Natasha's Blogs

Naguib Mahfouz approached narration uniquely in his novel, The Thief and the Dogs. Throughout the book, Mahfouz continuously shifts between third-person narration and a first-person narration, however, the first-person narration links more specifically to the stream of consciousness narrative technique. In using this technique, Mahfouz is developing the characterization of the protagonist, Said Mahran, providing the readers with clearer understandings. The stream of consciousness narrative is a technique that describes the flow of what is happening through the mind of the character. It provides insight on their thoughts, opinions and ideas on events and conflicts occurring throughout the plot. In the Thief and the Dogs, it can clearly be seen when Mahfouz switches between the two narrative techniques of third-person and stream of consciousness as he changes the font of the writing. Whenever readers are inside Mahran's mind, the words will be italicized. This pro...

Translation text A: "Found In Translation" In the modern world, we are extremely fortunate to have translators, who manage to translate magnificent pieces of literature for us to read and study. Millions of books, poems, songs and more have been translated from their language of origin into English for us to enjoy. Being able to read translated texts provides us with many benefits but also presents us with challenges. One of the benefits of reading translated pieces of literature is that it exposes us to new information on cultures and backgrounds. Reading a book written about Arab culture by an Arabic author immensely contrasts with a reading a book written about Arab culture by a Western author. With reference to the text "Found in Translation", they make the argument that Arab writers submerge their audiences in authentic Arab culture. Ever since Arabic originated books have been translated into English, (such as The Thief and the Dogs written by Naguib Mahfo...