Encounters between Arabic and Western Literatures: Emic Translations and the Ethic formation of Literary Canons

This article raises general and methodological questions about translation and literary criticism in Arabic and Western literatures. It first discusses the example of the well-known translation of Thousand and One Nights and its specific role in the 18th century European literary milieu and the recasting of European literary works in the Arab world during the nahda (19th and 20th centuries). In the second part, the article investigates a contemporary literary phenomenon, namely, Arab political literature, in particular analyzing the works written by political inmates (adab al- sugun). A glance on this topic may contribute to the discussion concerning the interaction between literary fields and may even pose a challenge to Western politics of translation and academic criticism.