Revisiting Cultural and Discursive Practices through Translating Ahmed Lamsyeh’s Anthology Bladi

Abstract

Zajal poetry has been associated with music and entertainment since it emerged in the twelfth century. It may have been shared orally in the past but not documented by critics and anthologists due to its vernacular use of the language. This led to its obscurity until a new wave of zajal poets emerged in the late twentieth century in Morocco and in other parts of the Arab world. They revitalized this tradition with fresh viewpoints that addressed various cultural, social, and ideological aspects. However, it did not obtain the appropriate scholarly recognition. This work aims to reveal some cultural and discursive practices by translating a poem from Lamsyeh’s zajal anthology Bladi. The translation in this study utilizes a meaning-based approach to analyze the source material from linguistic, cultural, and postcolonial perspectives. It has been determined that certain culturally loaded terms and proverbs are somewhat un-translatable. Furthermore, this text reveals ideologies that raise problems and contradictions faced by the East in regard to both the West and the East itself.