Since its publication in 1986, Anton Shammas's novel Arabesques has been translated into seven languages. The novel instantly altered Israeli and Palestinian cultural and political landscapes via its subtle bicultural narration of Palestinian history and identity through modern literary Hebrew. More than two decades later, it remains a cultural touchstone for Israeli and Palestinian Jews, Christians, and Muslims who live in, between, and without Arabic, Hebrew, French, and English, among other languages. Arabesques is itself an interlinked arabesque of translation.

This Friday afternoon colloquium will consist of two panels featuring invited scholars speaking on the translational lives and afterlives of Arabesques, bilingual experience in Israel/Palestine, and the cultural politics of literary translation.

1:00-2:30pm Panel 1: Translational Fictions, Pre- and Post-Lives Moderator: Shachar Pinsker (UM Near Eastern Studies and Frankel Center) Shai Ginsburg (Duke, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies) Lital Levy (Princeton, Comparative Literature; Harvard Society of Fellows) Comment: Ruth Tsoffar (UM, Women's Studies and Comparative Literature)

3:00-5:00pm Panel 2: Lived Translation / Textual Doubles Moderator: Maya Barzilai (UM, Near Eastern Studies and Frankel Center) Gil Hochberg (UCLA, Comparative Literature) Muhammad Siddiq (UC-Berkeley, Near East and Comparative Literature) Comment: Carol Bardenstein (UM, Near Eastern Studies)

Closing remarks by Anton Shammas (UM, Near Eastern Studies and Comparative Literature)