Kay Heikkinen on the Continuing Relevance of Radwa Ashour’s ‘Granada’ – ARABLIT & ARABLIT QUARTERLY
Radwa Ashour’s complete Granada trilogy finally came out in English late last year from AUC Press in Kay Heikkenen’s translation. Kay spoke about her translation at the book’s online launch event in November. Here, in conversation with Tugrul Mende, Kay elaborates on her work with the book, her relationship with Radwa, and how she approached translating this iconic work.
By Tugrul Mende
In 2003, William Granara translated the first book of Radwa Ashour’s Granada trilogy. You’ve said that you didn’t read his translation; but how does knowing there’s already an extant translation change your process, if at all? Or change how you feel about translating? (Now that your translation is published, have you since looked at Granara’s translation at all?)
Kay Heikkenen: At first I simply hoped to translate the second and third books in the trilogy; but everyone concerned thought that it would be better to publish all three together, in a single volume, as they are published in Arabic. Doing that using the existing translation, however, would raise complicated issues of translation and publication rights, aside from the inconsistencies of style that would be apparent. Once it was decided to have a completely new translation, I set about it as I would any other project. And no, I have not looked at Dr. Granara’s translation since I finished. I’m sure his was suited to its time and context, and I prefer not to be drawn into detailed comparisons.
Do you remember your first impressions of Granada? What aspects of it most struck you?
KH: I think I must have read it first in 2002 or 2003, when I was studying in Egypt, and now it’s not easy to remember my earliest impressions. I know I was drawn to it in part because of the setting, since I had studied al-Andalus in graduate school. I found the storytelling itself very skillful as well, as the author presents major historical events through the eyes of the characters they affect, so we always see the events in relation to the story we’re reading—we never have to pause for a history lesson. Also I remember being drawn to the author’s portrayal of characters across the age spectrum, including children, young adolescents, and the old. As a mother and as someone with eldercare experience, I found those characters true to life and engaging, and I don’t remember noticing many similar characters in the other works I was reading at the time. I also found the writing style smooth and uncomplicated, suited to the story.
Can you tell us about your relationship with Radwa Ashour? When did you first get to know her and her work? And how do you see her impact on both the landscape of Arabic literature and “world” literature, however you define that?
KH: I first came to Dr. Radwa’s work during that year in Egypt (2002-03). I was introduced to her following a talk she gave to a class; then I met her again a few years later, after I had started translating, through Farouk Abdel Wahab (whom I had married). In fact she and I were never able to spend much time together, but she was kind enough to give a great deal of time and attention to my translation of her novel The Woman from Tantoura. She read every word of the translation, and made detailed suggestions, while leaving the final choices up to me. When I told her how dismayed I was at misunderstandings, she was kind enough to reassure me that it was a good translation, adding that some of the songs, in particular, might not be understood by anyone outside of Palestine. It was a formative experience to work with her, and I was very grateful to her.
Unfortunately, I cannot really judge what the impact of her writing has been, either on Arabic literature or more broadly. I know that I always saw multiple copies of her works in bookstores, when Farouk and I visited Egypt, that people smiled when they spoke of her, and that they often knew her work. Having met her, I suspect that she was also an influential teacher and colleague; but I can’t speak to the larger literary scene.
Since its publication, Granada has remained an important novel in the Arabic literary canon. What keeps it feeling fresh, and what particularly makes it relevant to a reader in 2025?
KH: Good questions! I think the primary answer lies in the overall subject of the trilogy—that is, how people deal with colonization and cultural erasure, individually and collectively, as subjects and even to some extent as colonizers—and the fact that unfortunately, that subject is as relevant to us today as it ever was. There are treatments of other universal issues also, such as the problems and indignities of aging and struggles with faith in the face of disaster. Secondarily, this is a historical novel, narrated in a fairly straightforward style; it’s not marked as being of the twentieth century (for example) by any particular narrative experimentation, or by specific cultural references. Finally, I think we can’t discount the simple interest of the story itself, the touches of humor in it, and the liveliness of the characters—all of that comes together to keep the work fresh.
How does Palestine fit into the narrative of Granada? And are there ways it’s an oversimplification to say this book is “about” Palestine?
KH: I think you can glimpse part of the answer to this in what I’ve already said—Palestine offers us another example of conquerors asserting that long-time residents with deep cultural roots in a place no longer have any right to continue living there as they have, or even to remain there at all. Also, I remember that Dr. Radwa in her talk to our class said explicitly that she used the work on the trilogy to study what happens to conquered people; it wasn’t hard to make the connection. At the same time, you are right to suggest that reading these novels only through the lens of Palestine would flatten the historical specificity of the time and place, something the author took great care to portray. Additionally, the story of Granada stretches over a century and a quarter, and we know how it ended (despite the hint of continuity that comes at the end of the trilogy). The story of Palestine still continues.
What were the particular challenges of translating this trilogy? What aspects did you most want to capture?
KH: Of course there are the usual challenges of translating anything from Arabic—how to handle verb tenses, how to manage sentence length and punctuation, how much to explain and how much to leave to be understood from the context. In this case, given the long time span covered, I felt the need for a few clues to the characters’ ages and to just when some things happened; I hope the family tree we included helps with that. But what I most wanted to capture was Dr. Radwa’s voice in writing, so the reader would seem to hear her directly and not feel as if the translation stood in the way. One comment I have particularly prized came from a reviewer who said she believed I had been very faithful to the original while still sounding natural in English.
Clearly, Radwa did significant research when writing this novel. Did you do any research while translating it?
KH: Yes, definitely. To begin with, I wanted to be sure that I was using standard English spellings for well-known personal and place names and for events. I also wanted to learn as much as I could about the background so what I wrote would be consistent with it. I’m lucky to live at a time when I could find most of what I needed online.
Since Radwa and Farouk are both sadly no longer with us, who did you talk with about your translation process? Is discussion of your translation important to your process?
KH: Ah, that was a challenge. To start with, I had the help of a translation of the trilogy into Spanish, which Dr. Radwa had given me (“this will help you,” she said; indeed it did). I was also fortunate to have the help of a dear friend (Amina Abdel Alim), who knew Dr. Radwa and who is a native speaker of Arabic. I usually work alone, but I know that I can miss an idiom or an allusion, and it is always helpful to talk over problematic passages—when I am aware of them.
How does Granada’s iconic status change how you approach its translation, if at all?
KH: I can’t let outside pressure affect the work itself. I was very conscious of the fact that Dr. Radwa (and later her son, Tamim) had entrusted me with the translation, and I wanted to do the very best work I could, to honor that trust. But in the end, it’s the same work.
Tugrul Mende is a regular contributor to ArabLit.
