compatriot Haffar is one of the few Arabic Germanists who translate modern German literature. In Abboud's opinion, this is due to the difficulties of the Arab book market as well as the lack of interest from Arab publishers and appropriately qualified translators.
Translations into Arabic (selection)
(German original title and Arabic publisher information)
Plays and texts about the theater:
- Bertolt Brecht
- Die Mutter, Alfarabi-Verlag, Libanon, 1973 - Die heilige Johanna der Schlachthöfe, Alfarabi, 1974 - Turandot, Alfarabi,1975 - Schweyk im zweiten Weltkrieg, Alfarabi, 1974 - Mann ist Mann, syr. Zeitschrift Theaterleben, 1976 - Die Kleinbürgerhochzeit, Theaterleben, 2000 - Fünf Schwierigkeiten beim Schreiben der Wahrheit, Althawra, 1975 - Über das epische Theater, Theaterleben, 1988 - Das kleine Organon fürs Theater, Theaterleben, 2012
and: - Selected Poems, Althawra, 1976
- Peter Weiss
- Wie dem Herrn Mockinpott das Leiden ausgetrieben wird, Alfarabi, 1975 - Über das dokumentarische Theater, Almarifa,1967
- Heinar Kipphardt, In the case of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Alfarabi, 1973
- Friedrich Dürrenmatt, On the current tragic comedy, Almarifa, 1968
- Stefan Heym, Hakim's Stories, Theater Life, 1985
- Roland Schimmelpfennig, The Woman from Before, International Literatures, 2007
- Peter Hacks
- Senecas Tod, Kawalies, 2009 - Ein Gespräch im Hause von Stein über den abwesenden Herrn von Goethe, Kawalies, 2011
Prose:
- Franz Kafka
- In der Strafkolonie, Goethe-Institut Khartum, 2016 - Das Schloss, Takween, Kuweit, 2018 - Der Prozess, Takween, Kuweit, 2018 - Die Verwandlung, Takween, Kuweit, 2018
- Patrick Süsskind
- Das Parfüm, Vereinigte Arabische Emirate, 1993/ Almada-Verlag, Damaskus, 1996 - Die Geschichte vom Herrn Sommer, Almada, 2017 - Über Liebe und Tod, Almada, 2017
- Herta Müller, Man is a big pheasant, Kalima, Abu Dhabi
- Brothers Grimm, The Collected Fairy Tales, Almada, 2016
- Anna Seghers, Stories, International Literatures, 1984
- Walter Kappacher, Selina or the other life, Kalima, Abu Dhabi
- Robert Schneider, Schlafes brother, Kalima, Abu Dhabi
- Christoph Ramsmayr, Atlas of a Fearful Man, Kalima, Abu Dhabi
- Martin Seel, 111 virtues, 111 vices, Kalima, Abu Dhabi,
- Thomas RP Mielke, Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, Qadmus, Damascus, 2010
- Jenny Erpenbeck, Visitation, Merit, Cairo, 2015
- Felicitas Hoppe, Hoppe, Atlas, Beirut, 2016
- Marie Courant, Qatna, Atlas, Beirut, 2016
- Bernhard Schlink, Sweet Peas, International Literatures, Damascus
- Siegfried Lenz, short stories, international literatures, Damascus.
- Elfriede Jelinek, Lust, al Kamel Verlag, Beirut, 2017
- Ulrich Peltzer, The Better Life, Dar Atlas, Beirut-Damascus
- Heinrich Böll, Stories, Boell Foundation, Beirut 2017
- Robert Walser, The Walk, al Kamel-Verlag, Beirut 2017
- Thomas Steinfeld, Lord of the Ghosts - The Thoughts of Karl Marx, Atlas, Beirut, 2020
- Daniel Kehlmann, Tyll, Adwan, Abu Dhabi, 2020
- Robert Walser, Jakob von Gunten, 2020
See also
Web links
- German-Arabic literature exchange, dossier on qantara.de
- Goethe-Institut Egypt: Translation as a cultural exchange
Individual evidence
- ↑ Haffar, Nabil. Brecht's reception in Syria in the seventies and eighties of our century. Berlin, Humboldt-Univ., Diss. A, 1987
- ^ International Theater Institute ITI. Retrieved August 2, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Interview with literary translator Nabil Al Haffar: "You should always detach yourself from the text" - Qantara.de. Retrieved August 2, 2020 .
- ↑ German-Arabic Translator Award: Literary Bridges - Qantara.de. Retrieved August 2, 2020 .
- ^ Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding. Accessed August 2, 2020 .
- ↑ Abdo Abboud :: Translation is the most important channel in the dialogue between cultures. - Qantara.de. Retrieved August 2, 2020 .
- ↑ For the Arabic titles, see the entries in Haffar, Nabil. worldcat.org, accessed on August 3, 2020 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Haffar, Nabil |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | al Haffar, M. Nabil |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Syrian literary translator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 11, 1945 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Damascus , Syria |