Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book addresses specific, though interrelated, aspects of Islam’s foundational text and the challenges encountered when translating it into different languages. It demonstrates that translation by Twitter users has different dynamics from conventional translation, simply because of the fragmentary nature of Twitter language and the multiple functions they are meant to play, especially in such politically charged situations as the 2013 military intervention in Egypt. The book reflects on the detailed translation and editorial practices adopted in the building of this archive and then reflect on this process with the ultimate aim of theorising Arabic–English translation in a political context. It focuses on simultaneous interpreting, and offering interfaced perspectives on interpreting practice, its cognitive constraints and professional challenges, directionality and the implications these have for pedagogy.