Translation Studies
Mahbube Noura; Seyyed Mohammadreza Hashemi
Abstract
This research aims to investigate the extent to which word choice in translation is influenced by intra-textual or extra-textual factors, or whether the use of bilingual dictionary equivalents is adequate for the translator. To this end, the translation of two common adjectives, “Good” and ...
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This research aims to investigate the extent to which word choice in translation is influenced by intra-textual or extra-textual factors, or whether the use of bilingual dictionary equivalents is adequate for the translator. To this end, the translation of two common adjectives, “Good” and “Bad”, in the novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling was analyzed. The findings revealed that word choice in translation is predominantly intra-textual, and that extra-textual word choice, i.e., word choice based on bilingual dictionaries, is not effective in translation - especially in literary translation. The translator mainly relies on the text and the relations in it to select the appropriate words, and this is more evident in the case of some linguistic features of the text. One of these linguistic features is the collocational relation between words, which plays a crucial role in determining the meaning and affecting its textuality.
Abdullah Nowruzy; Mohammadreza Hashemi
Abstract
As a result of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, book publishing mechanisms and other related systems like censorship mechanisms experienced dramatic changes. Despite the due attention of researchers to some aspects of book publishing like the economy of publishing, no research has been conducted on book ...
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As a result of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, book publishing mechanisms and other related systems like censorship mechanisms experienced dramatic changes. Despite the due attention of researchers to some aspects of book publishing like the economy of publishing, no research has been conducted on book regulations in post-revolutionary Iran. Using in-depth interviews with publishers and translators, this study aimed to examine the regulations governing book publishing in Iran. It tried to shed light on the hidden aspects of book publishing regulations and explore the consequences of implementing the regulations. The results showed that among the main problems and concerns of translators and publishers is inconsistency in censors’ decisions, which could be the result of a lack of transparent publication regulations.
Maryam Ghodrati; Mohamamd Reza Hashemi; Omid Azadibougar
Abstract
In the Iranian Constitutional Revolution period, intellectuals played an important role in the creation of changes in the society, and to some degree translation and writing accomplished this mission. There has been much research concerning the role of translation in transferring the contemporary modernity ...
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In the Iranian Constitutional Revolution period, intellectuals played an important role in the creation of changes in the society, and to some degree translation and writing accomplished this mission. There has been much research concerning the role of translation in transferring the contemporary modernity in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution. Yet, the research has failed to offer a translational account of this issue. To fill this gap, it is advisable to examine the issue of modernity from a translation perspective, hence a cross-comparison of translations with original texts can yield new insights. Drawing on Skopos theory and the discourse of modernity, the present investigation attempts to examine modernity in Gil Blas, the novel by Alain-René Lesage along with its translation by Habib Esfahani. The results of the study suggest that despite the important role of translation in igniting some changes, the translation failed to have a successful performance in complete and accurate transfer of modernity ideas.
Nadia Ghazanfari Moghaddam; Mohammad Reza Hashemi; Mahmood Reza Ghorban Sabbagh
Abstract
In any society, patronage always attempts to control and direct materials produced for the young population, and Iran is no exception. Thanks to the large flow of translated children’s literature published in Iran during the 1960s and 1970s, several literary institutions were established to manage ...
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In any society, patronage always attempts to control and direct materials produced for the young population, and Iran is no exception. Thanks to the large flow of translated children’s literature published in Iran during the 1960s and 1970s, several literary institutions were established to manage the flow. They introduced various measures and their policy on award offerings appears to be the most effective one, yet, it has not been fully studied and researched. The aim of this study was to investigate how these institutions’ policy on award offerings had affected translated and domestic children’s books during the early years of their establishment. Accordingly, all award-winning translated and domestic children’s books during the period of 1340/1961 to 1357/1978 were collected from two comprehensive resources, and they were analyzed in SPSS. The quantitative analysis offered insights into major institutions, award winners and qualified publishers. Drawing on discourse analysis, the authors extracted the main themes revolving around award winners and they were compared and contrasted to find any possible harmony. Overall, the results revealed that the institutions preferred to choose children’s books, which were written by Iranian authors, and translated books were not their priority. Additionally, fictions were favored over nonfictions. Their award-offering policy was also ideologically oriented since awarded books contained common themes.
Nasrin Ashrafi; Mohammad Reza Hashemi; Hossein Akbari; Ali Khazaeefarid
Abstract
Novel publishing in Iran has always been accompanied by fluctuations arising from socio-political transformations. The present paper seeks to study Iran’s novel publishing market through the lens of socio-political shifts in Iran before the end of the second millennium. The period studied includes ...
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Novel publishing in Iran has always been accompanied by fluctuations arising from socio-political transformations. The present paper seeks to study Iran’s novel publishing market through the lens of socio-political shifts in Iran before the end of the second millennium. The period studied includes 1997 to 1998, when the reformist administration gained victory after the presidential election of 1997. Given the interdisciplinary nature of this research, two theoretical frameworks have been adopted: Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory and Giddens’ theory of structuration. Moreover, Social Network Analysis was used to study the changes in the field of translated novel and domestic novel publishing. Furthermore, in order to understand the structural and causal factors affecting changes in the publication of the novel during this period, semi-structured interviews with publishers were conducted to investigate the structural transformations from agents’ viewpoints. The results of the study show that the structure of the novel has undergone a number of qualitative and quantitative changes over the two years under review, in which the structural and political impact of the situation has strengthened or restricted the active agency of publishers and authors / translators.
Safoora Navari; Reza Pishghadam; Azar Hosseini Fatemi; Mohammad Reza Hashemi
Abstract
The present study sought to implement the idea of ELT for life among language education practitioners by challenging and materializing the notion of Applied ELT. In so doing, constructing some novel scales seemed inevitable. Highlighting the premises of Life Syllabus, this study devised and validated ...
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The present study sought to implement the idea of ELT for life among language education practitioners by challenging and materializing the notion of Applied ELT. In so doing, constructing some novel scales seemed inevitable. Highlighting the premises of Life Syllabus, this study devised and validated a TPCS-ELLTs (Teachers’ Perceptions of Creativity Scale for English Language Learning Textbooks) with 45 items to evaluate the current English language textbooks regarding the level they increase the creativity of language learners. The TPCS-ELLTs was validated through statistical procedures like Rasch rating model and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) which at last provided a model with a 6-point Likert scale. This scale was administered to a group of 164 EFL teachers at private language institutes. After more investigation, it was clear through Rasch model that, those items having infit MNSQ greater than 1.4 deviate from the expected model and degrade the analysis. Therefore, after changing some items, it was concluded that this scale as a unidimensional model, contains a high reliability and also a correct 6-point Likert. In other words, this scale is a precise measurement of the construct and therefore well-targeted for the sample. Furthermore, some recommendations regarding the implication and conclusions of this study in other fields of language teaching have been pointed out.
Ahmad Sharifi; Mohammad Reza Hashemi; Mahmoud Fotoohi Rudmajani
Abstract
Coleman Barks’ translations of Rumi’s works have played the largest role in Rumi’s popularity, especially among American public audience. Thus, it is very important to study how Rumi’s works are represented in the target language and culture. In this regard, the translator’s ...
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Coleman Barks’ translations of Rumi’s works have played the largest role in Rumi’s popularity, especially among American public audience. Thus, it is very important to study how Rumi’s works are represented in the target language and culture. In this regard, the translator’s approach toward the universe of discourse of a literary work in relation to the universe of discourse of the target audience is an important factor in the representation and reception/rejection of that work in the target community. Therefore, the present research examines how the universe of discourse elements of the Masnavi’s poems are translated and how this has affected the poetic elements. The analysis of Barks’ translation of a poem from the first book of the Masnavi reveals that Barks has either omitted a great portion of universe of discourse elements of the original poem or removed them from their Quranic, Islamic and mystical context. In some cases, he has even changed the universe of discourse completely by conflating the poem with concepts of Taoism. Barks’ approach toward the universe of discourse elements has led to the omission of some poetic elements and the change of content of some others. Barks’ approach can be interpreted in terms of adapting the universe of discourse elements of the original poem to the New Age thinking and the spiritual needs of a wide range of American audience.
Seyyed Mohammad Reza Hashemi; Fatemeh Heidari; Yalda Rezaee Danesh
Abstract
1. IntroductionThis article is an investigation to answer why some plays have been translated in Qajar era. The investigation of the themes and the translators' motivations in these plays links translation studies with sociology. To Chesterman (2009), sociologically investigating the translator's ...
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1. IntroductionThis article is an investigation to answer why some plays have been translated in Qajar era. The investigation of the themes and the translators' motivations in these plays links translation studies with sociology. To Chesterman (2009), sociologically investigating the translator's motivations can contribute to a better understanding of translators' opinions and personal drives; therefore one can find the reflection of these aspects in their choice of translated plays. From a sociological point of view, the socio-political conditions of the society have their impact on the translators' choice. The translator's habitus that is proposed by Bourdieu (as cited in Gouanvic, 2010) is deemed as the main factor in a social practice. Therefore, their motivations are probed in this article.To find the translators' illosio's of the selection of some plays for translation, written by well-known western authors, the socio-political condition of the country in Qajar era is probed to answer the three following questions:1. What was the cultural, social, and political atmosphere like in Qajar era?2. What were the translated plays in that era that were translated for criticizing the social conditions?3. What was the aim of selecting those plays?2. Theoretical Framework Translation has an interdisciplinary nature (Hatim & Munday, 2004) that has ties with many other majors like sociology. These links provide the chance to probe a translated text on various aspects. Sociology gives a good framework to translation studies. According to Gouanvich (2010) theory that is part of Bourdieu's theory, translation is a cultural good that involves many actors and actions;in other words, one can see political, social, and cultural dimensions in it as well.This article applies Bourdieu's (as cited in Gouanvich, 2010) theory as its framework to find the contributing factors in the selection of some plays for translation in Qajar era. His theory is one of the main patterns in sociology that puts a lot of emphasis on the translator's sociology. There are three concepts in his model: field, habitus, and illosio. To wolf (2007), field is the arena of competing forces, the forces which are trying to get to the highest state of a realm. Habitus refers to translators' habits; these habits form the environment and are formed by the environment. They are constructed by the norms of the society and at the same time they are constructing the society. Illosio is the internal ideas and motivations of the translators. The illosio may have its roots in translators' society and his social conditions too. 3. Method To address the research questions that are generally finding some plays with criticizing themes about the cultural, social, and political conditions of the society, the library sources were probed. A corpus of 20 plays which were translated in Qajar era were found and collected to be scrutinized for further details. 4. Results & DiscussionA look at the found details in the study clarifies that the social factors and the local conditions of the country contributed to the translators' choices for translation. Social, political, and cultural factors, among many others, had motivated the informed translators to respond well to the social conditions. They had actually decided to put an end to the bad conditions and improve the social status, the conditions in which law, welfare, health, and security were obviously neglected.People were not aware of their own rights; they were not allowed to have a clear line of thought, and they were not deprived of freedom. They needed a movement to free themselves. This movement started with the translation of and compiling valuable books that gave the thought values. Looking at translation from this point, one comes to see that translation has in fact an independent identity which is a function of time, circumstances, and the translator choices of texts. To Farahzad (2003, p. 33), "translator choices have their roots in his ideology, point of views, opinions, and prejudice which are all related to the social conditions in which he has lived or lives". 5. Conclusions & SuggestionConsidering all the found facts in this article, one can see the prominent status of translation in propagating a sense of critical thinking and increasing the socio-political awareness among people. Analytical investigations of the critical articles in Qajar era show that the authors of these writings had been translators or at least fluent in a foreign language. Further critical translations by other translators or even ordinary people had been affected by these works. These translations have been ways to inform people about the changes in the country, the reasons of not having any social growth, and advancements; and they led to a break from traditional customs and opinions.
Fatemeh Heidari; Masoud Khoshsaligheh; Mohamad Reaza Hashemi
Abstract
Apart from the linguistic ability in translation which has constantly been the focus of scholars in the past decades, many recent arguments and research on translation quality point to the indispensable effect of mental and cognitive aspects of translator on his translation performance. In this paper ...
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Apart from the linguistic ability in translation which has constantly been the focus of scholars in the past decades, many recent arguments and research on translation quality point to the indispensable effect of mental and cognitive aspects of translator on his translation performance. In this paper we sought to implement this psychological approach and to investigate the probable relationship between the new-fangled cognitive concept of narrative intelligence in the area of Translation Studies and translation quality (TQ). The likely relationship between narrative intelligence and translation quality from first language (Persian) to foreign language (English) was probed. In this research 104 undergraduate translation students took part. The findings showed that there exist a significant relationship between students' TQ and their narrative intelligence. All the subcategories of narrative intelligence also proved a significant relation between TQ and narrative intelligence. In addition, there was a significant difference between high and low narrative intelligence translation students participating in this study in regards to their TQ. In the end, the findings were discussed and some implications were indicated.
Nadia Ghazanfari Moghaddam; Mohammad Reza Hashemi
Abstract
Language is a system by which all sorts of thoughts and concepts are transmitted and exchanged. On the other hand, translation performs like a tool which eases this exchange of information and makes it interculturally possible. Yet, the translation of cultural terms and concepts has always been a tricky ...
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Language is a system by which all sorts of thoughts and concepts are transmitted and exchanged. On the other hand, translation performs like a tool which eases this exchange of information and makes it interculturally possible. Yet, the translation of cultural terms and concepts has always been a tricky area of translation practice, and for which numerous translation strategies have been proposed. Newmark has also contributed to this area of translation and suggested many strategies and even classifications. Newmark divides cultural terms and concepts into five categories which assumingly should apply for almost all cultural terms. Through a quantitative and qualitative study we attempted to investigate the application of Newmark's Cultural Categories on Persian cultural terms and concepts. To fulfill this aim, three short stories by Jalal- Ale- Ahmad ( which were enriched with cultural terms and concepts) were selected as the corpus of the present study. At the end, based on the extracted and later analyzed data, the five categories although quite handy, did not apply on all Persian cultural terms and concepts. Eventually, three categories were suggested to compensate the Newmark's model.
