Stream of Consciousness Narration

The Thief and The Dogs was written by Naguib Mahfouz and is a novel which portrays his attitude towards the Egyptian revolution. The novel was published 9 years after the Egyptian revolution in 1961. The Egyptian revolution was the attempt to free the Egyptians from British control, which succeeded. By writing this novel, Mahfouz conveys his thoughts and feeling towards the revolution to the readers. In the novel, the main character, Said Mahran, is portrayed as a thief who just got out of jail after 4 years, and returns to the normal world in which he realises that his wife betrayed him and is not together with a former underling of Said. Additionally, the character Rauf Ilwan has completely changed and has now turned into a rich person, someone who Said and Rauf would have stolen from before the revolution when Rauf and Said were friends. In the novel, Said represents the people who do not agree with the changes that resulted from the revolution, and Rauf represents the people who took advantage of the revolution and have therefore completely changed. In order to exaggerate and further convey this to the reader, Mahfouz utilises the technique of stream of consciousness. 

The literary style stream of consciousness is used by writers in order to reveal the thoughts and feelings of a character to the reader in a continuous flow which is uninterrupted by things such as dialogue. In the novel, a stream of consciousness is used multiple times in order to reveal the thoughts and feelings of Said Mahran to the reader. Due to the use of a stream of consciousness, the reader is able to see the thoughts of a character and their thought process, which without a stream of consciousness would not be possible. Additionally, a stream of consciousness is often utilised by authors as a way of regulating the distance between the reader and the character. 

Mahfouz uses the shift of narration in order to create complexity in the character of Said Mahran and in order to regulate the distance between the characters in the noel and the reader. The distance between the characters and the reader is intentionally regulated by the author in order to convey the intended messages and feelings of the novel, and therefore of the Egyptian revolution, to the reader. A instance of this occurs in chapter 1, “when those who had betrayed him would despair unto death, when treachery would pay for what it had done. Nabawiyya, Ilish. Your two names merge in my mind.” This quote shows the shift from a third person narrative to a direct narrative. In this example, the shift in narration causes a shift in the information which the reader receives. In the third person perspective, more information is censored, where as when it shifts to a direct narrative, the reader gains insights into the mind of the protagonist which reveals his thoughts and feelings.

By using a stream of consciousness, there are several advantages and disadvantages. An advantage of Mahfouz utilising this literary style is that is enables him to regulate the distance between the reader and the character. Additionally, it also creates complexity in the characters of the novel. However, by utilising a stream of consciousness it also creates disadvantages such as creating confusion in the reader. This is especially the case when reading the novel as a pdf version as in the pdf version the instances of stream of consciousness are not italicised.

Literature in Translation

In the globalised world in which we live in today, translations play a major role. Whether it be to translate instructions on how to operate a device, or to translate literature from one language to another. Translations allow the language barrier between two cultures to diminish, however not fully, as each culture will always retain their unique aspects due to their traditions and customs which can not be translated through literature from one language to another. 

Different languages have different ways to express themselves, both in a verbal and written format. In some cases, a word in one language may not exist in another language. An example of this is between the German and English language. In German, one can say that someone has “schadenfreude”, meaning that someone derives pleasure from someone else’s misfortune. In English, there is no word with the equivalent meaning. Thus, when in German literature, or in literature of any other language for that matter, a word is used which has no direct translation, meaning is lost as the sentence structure and pace of the sentence cannot be replicated. 

In the reading that was assigned to my group, the importance of keeping the same style and pace of a sentence was stressed. When translating literature, one should look at every single word or the original version and identify its purpose in the sentence. This is because each word contributes to the style and pace of the sentence. Additionally, when translating literature, it is also important to take into account the cultural value of the original version. This is especially important when translating literature which is meant to teach about the culture and tradition of the original version’s language. As stated earlier, translated literature allows the language barrier between two cultures to be broken down, however a barrier will remain as the way language is used in one culture differs from another culture. This can also be seen by the numerous proverbs which were used in Things Fall Apart, as the Igbo culture uses unique proverbs with deep meanings rooted in their culture and traditions. 

Literature in translation effectively minimises the language barrier between two cultures and languages, giving more people insight into a culture. This has caused the world to globalise faster as more and more people gain access to information about other cultures, their values, and traditions. Through translated literature, an insight into a foreign culture can be obtained, however it will not be fully accurate due to the unique values, traditions and customs which each culture and language have.