Mohammed Asfour

Mohammed Asfour
Born	1940 (age 82 years) Haifa, Palestine
🏳️ Nationality	Jordanian
🏳️ Citizenship	Jordan
🎓 Alma mater	University of Baghdad
💼 Occupation
Notable work	translator

Mohammad Hassan Muhammad Asfour is a Jordanian academic, researcher, translator, critic, and poet born in Haifa in 1940. He teaches English literature and translation at the University of Jordan and Philadelphia University.

He studied English at the University of Baghdad and obtained his bachelor’s degree in 1964, and completed his master’s degree at Indiana University in the United States of America in 1970. He received a doctorate in English literature from Indiana University in 1973. Since 1982, Mohammad Asfour has worked as the head of the English language department at the University of Jordan for eight years. He held the position of Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University, after which he held the position of Dean. Mohammad’s literary subjects varied among university students, whether at the bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral levels. He studied poetry, drama, literary criticism, European literature, comparative literature, literature in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and literature in the twentieth century. He taught creative writing, rhetoric, debate, and literary taste.

Awards and scholarships

Mohammad Asfour received multiple appreciation awards for his literary works and contributions to literary criticism, translation, and advocacy for the Arabic language. Then, while working as a teaching assistant at the University of Jordan, he obtained a scholarship to get master’s and doctoral degrees from Indiana University between 1967 and 1973. Mohammad also received the Kuwait Prize for Scientific Advancement as the best-translated book in 1983 and a certificate from Philadelphia University to recognize his outstanding work in translation into Arabic in 2004. He also won the Jordanian State Appreciation Award in translation in 2012.

Translated works

1. "The Rejection," a short story by Franz Kafka, The Oil Workers (May 1965), 22-23.
2. "Censorship of Cinema in Different Countries," by various writers, dialogue (January-February 1966), 135-149.
3. "William Dean Howells" in Three Centuries of Literature, under the supervision of Forster and Fock, selected and supervised by Jabra Ibrahim Jabra (Beirut: Library of Life, 1967), vol. 3, pp. 17-33.
4. "Lifeboat" by Stephen Crane, pp. 206-240.
5. Fishermen in a narrow street, a novel by Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, Beirut, Dar Al-Adab, 1974. The translation has been published in several other editions.
6. "The Elixir of Life," a story by Richard Garnett, Science Culture (November 1980), 4-8.
7. Primitive, edited by Ashley Montagu, Kuwait, The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, 1982.
8. Critical Concepts, by Renee Welk, Kuwait, The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, 1987.
9. Is humanity winning its battle? Report of the Independent Commission on Humanitarian Issues of the United Nations (Amman: 1989).
10. Biology, Anthropology, and Human Nature, by Stephen Rose et al., translated by Dr. Mustafa Ibrahim Fahmy, revised by Muhammad Asfour (Kuwait: The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, 1990).
11. "Love in the Time of Cholera," Foreign Culture Magazine (Kuwait).
12. "Elliott and Curtius," Journal of Foreign Culture (Kuwait).
13. "The Ingmar Bergman Profile," Foreign Culture Magazine (Kuwait).
14. "American Literature," Foreign Culture Magazine (Kuwait).
15. "Scientific Books for this Year," Journal of Foreign Culture (Kuwait).
16. Anatomy of Criticism, by Northrup Frye, Amman, University of Jordan, 1991.
17. "Genius, Creativity and Leadership," by Dean Keith Simonton, translated by: Abdul Hamid Shaker, reviewed by Muhammad Asfour, Kuwait, National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, 1993.
18. "Oral and Written," by Walter C. Ong, translated by Hassan al-Banna Izz al-Din, revised by Muhammad Asfour, Kuwait, The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, 1994.
19. "Structuralism and Beyond," edited by John Struck, Kuwait, The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, 1996).
20. "The Andalusian Garden: A Study in Its Symbolic Connotations," by James Duckey, published in a book edited by Dr. Salma Al-Khadra Al-Jayousi
21. Introduction to Dr. Salma Al-Khadra Al-Jayousi's book, Selections from Palestinian Literature (Beirut: The Arab Institute for Studies and Publishing, 1997), p. 1-100.
22. "Modern Social Theory," by Ian Crepe, translated by Muhammad Husayn Ghuloom, revised by Muhammad Asfour, Kuwait, The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, 1999.
23. "The Dawn of Modern Science," by Toby Huff, Kuwait, The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, 2000).
24. "The Turks, the English, and the Moroccans in the Age of Exploration," by Nabil Matar, Beirut, The Arab Institute for Studies and Publishing, 2012.
25. "The Zionist Case," by Jacqueline Rose, Cairo, The National Center for Translation, 2007.
26. "Forster and the Politics of Imperialism," by Muhammad Shaheen, Cairo, The Supreme Council of Culture, 2009.
27. "The Novel and the Nation," by Patrick Barinder (Cairo: The Supreme Council of Culture, 2009)
28. The Genealogy of Religion: Control and Reasons for Power in "Christianity and Islam," by Talal Asad, Beirut, Dar Al-Kitab Al-Jadeed, 2014
29. "The World, the Text, and the Critic," by Edward Said (coming soon)
30. "The Two Rocks of Time: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life," by Stephen J. Gould, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Culture Authority [Kalima] 2010
31. "Teach With Confidence," by Douglas Limov. Amman: Queen Rania Academy for Teacher Training.

Arabic Works

"Two Attitudes Toward Free Poetry," Arts (August 1964), 61-62.

"Hunters in a Narrow Street," Arts (June 1974), 38-41.

"Maher al-Batouti distorts the image of Joyce." Foreign Literatures (July 1976), 290-297.

"The Image of Islam and Muslims in Western Literature Until the Eighteenth Century," Alam Al Fikr (January-March 1978), 135-154. The research has been published in Islamic Studies, an anthology published by the World of Thought magazine in 1984.

Meaning in Poetry, Ideas (June 1978), 68-75.

"Singers in the Shadows" (a study of one of Jabra's stories), Ideas (1978), 169-174.

"Notes on the Short Story in Jordan," The Jordanian Writers Association's Third Annual Festival: Poetry and Story Supplement (Amman: Jordanian Writers Association Publications, 1980), pp. 133-143.

The legendary infrastructure in a long night, literary and historical chapters, a group of scholars and writers dedicated to Nasir al-Din al-Assad, edited by Hussein Atwan (Beirut: Dar al-Jil, 1993), pp. 401-416. Published in his publication and published in his journal, The Book of Honoring Jabra Ibrahim Edited by Abd al-Rahman Munif (Beirut: The Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing, 1995) p. 112-124.

"The Western Impact on Al-Shabbi's Poetry and Criticism," Course of Abu Al-Qasim Al-Shabi: Research and Proceedings of the Symposium (Kuwait: Foundation of the Abdul Aziz Saud Al-Babtain Prize for Poetic Creativity, 1996), pp. 197-223.

"Jabra Ibrahim Jabra as a Poet," Critical Studies in the Works of Al-Sayyab, Hawi, Donqul, Jabra, edited by Fakhri Saleh (Beirut: The Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing, 1996), pp. 137-183. Also, search in a book in the Mihrab of Knowledge: Studies Dedicated to Ihsan Abbas, edited by Ibrahim Al-Saafin (Beirut: Dar Sader and Dar Al-Gharb Al-Islami, 1997), pp. 369-408.

"The Psalms of the Fugitive Rebel: Mahmoud Darwish and the Crisis of the Palestinian Poet," Zaytouna Exile: Studies in Mahmoud Darwish's Poetry, edited by Grace Samawi (Beirut: The Arab Institute for Studies and Publishing, 1998), pp. 107-124.

"History of Jabra's Relationship: The Professor and the Seddik," Al-New in the World of Books and Libraries, No. 2 (Spring 1994), pp. 20-21.

Scientific research in Jordanian higher education institutions 1962-1989, with a group of university researchers (Amman: Al al-Bayt University, 1997).

The Great Being: A Study of the Novel Searching for Walid Masoud, Dirasat, Special Issue (2001), pp. 1-16

Communication skills in Arabic (with implementation). Two parts (Amman: University of Jordan Press, 1999).

"Mahmoud Seif al-Din al-Irany," a paper prepared for the 25th anniversary of his death,

Mahmoud Al-Samra and European Literature "Mahmoud Al-Samra, the critic, the intellectual, and the human being, authored by Khalil and others, Amman: Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation and Beirut: The Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing, 2002, pp. 51-67.

"Ihsan Abbas, Translator," A year after researchers' departure (Amman: Ministry of Culture, 2007), pp. 209-233.

"Who gives in translation and why?" Interaction and intercultural interaction: a seminar, a group of researchers (Cairo: The Supreme Council of Culture, 2004), pp. 901-925.

"Jabra's Political Poetry" (published in a recent issue of the cultural magazine published by the University of Jordan)

Volume 4, Number 2 (June 2007), pp. 195-216.

Studies in the Art and Criticism of Translation (Beirut: The Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing, 2009)

Nargis and the Mirrors: A Study of Jabra Ibrahim Jabra's Creative Writings (Beirut: The Arab Institute for Studies and Publishing, 2009)

Punctuation in the Arabic language (Amman: Dar Al-Baraka, 2009)

The star's continuation in the sky: Jabra Ibrahim Jabra and Jerusalem. Cultural Magazine, No. 76 (2009), pp. 20-31.

"The Contribution of Muhammad Adnan al-Bakhit in Planning and Editing the History of Humanity Book," Muhammad Adnan al-Bakhit: Historian, Documentary, Professor and Founder, Abdul Hamid Government Institution for Studies and Publishing, 2010), pp. 315-337.

"Inter-Studies and Specialization in the Humanities," Journal of Arts: A refereed scientific periodical issued by King Saud University, Vol. 25, No. 2 (May 2013), pp. 231-240.

Mahmoud Darwish in prose.

works and research in English

1. “Motivation in The Cenci,” Dirasat (May 1975), pp. 19–35.
2. “Islam in Southey’s Epics,” Dirasat (December 1978), pp. 7–37.
3. “Some Aspects of the Influence of English Poetry on Arabic Poetry,” Dirasat (May 1979), pp. 37–47.
4. Notes on Rasselas (London: Longman York Press, 1981).
5. “Cultural Barriers in Teaching English Literature to Arab Students,” Papers from the First Conference on the Problems of Teaching English Language and Literature at Arab Universities, ed. M. H. Ibrahim and Eid Dahiyat (Amman: University of Jordan, 1983), pp. 78–92.
6. “’ The Letter Killeth’: A Study of The Merchant of Venice,” Dirasat, XII.8 (1985), 7-18.
7. “Acting in Hamlet,” Dirasat XII.8 (1985), 13-30.
8. “The Politics of Love,” Dirasat XIII.1 (1985), 7-18.
9. “Literary Prophecy,” Abhath al-Yarmouk IV.1 (1986), 7-18.
10. “Thomas Moore and the Pitfalls of Orientalism,” International Journal of Islamic and Arabic Studies X.1 (1987), 75-92.
11. The Fourth International Conference on the History of Bilad al-Sham During the Byzantine Period, vol. II, ed. With Adnan al-Bakhit (Amman: 1986).
12. Arabic in Three Months (London: Hugo Language Books, 1990).
13. Reading On: An Anthology for Students of Literature (London: Prentice-Hall, 1990).
14. “Jabra’s English Poetry,” Dirasat (Special Issue, August 1999), pp. 19–33.
15. Communication Skills (with others), 2 vols. (Amman: University of Jordan, 1999).
16. “The Translation of Poetry: An Example from Nazik al-Mala’ika,” From Silence to Sound, ed. Mohammad Shaheen, (Beirut: Dar al-Gharb al-Islami, 2000), pp. 458–508.
17. “Ibn Battuta,” The Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia. 3 vols. (London: Dearborn Publishers, 2003), pp. 577–578.
18. “Deconstructive Reading,” IJAEAS 3: 1& 2 (December 2002), pp. 45–53.
19. “Problems in Modern English-Arabic Lexicography,” Journal of Arabic Linguistics 42 (2003):41-52.
20. “The Translation of Names,” Turjuman ( Turjuman, forthcoming).
21. “The Influence of Translation on Arabic,” the University of Sharjah Journal for Shari’a Sciences and Humanities, vol. 4, No. 2 (June 2007), 195-216. This essay has been translated into Turkish and published recently in Şarkiyat Mecmuasi, Sayi xix (2011-2012), pp. 172–196

Also see

Mohammad Shaheen

Jabra Ibrahim Jabra

Ihsan Abbas

External links

Mohamed Asfour's page on the Philadelphia University website

References

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