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: Arabic, English PRO pts in category: 240
|
|