Translating controversy: globalisation, identity, and pedagogy

Abstract

Translation can make a difference. In its importing of ideas from outside worlds it offers the hope of dialogue and of change. This thesis shows that this potential translation effect is absent from the way in which it is conceived and taught in Jordanian universities, with the result that the practice of translation in wider society is reduced to the paradigm of interlingual transfer, commodified simply as transaction. This reductive view of translation is presented as the symptom of an enclosed society, and indeed one of its causes. The thesis demonstrates how a collective conservativism dominates the intellectual, cultural and educational life of the country, making many citizens resistant to or fearful of the sort of change that might come from contact with outside ideas, particularly from the global West. The history and social make-up in place of this relatively young country has promoted the widespread acceptance of clearly defined norms of belonging and thinking, cemented in place by dominant and unchanging power structures. For that reason, the thesis assesses both the historical processes that led to the emergence of Jordan as a state, and the cultural dimensions of globalisation and its impact on a national and cultural identity designed to hold this state in place. In terms of education, particularly at third-level, the thesis reveals how oppressive measures and the resulting oppressed consciousness, together with this sense of a superimposed national identity struggling to maintain itself against the flows of ideas and practices from outside, not only dictate what can be translated and what may be taught in the translation classroom, but also places both activities - translation and education - at the service of a clearly-defined hegemony.

The thesis argues for the importance of translational thinking in the individual life and for what we might think of as social health. It explores the ways in which the richness of the cognitive processes involved in translation, including critical thinking and the understanding of textual and contextual instabilities, can contribute to the freeing up of thought, offering hope that the status quo can be challenged, and hegemony can be resisted. It is time to radicalise the intellectual life of the nation. Accordingly, the thesis suggests integrating key principles of Paulo Freire’s philosophy of radical education into the Jordanian translation classroom. To develop our understanding of the circumstances under which translation is practiced and taught in Jordan, this discussion is supported by evidence from interviews with translation educators in Jordanian universities, and from a questionnaire distributed to students of translation, so that both key groups provide their perceptions, concerns, and thoughts about the educational environment in Jordan, and give witness to the position of translation within it, to the threats to collectivist identity that they think translation might pose, and to the realities of official and self-imposed censorship in Jordanian academic life.

Thesis is embargoed until 31 July 2030.

Date of Award	Jul 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Sponsors	Middle East University
Supervisor	David Johnston (Supervisor) & Piotr Blumczynski (Supervisor)