ABSTRACT
The inclusion of drama into the Arabic literary repertoire constitutes an important site for the dynamics of diglossia and cultural politics, in terms of the choice of language varieties, in the case classical Arabic versus the vernacular. Translating European plays into Arabic has also been alternatively seen as a wholesale introduction of a new genre, or a revival of local dramatic forms (for instance folk shadow theater, farces, etc.). The use of the Egyptian vernacular to translate the French tragedies, is an adaptation justified by ‘Uthman Jalal as more likely to stir the audience and establish an emotional connection with the play, and can be seen as an innovative approach which marks the beginnings of popular and vernacular drama production in Egypt and combines carrying over “the cultural prestige and authority of the French culture”.
