Mennatallah Mansy
The paper tackles the role of translation in online jihadi propaganda, which is primarily used as a means of disseminating the ideology of jihadis across the globe and recruiting new members. Translation is part and parcel of the global jihadi activism, establishing a niche in the research area covering the link between translation and ideology in contemporary conflicts. The paper investigates the re-exportation and re-construction of global jihadi radical ideas on Islam by means of translational ideologically driven interventions. The case study selected (DAESH-affiliated Dabiq Magazine, originally produced in English) is of great significance in voicing DAESH’s —the latest ferocious face of global jihad— positions and views on various events, personalities, religious sects and sharīʿa-related matters. The launching of the English magazine coincided with DAESH’s declaration of the Islamic Caliphate in 2014; thus the magazine carries substantial content loaded with DAESH ideological stances. The paper inspects an individual pro-jihadi online activist endeavor to translate and familiarize Dabiq issues into Arabic: namely AZIZ8178 blog (https://aziz8178.wordpress.com/). It attempts to answer a main research question: How does the interventionalist ideological dimension manifest in AZIZ8178 jihadi translation of Dabiq English magazine into Arabic? A descriptive qualitative study is undertaken deploying analytical tools derived from two main theoretical frameworks in translation studies: the socio-narrative theory and activist translation communities. The paper starts with an overview on global online jihadi activism and translation being part of e-jihad. Background information on the source text (Dabiq English magazine) is also given in terms of its producer, authors or editors (if any disclosed), targeted audience, themes and contents, in addition to its language and style. Then, the paper examines the interventionist translation strategies deployed by AZIZ8178 on both textual and paratextual levels, manipulating the features of the Arabic mediated narratives, compared to the narratives of the original.
Keywords: Jihadi translation, ideology, narrative, DAESH, Dabiq, online activism.
 | Mennatallah Mansy. MA holder (Faculty of Arts, Cairo University) and researcher in translation studies with demonstrated professional experience in translation, editing and copywriting. My main area of academic interest is the relation between translation and ideology. My scholarly research examins jihadi and counter-jihadi translation practices in the digital space within the theoretical frameworks of activist translation communities and the socio-narrative theory. My MA thesis explored jihadi translation communities in the digital space and the role of translation in the jihadi online propaganda. I also participated in workshops organized and led by Germany-based ZMO center (2018-2021) presenting my developing research on the use of activist translation/subtitling in cases of uncertainty as a means to spread alternative knowledge. Moreover, I participated in “NIS/MIDA Summer School 2021 Spoken images of/in Islam” from 5th to 9th of July 2021, where I made a presentation on “Narratives on Islam in Jihadist vs. Counter-Jihadist Translations.” |