Translation and Exchange in Middle Eastern/South Asian Literary Culture

Alexander Jabbari
Comparative Literature
UC Irvine

This group connected graduate students through the thematic of translation and exchange in print and literary culture between various individuals, institutions, and sites throughout the Middle East and South Asia in the 19th and 20th centuries. It aimed to uncover trans-regional and cross-linguistic connections by bringing together graduate students specializing in various languages, literatures, and intellectual/literary figures of the region. The group met several times to read primary and secondary sources and comment on each other’s writing, producing multi-authored blog posts from each conversation and ultimately a website which not only traced the group’s discussions but also made available resources and provided questions and points of entry for others (outside the group) who may be interested in the topic, in the hopes that it will ultimately serve as a resource for the broader public.