The Transformation of al-Idrīsī’s Nuzhat al-Mushtāq in the Atlases of ʿAlī al-Sharafī of Sfax

Abstract

AbstractThis article analyzes the ways in which ‘Alī al-Sharafī of Sfax, an atlas author of the sixteenth century, adapted excerpts from the work of the twelfth-century geographer Muḥammad al-Idrīsī as well as features of medieval European portolan charts. The article pursues a translation studies approach. It argues that, through the adaptation of both textual and graphic elements from Idrīsī’s work and the incorporation of other graphic and cartographic elements, al-Sharafī was in fact engaging in a practice of cultural translation which resulted in a unique and innovative textual and cartographic oeuvre. As such, al-Sharafī should be regarded not simply as a passive copyist of textual and cartographic elements, but indeed as an author who engaged in the creative re-signification of the traditions and practices that informed his work.