Arabic Translation of Peter Lienhardt’s ‘Disorientation: A Society in Flux: Kuwait in the 1950s’ with an English Introduction

Abstract

This thesis presents a translation of Peter Leinhardt’s ‘Disorientation: A Society in Flux: Kuwait in the 1950s’; an account chronicling the author’s observations of Kuwait from an anthropological standpoint. The thesis starts with an introduction discussing the procedures employed to complete the translation, the difficulties and gaps that may be encountered in the process of translating the text, and the techniques through which these difficulties can be resolved and those gaps filled. Furthermore, the introduction investigates specific issues related to the translation of linguistic and cultural expressions. The main objective of the thesis is to provide an authentic translation of this valuable book in order to give an anthropological insight of the people of Kuwait before the discovery of oil through preserving the smoothness of the flow of discourse and the coherence of the original text so that it can be appreciated by an Arab target audience. Notably, the author merges anthropological observations with his personal impressions and feelings, which is precisely what this translation attempts to capture from a linguistic perspective.