From the Egyptian Vernacular to Standard Arabic: Endolingual or Interlingual Translation?

In writing a play, Arab authors make their characters speak in standard Arabic, the language of their cultural heritage, or in the vernacular, which realistically identifies the language community represented. However, the history of the Arab theatre also shows other solutions, experimenting with mixed varieties that combine ‘āmmiyya with fuṣḥā or mitigate them in favour of a more neutral linguistic entity, and translating texts into a variety different from the original one, a means useful for disseminating drama to more sectors of the Arab society beyond national borders. Mahmud Taymur (1894–1973) made a significant use of the latter method, taking his plays from a first draft in the Egyptian vernacular to a second one in standard Arabic. The result reveals procedures generally occurring in both interlingual and endolingual translation. The work considered for the purpose of analysing these aspects is al-Maḫba’ raqm 13, published first in 1941 and then in 1949.