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الحركة الوطنية

English translation: lower case (generic term)

12:27 Jul 10, 2020
Arabic to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Government / Politics / Yemen revolutions, constitutional reforms
Arabic term or phrase: الحركة الوطنية
Hello everyone,

I am currently translating a chapter of a book about Yemeni political history. My chapter is on the history of the Yemeni constitution, and the revolutions and reforms that have occurred around that. Target audience is specialists in the field.

My question is: In the context of Yemen, does الحركة الوطنية refer to a specific party/organisation, or is it a general term? I can't seem to find info about a Yemeni "National Movement" organisation... If a general term, my guess is that it is referring to any and all actors involved in the movement to form a republic... But it would be nice to get a more concise translation. Any suggestions?

examples from the text:
أدرك اليمنيون جيدا، وفي مقدمتهم رجالات الحركة الوطنية الأوائل شمالا وجنوبا، أن عقدة اليمن الدائمة والمستعصية، ليس في ضعف مواردها وفقر جغرافيتها وقسوة تضاريسها، بقدر ما هي في شكل نظام الحاكم الفردي الكهنوتي المستبد شمالا، ونظائره السلاطينية جنوبا، ذلك الحكم الذي حول شعب بتاريخ عظيم وإمكانيات طيبة، إلى سجن كبير، يعيث فيه الفقر والجهل والمرض فسادا وخرابا، وتخلفا وتجهيلا كبيرا.

وهو ما دفع الفضيل الورتلاني، للحديث بكل جدية مع رجالات الحركة الوطنية اليمنية، وإقناعهم بالعدول عن فكرة الثورة الشاملة إلى المحاولة الإصلاحية الدستورية، والدستور هنا، كان عبارة عن ميثاق مقدس لاستبدال إمام مكان إمام، مع صلاحيات غير مطلقة للإمام الجديد، وفيها خارطة كاملة لمواقع رجال العهد الجديد حينها.

Thank you!
Anam
A Zafar
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:31
English translation:lower case (generic term)
Explanation:

I believe you have no difficulty translating the term الحركة الوطنية, so I will not address the translation of the term per se. As I understand your question, you are merely inquiring whether the term refers to a particular political entity, which would require capitalization, or to the overall political momentum arising from the nationalist sentiment, which would entail using the lower case unless other conditions prevail (e.g., being part of a title, beginning of a sentence, etc.).

The answer is that there was never a particular political entity that adopted الحركة الوطنية as an exclusive official name, but there have been several groups that could be characterized as "nationalist" in their ideology. In the context of Yemen, the nationalist movement encompassed all groups that (1) mounted or at least advocated military or para-military opposition to British colonial presence in Yemen, (2) transcended Yemeni regionalism (North Yemen, South Yemen), and (3) aspirationally gravitated towards pan-Arabism, a la Nasserism and Ba’athism.

It is important to recognize that the term "nationalist" did not exclude the Marxist-Leninist groups in Yemen, whose ideology, strictly speaking, was more aligned with world communism, which had a more international than national orientation. Indeed, Marxist-Leninist groups in Yemen have used the term "National" as part of their official names. Among such groups was the National Liberation Front (NFL), which later metamorphosed into the Yemeni Socialist Party, which, in turn, established the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.

Please note that there was a pan-Arab movement that is commonly referred to in English as the “Arab Nationalist Movement,” which had presence in many Arab countries, including Yemen, under different names. However, the Arabic name of this movement was not الحركة الوطنية. Its official name was حركة القوميين العرب. In English, it is known by various names, including the Movement of Arab Nationalists, etc. Some Yemeni nationalist groups emanated from this pan-Arab entity. This is all the more reason to use the lower case when translating الحركة الوطنية to avoid confusing it with حركة القوميين العرب, which should always be capitalized. In Arabic, the distinction is clear. In English, it can be confusing, depending on how you translate حركة القوميين العرب.

I hope this addresses your specific query.

Wikipedia has many articles on the groups referenced in this answer:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Nationalist_Movement

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Liberation_Front_(Sou...

These articles conveniently cross-reference other relevant material.
Selected response from:

Fuad Yahya
Grading comment
Thank you for such a comprehensive answer! Indeed, I had no difficulty in the actual translation, just with the context of the term. Extremely helpful, thank you.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2National Movement
Yassine El Bouknify
5 +1Nationalist movement
Youssef Chabat
5lower case (generic term)
Fuad Yahya
Summary of reference entries provided
The International History of the Yemen Civil War, 1962-1968
Ramadan Ibrahim

  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
National Movement


Explanation:
I guess this is the standard translation

Yassine El Bouknify
Morocco
Local time: 04:31
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  adel almergawy
3 hrs
agree  Abdullah Ahmad
5 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Nationalist movement


Explanation:
.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2020-07-10 20:01:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism

Youssef Chabat
Morocco
Local time: 04:31
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in category: 20

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ramadan Ibrahim
6 hrs
  -> Thank you
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
lower case (generic term)


Explanation:

I believe you have no difficulty translating the term الحركة الوطنية, so I will not address the translation of the term per se. As I understand your question, you are merely inquiring whether the term refers to a particular political entity, which would require capitalization, or to the overall political momentum arising from the nationalist sentiment, which would entail using the lower case unless other conditions prevail (e.g., being part of a title, beginning of a sentence, etc.).

The answer is that there was never a particular political entity that adopted الحركة الوطنية as an exclusive official name, but there have been several groups that could be characterized as "nationalist" in their ideology. In the context of Yemen, the nationalist movement encompassed all groups that (1) mounted or at least advocated military or para-military opposition to British colonial presence in Yemen, (2) transcended Yemeni regionalism (North Yemen, South Yemen), and (3) aspirationally gravitated towards pan-Arabism, a la Nasserism and Ba’athism.

It is important to recognize that the term "nationalist" did not exclude the Marxist-Leninist groups in Yemen, whose ideology, strictly speaking, was more aligned with world communism, which had a more international than national orientation. Indeed, Marxist-Leninist groups in Yemen have used the term "National" as part of their official names. Among such groups was the National Liberation Front (NFL), which later metamorphosed into the Yemeni Socialist Party, which, in turn, established the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.

Please note that there was a pan-Arab movement that is commonly referred to in English as the “Arab Nationalist Movement,” which had presence in many Arab countries, including Yemen, under different names. However, the Arabic name of this movement was not الحركة الوطنية. Its official name was حركة القوميين العرب. In English, it is known by various names, including the Movement of Arab Nationalists, etc. Some Yemeni nationalist groups emanated from this pan-Arab entity. This is all the more reason to use the lower case when translating الحركة الوطنية to avoid confusing it with حركة القوميين العرب, which should always be capitalized. In Arabic, the distinction is clear. In English, it can be confusing, depending on how you translate حركة القوميين العرب.

I hope this addresses your specific query.

Wikipedia has many articles on the groups referenced in this answer:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Nationalist_Movement

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Liberation_Front_(Sou...

These articles conveniently cross-reference other relevant material.


Fuad Yahya
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 240
Grading comment
Thank you for such a comprehensive answer! Indeed, I had no difficulty in the actual translation, just with the context of the term. Extremely helpful, thank you.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)




Reference comments


7 hrs
Reference: The International History of the Yemen Civil War, 1962-1968

Reference information:
The International History of the Yemen Civil War, 1962-68

Example sentence(s):
  • The deposition of Imam Muhammad al-Badr in September 1962 was the culmination of a Yemeni nationalist movement that began in the 1940s

    Reference: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12269828
    https://books.google.com.eg/books?id=lXWn2bTnylUC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=Yemen+national+movement&source=bl&ots=-z9weZ0thu&sig=ACfU3U11I7vUzP5Tn
Ramadan Ibrahim
United Arab Emirates
Native speaker of: Arabic
PRO pts in category: 8
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