"The Joy of Arabic" in collaboration with the Library of Arabic Literature at the New York University - Abu Dhabi
Date May, 24 2023
Location ADIBF - Aya Sofya Stage - Hall 10
Presenting the literary and cultural heritage of Arabic in other languages can be challenging for scholars and translators. But in spite of high barriers of language and culture, working on Arabic through the medium of other languages can be a rewarding endeavor. Among other things, it allows scholars to introduce new readers to the texts and traditions they love.
In collaboration with the Library of Arabic Literature at the New York University Abu Dhabi, a group of award-winning scholars and translators discussed why they find writing about and translating from this vast literary heritage so vital and rewarding, and how it has helped to broaden their own understanding of Arabic culture..
Speakers

Michael Cooperson
An American author and translator, Cooperson studied at Harvard University and the American University of Cairo, and is currently a professor of Arabic language and literature at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has published two monographs on early Abbasid cultural history: ‘Classical Arabic Biography’ and ‘Al-Ma'mun’. In addition to Impostures, he has translated Abdelfattah Kilito's ‘L'Auteur et ses doubles (The Author and his Doubles)’ and Ibn al-Jawzi's ‘Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (Virtues of the Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal)’. His other interests include Maltese language and culture.
Chip Rossetti
Translator and the managing editor of the Library of Arabic Literature translation series at NYU Press. He has a

Dr. Mathieu Tillier
He is Professor of Medieval Islamic History at Sorbonne Université (Paris) and a member of the CNRS team “Orient & Méditerranée” (UMR 8167). His main research focuses on Islamic law and institutions. He is also the author of Les cadis d’Iraq et l’État abbasside (132/750-334/945) (Damascus: Presses de l’Ifpo, 2009), and of L’invention du cadi. La justice des musulmans, des juifs et des chrétiens aux premiers siècles de l’Islam (Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 2017).

Bilal Orfali
Sheikh Zayed Chair for Arabic and Islamic Studies at AUB

Eenas Khansa
Professor & chair of the department of Arabic and Near Eastern Language at AUB