Aida Bamia

Aida Adib Bamia is professor emeritus of Arabic language and literature at the University of Florida in Gainesville.[1] She is a specialist in North African literature.[2] Her work on Arabic literature has helped to bring quality translations to English readers.[3]

Aida Adib Bamia
Born
Jerusalem
NationalityPalestinian
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materUniversity of London
EmployerUniversity of Florida
Known forScholarship in Arab literature and Arab to English translations.

Biography

Bamia is Palestinian. She was born in Jerusalem and lived in Egypt post-1948.[2][4] She received her Ph.D in 1971 from the University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies-SOAS).[2][5] From 1972-1973, Bamia received a Ford Foundation grant to work on a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[2]

In 1985, she began teaching at the University of Florida.[4] Prior to being hired in Florida, Bamia taught at various universities in Algeria.[4]

Later, Bamia pursued and received American citizenship; she considers herself an Arab American.[4] However, she has also stated: "when I did finally settle down in the US I discovered that a house, a car and the freedom to travel wherever I wanted did not fill the void within...I still have some hope of returning to a Palestine I can call home, not a land under occupation which my American citizenship allows me to visit as a tourist."[5]

Bamia's research has focused especially on Muslim women writers from the Middle East.[6] She has shown that women significantly contributed to culture and literature, even in early Islamic times, and she hopes to combat stereotypes about Arab women through her writing and research.[6] She has also studied oral poetry traditions of Maghribi women in North Africa.[7]

She was the editor of Al-Arabiyya, the journal of the American Association of Teachers of Arabic (AATA).[8] She was also a president of AATA in 1993.[9]

She is the author of The Graying of the Raven: Cultural and Sociopolitical Significance of Algerian Folk Poetry (AUC Press 2001), which won the Middle East Award from the American University in Cairo Press in 2000.[7][10]

Her translation work also received award nominations. In 2014, she was nominated for the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation for her translation of The Arch and the Butterfly by Mohammed Achaari.[11]

She is currently a visiting professor at the University of Michigan.[12]

Works
  • "Refusing to Melt in Their World", World and I
  • The Inheritance, Sahar Khalifeh, Translator Aida Bamia, American University in Cairo Press (December 30, 2005) ISBN 978-977-424-939-6
  • Papa Sartre, Ali Bader, Translator Aida Bamia, (AUC Press 2009).
  • The Graying of the Raven: Cultural and Sociopolitical Significance of Algerian Folk Poetry (AUC Press 2001).
  • "Feminism in Revolution: The Case of Sahar Khalifa". Tradition, Modernity, and Postmodernity in Arabic Literature. Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV. 2000. ISBN 9789004117631.

References
  1. "Arabic Studies". College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. University of Florida. Archived from the original on 2015-07-16. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  2. Jayyusi, Salma Khadra, ed. (1992). Anthology of Modern Palestinian Literature. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 722. ISBN 9780231075084. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  3. Hibbard, Allen (2010). "Translation of Modern and Contemporary Literature in Arabic". In Maier, Carol; Massardier-Kenney, Francoise (eds.). Literature in Translation: Teaching Issues and Reading Practices. Kent State University Press. p. 223. ISBN 9781612775395.
  4. "Transcript of Aida Bamia Interview in English". George A. Smathers Libraries. University of Florida. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  5. Being Palestinian : personal reflections on Palestinian identity in the diaspora. Yasir Suleiman. Edinburgh. 2016. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-7486-3403-3. OCLC 963672141.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. "Feminist Writers in the Mideast are Contributing to Women's Rights". College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. University of Florida. April 1997. Archived from the original on 2015-07-20. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  7. "Clas Term Professors". College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. University of Florida. 2001. Archived from the original on 2015-07-20. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  8. "National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages". NCOLCTL. 1995. Archived from the original on 27 February 2004. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  9. "AATA Administration". American Association of Teachers of Arabic. Archived from the original on 10 November 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  10. "Aida Bamia". The American University in Cairo Press. Archived from the original on 15 April 2005. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  11. "Jadaliyya Co-Editor Sinan Antoon Wins 2014 Saif Ghobash Banipal Translation Prize". Jadaliyya. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  12. "Aida A. Bamia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
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