AUC Mourns the Loss of Renowned Translator Humphrey Davies

By: Vereena Bishoy
@vereena_bishoy

Revolutionary novels like Thebes at War by Naguib Mahfouz, and The Yacoubian Building, by Alaa Al Aswany, would not have made it to the English language if it were not for renowned translator Humphery Davies.

Although Davies was born and bred in metropolitan London, he was often described as more Egyptian than those born and raised in Egypt.

For decades, he lived in Cairo and immersed himself in the Arabic language and culture, making him a cause celebre in translation of Arabic historical and classical texts, modern fiction.

Davies had been battling pancreatic cancer and died on November 12 last year, at the age of 74.

To commemorate the award-winning British translator, AUC held a memorial in his name where his mentees, scholarly colleagues, and family paid tribute.

As Davies was memorialized and praised by all his loved ones, the speakers mentioned how he wholeheartedly engaged with Egyptian culture and nuances.

“As any good translator or conscientious publisher knows, translation is not just about words on a page or definitions in a dictionary. Knowledge of the language is not complete without knowledge of the culture and the people who speak it, and translation is cultural, not just linguistic,” said Neil Hewison, former AUC press associate director of editorial programs.

He continued to explain how Humphrey abided by this principle throughout his career, which is why many regarded the translation of The Yacoubian Building as an improvement from the original Arabic text by Egyptian author Alaa Al Aswany.

In 2008, the British Society of Authors honored Davies’ translation of The Yacoubian Building as one of the 50 most outstanding translations of the previous 50 years.

Davies played a vital role at the AUC press; as Hewison recounted, Davies translated 17 books for the AUC press during Hewison’s time as a press associate director of editorial programs.

They range from fiction for Egyptian writers and novelists; Hamdy El Gazzar, Mohamed Mostagab, and Naguib Mahfouz to the autobiography of Khaled Al-Berry.

Davies’ works also extended to translating nonfiction scholarships like Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu’s study of The Turks in Egypt and their cultural legacy.

The works of the distinguished Lebanese novelist Elias Khoury are amongst the texts Davies translated in his lifetime.

“It was for his translation of the works of Elias Khoury that Humphrey twice won the prestigious Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic literary translation in 2006 and 2010,” noted Hewison.

These works were Gate of The Sun, translated in 2005, and Yalo, translated in 2009.

Davies’ approach was one of many reasons why he was a prosperous translator. Hewison noted that he would only agree to take on a book if he liked the text; otherwise, he would politely but firmly turn it down.

“His number one rule would be, ‘only translate what you like’ and equally wise his rules number 6 through 10 were jointly and in total ‘translate nothing till you’ve got a contract for it’,” Hewison quoted Davies.

Davies’ love for the language and culture did not just peak at translation.

In a break from translation, he employed his stellar Arabic skills and partnered with travel writer Lesley Lababidi to research and compile a field guide to the street names of Central Cairo.

The fruit of this project was by no surprise called, A Field Guide to the Street Names of Central Cairo. Which was, according to Hewison, remarkably rich and comprehensive reference work published by the AUC Press in 2008.

“Both were fired by an intense curiosity and fascination for the city’s cultural history around them. For me, editing the manuscript and the maps were an education as the book fed into and satisfied my own curiosities,” elaborated Hewison.

Novelist Hamdi Abu Julayyil started his tribute by waving the last book Davies translated [The Men Who Swallowed the Sun: A Novel] up in the air, accompanying it with the words, “as soon as I came up on stage, I lost all words.”

Abu Julayyil was skeptical of Davies’ talents at first, as he believed that the initial authors were the true creators, but after time, he was proven otherwise.

“I have never once experienced this amount of precision, integrity, and loyalty. We would spend hours for [Davies] to reach a point of satisfaction with a specific phrase or word that he sees fits. He even constructed stories because the original copy had mistakes that Humphrey fixed,” explained Abu Julayyil.

Abu Julayyil was in awe of Davies’ mastery in understanding the Arabic language’s crevices and profoundness. According to him, that was why no one else could translate these books but Davies.

“This book [The Men Who Swallowed the Sun: A Novel] has a cocktail of dialects; I consider it my linguistic adventure… there is the Fayoumian dialect, the city dialect, the farmer’s dialect, Cairenes dialect, Libyan dialect, and the youthful uneducated dialect, which is a dialect of its own. Humphrey translated it all,” explained Abu Julayyil.

He believed that his book was a great symbol of Davies’ love for Egypt.

“I shy away from saying that this was the last book Humphrey translated because one would think that the book was what ended him. But I believe that this was the end of Humphrey’s love for Egypt, its language, and its dialect,” Abu Julayyil said.

Samya Mehrez, professor of Arabic Literature and Founding Director of the Center of Translation Studies (CTS), joined the memorial virtually and started to read the tribute she prepared solemnly.

Mehrez’s speech circulated Davies’ prominent personality that played a role in endorsing the creation of the Center of Translation Studies.

She started her tribute by unfolding that Davies was among a handful of her colleagues who wrote a letter to endorse, what was back then an idea, of establishing the Center for Translational Studies in 2009. She added that the center was the reason behind their blossoming friendship, as she called and depended on his support.

Mehrez thanked Davies for his solidarity, generosity, and vision in helping create the center and giving a series of speeches, which were memorable to the Arabic and literary world a year after its establishment.

“‘I look forward to benefiting from and contributing to CTS in any way I can,’ said Davies, and he did in every way he could. Humphrey accompanied me every step of the way until the closure of the center in July 2021 and his own untimely passing a couple of months after, thereby marking the end of our adventure together, the end of an epoch,” Mehrez said.