Contested naming practices in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict: a translation perspective

ABSTRACT

This article examines contested naming practices in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict from a translation perspective. Examples are drawn from two political plans, namely, the “Tenet Plan” and the “Disengagement Plan” and their different translations. The two plans were translated by different agents – including governmental and non-governmental institutions as well as media outlets – into Arabic and English and into Arabic and Hebrew, respectively. The analysis, informed by concepts and methods of Product-Oriented Descriptive Translation Studies and Critical Discourse Analysis, focuses on the translation of names given to places, events and actions, and protagonists of the Palestinian–Israeli conflict. These translations constitute a revealing site for analyzing contested naming practices that reflect the asymmetric power struggle between the two sides of the conflict, as well as their opposing political positions and competing narratives. Overall, this article highlights the importance of studying contested naming practices in their ideological, socio-political, historical, and institutional contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• Translation
• conflict
• narratives
• politics
• political plans
• Palestinian–Israeli conflict

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 https://pchrgaza.org/en/

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ahmad Ayyad

Ahmad Ayyad is an assistant professor of translation studies at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, Palestine, where he teaches translation courses at the MA Program in Translation and Interpreting and Al-Quds Bard College. He also serves as the Director of AQU Career Center. Ayyad received his PhD in translation studies from Aston University in Birmingham, UK. Prior to joining Al-Quds University, he was a visiting lecturer in translation studies at City University-London and a research assistant in media at the London School of Economics. His main research interests include sociology of translation, translation and conflict, political discourse analysis in translation, and media translation.