Edward FitzGerald s translation of Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám a critical study of text and reader response

Abstract

The work is an attempt to critically examine Edward FitzGerald s translation of Omar Khayyám s Rubáiyát in the light of Reader Response theory. Not only did he translate the Quatrains but he interpreted and recreated those quatrains through his perceptive vision. In this complex act of trans-creation, he was visibly informed by the currents and undercurrents of the nineteenth century Victorian doubt and conflict. He depicted a new face of Khayyám which has led to two approaches of interpretation and perception in western academia. A group called him Hedonist and another designated him to a mystic and Sufistic category. The thesis argues that Omar Khayyám is neither Hedonist nor Mystic but an oriental philosopher and Edward FitzGerald s translation of Rubáiyát is the direct outcome of Victorian society, thought and culture. newline