Arab Nation-building through Detective Stories in al-iyā: The Cultural Translations of Nasīb al-Mashalānī

This article examines detective stories translated by Nasīb al-Mashalānī published in the periodical al-iyā ("The Gleam") and their contribution to the process of Arab nation-building at the turn of the twentieth century. We show how al-Mashalānī's work consisted of a cultural process rather than a textual product or linguistic transfer. These translations introduced new social, political and epistemological concepts that were particularly important to societal changes in the Arab world-such as the notion of civil society, the relationship of the public to institutions of law and the police, the pursuit of justice, and ways of dealing with crime in the Western model of law and order-that al-Mashalānī deliberately adapted to the local Arab culture.