The Qur’an, Translation and the Media A Narrative Account

This book aims to identify how the Qur’an is narrated in and by the press media through the use of translation, featuring examples from a corpus of newspaper articles from the UK and Europe across two decades. Drawing on work at the intersection of narrative theory and translation studies, the volume highlights the ways in which press media play an integral role in the construction, promotion, and circulation of narratives about events and communities, shedding light specifically on translations of Qur’anic verses across British, Italian, and Spanish newspapers between 2001 and 2019. Elimam and Fletcher examine how such translations have been used to create and disseminate narratives about the Qur’an and in turn, Islam and Muslims, unpacking the kinds of narratives evoked – personal, public, conceptual, and meta-narratives – and narrative strategies employed – selective appropriation, temporality, causal emplotment, and relationality – toward framing readers’ understanding of the Qur’an. The book will be of particular interest to scholars working at the intersection of translation studies and such areas as media studies, religion, politics, and sociology.

List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1: Translating the Qur’an in the Press Media Chapter 2: Narrative Theory and Methodology Chapter 3: British Press Media Coverage of Islam Chapter 4: Italian Press Media Coverage of Islam Chapter 5: Spanish Press Media Coverage of Islam Chapter 6: Discussion: Popular Narratives and Narrative Tools Chapter 7: Conclusion Appendix I: list of English translation of verses per newspaper Appendix II: list of Italian translation of verses per newspaper Appendix III: list of Spanish translation of verses per newspaper Index

Ahmed S. Elimam lectures in Translation Studies at the University of Leicester. His recent publications include: "Translating Word Order Variations in the Qur’an: A Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment" (2020), "Muslim Scholars as Self-Translators" (2019) and "Media, Translation and the Construction of the Muslim Image: A Narrative Perspective" (2019). Alysia S. Fletcher is a professional translator and interpreter and holds an MA degree in translation. She studied Italian and Spanish Translation and Interpreting Studies at Universities in the UK and Spain. She also worked as a translator in Milan, and is the founder and owner of ASF Translations.