Zahraa Oday Hatem - Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
Azra Ghandeharion - (Corresponding Author), Associate Professor of English Literature and Cultural Studies, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad Associate Professor
Josef Kraus - Assistant Professor, Masaryk University

This article aims to study the shift of context in the adaptation of Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (۱۹۹۹) from its American world into the Arab World of Sami’s The End (۲۰۲۰). Through adapting the novel into an Arabic science fiction series, Dick’s text travelled into a different world. Whereas the novel is set in ۱۹۹۲, San Francisco, America, the fictional setting of the series is ۲۱۲۰, Jerusalem. This change of context is not just a matter of variation. Many forces and factors also accompany this shift indicating the transformations in the adaptation. Benefitting from Hutcheon’s theory of adaptation, this paper demonstrates the idea of transcoding; in other words, it will be shown where the transposition of the novel’s world to the series’ world required a set of adjustments or alterations in responding to several purposes like that of the medium. Furthermore, this issue indicates the notion of indigenization that denotes a wide-ranging of transformations governed by the intercultural encounter like transforming the social and cultural connotations. By focusing on the spiritual and historical values of Jerusalem in the Arab World, this paper is able to highlight the shift of the apocalyptic vision from America as the center of the world in the novel to Jerusalem as the series’ major setting. It is also attempted in this paper to stand behind the power of time and place in re-embodyingthe story of the source text into the new Arabic version, including its religious and political aspects, the characteristics, and the plotline. Therefore, analysing different aspects of The End can show that the transformations applied by adapting the novel were mainly inspired by the socio-political aspects of the current century. It is found that the alteration of the political valance, language, and cultural association were enhanced by indigenizing (Arabcizing) the context of the source text. As a result, the significance of updating Dick’s novel rather than backdating it is to reduce the gap between the early text of the novel and the contemporary Arab audiences.

Adaptation Studies, Science Fiction, Indigenization, Transcoding, Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Sami’s The End