Translation Studies
marzieh malekshahi; Ghodrat Hassani
Abstract
This paper conducts a postcolonial analysis of A.J. Arberry's 1960 English translation of the Taḏkerat al-awliāʾ (Memorial of God's Friends) by Farid ud-Din ʿAṭṭār. While ʿAṭṭār's 12th-century biographical compilation offers profound insights into Persian Sufi traditions through its portraits ...
Read More
This paper conducts a postcolonial analysis of A.J. Arberry's 1960 English translation of the Taḏkerat al-awliāʾ (Memorial of God's Friends) by Farid ud-Din ʿAṭṭār. While ʿAṭṭār's 12th-century biographical compilation offers profound insights into Persian Sufi traditions through its portraits of Islamic mystics, Arberry's translation reflects mid-20th century Orientalist perspectives common among Western scholars. Through close examination of Arberry's translation strategies—including selective abridgement, extractive appropriation, interpretive additions, mythologizing language, and reductive section divisions—this study reveals how his Orientalist positioning influenced his rendering of the text. The analysis demonstrates how Arberry's ideological framework led him to reshape ʿAṭṭār's work to align with Western expectations and colonial attitudes, thereby reinforcing unequal power dynamics in cross-cultural representation. The paper argues that Arberry's translation choices, from his organizational framework to his selective emphasis, ultimately serve to filter this seminal Persian text through a distinctly Orientalist lens.
Translation Studies
Somaye Delzendehrooy
Abstract
The initiation of translation from European languages in Iran during the Qajar era was driven by the need to acquire new sciences. This motive remains as one of the primary drivers for translation, particularly from European languages, to this day. Therefore, examining the agency of translation in introducing ...
Read More
The initiation of translation from European languages in Iran during the Qajar era was driven by the need to acquire new sciences. This motive remains as one of the primary drivers for translation, particularly from European languages, to this day. Therefore, examining the agency of translation in introducing various sciences to Iran seems essential. This study investigates the agency of translation in facilitating the academic introduction of psychology to Iran during the 1960s. It focuses on the institutions, such as the Safialishah Publication and the Kaviyan journal, and individuals, including the Moshfegh Hamedani brothers and Ali-Akbar Kasmaei, who had agency in this process from 1920-1960. A detailed examination of the translated works along with the activities of these key figures, as well as a study of their introductions, reveals the significant role that translation and translators played in laying the groundwork for the academic establishment of psychology in Iran.
Translation Studies
Roya Monsefi
Abstract
The present descriptive-comparative case study used purposive sampling based on the framework of Tabibzadeh. Fifteen translations of the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn were examined to determine the translators' strategies in transferring the ideological load of the original text and the ups ...
Read More
The present descriptive-comparative case study used purposive sampling based on the framework of Tabibzadeh. Fifteen translations of the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn were examined to determine the translators' strategies in transferring the ideological load of the original text and the ups and downs of social-class conflicts between the characters through their use of language. The narrator of the story was an illiterate boy who spoke in non-standard English which could make the translation challenging for the translators. The analysis of the mentioned 15 translations revealed that when the translators brought the text closer to the conversation by using informal words and conversational syntax, the translation had more coherence, and when the translators used non-standard colloquial words the transparency and fluency of the text were disrupted which could ultimately lead to serious loss in Persian language by introducing unfamiliar words.
Translation Studies
Ali Najafzadeh; Saeed Ameri
Abstract
Theatrical performances, such as lamentation have always been part of Iranian society and have a long history. However, theater as a cultural and modern phenomenon was introduced to Iranian society in the late Qajar period. In theater, the content of the show, the performance or acting style, and the ...
Read More
Theatrical performances, such as lamentation have always been part of Iranian society and have a long history. However, theater as a cultural and modern phenomenon was introduced to Iranian society in the late Qajar period. In theater, the content of the show, the performance or acting style, and the language used to convey concepts are three crucial elements. Historical studies and translation studies have so far addressed various aspects of theater translation. Nevertheless, the role of language and translation in theater in Mashhad, especially from the Constitutional Revolution to the Islamic Revolution, has been virtually ignored. This paper aims to examine the language and translation as two main elements of theater in Mashhad and analyzes what changes Mashhad’s theater experienced from the first performances in the late Qajar period to the Islamic Revolution. In doing so, drawing on a library method, primary sources, including all Mashhad newspapers from the Constitutional period to the Islamic Revolution, such as Aftab-e-Shargh, Azadi, Bahar, Chaman, Khorasan, Seda-ye Khorasan, Nava-ye Khorasan, etc., were investigated and all the themes related to the theater were extracted. Then, using research and secondary sources, the results related to language and translation were presented in a descriptive-analytical manner. Findings suggest that the early forms of theaters in Mashhad were performed in Turkish. Then Turkish translation was replaced by theaters in Persian. In the first Pahlavi era, the translation of Russian works flourished in Iran, and the translation of prominent Turkish, English, and French works was also added to this trend since 1951. During this period, the quality of translation significantly declined as adaptation or free translation became the norm in play translation. In the 1960s, with the emergence of new theater groups in Mashhad, Persian became the dominant language of this art in Mashhad.
Anita Amiri
Abstract
This study aims at improving the literary translation skills of German language and literature students in Iran by presenting effective solutions. The first part of this article elaborates on the concept of ‘everyday culture’ and the considerable implications it has for literature in translator ...
Read More
This study aims at improving the literary translation skills of German language and literature students in Iran by presenting effective solutions. The first part of this article elaborates on the concept of ‘everyday culture’ and the considerable implications it has for literature in translator education. The second part shows how different methods can be used to improve translation quality and reflect the cultural context of literary texts. The contribution of the theoretical section acts as a research hypothesis for the translation of Persian literary texts into German. To test the research hypothesis, an experiment with control and experimental groups was conducted. After the experiment, translations were analyzed. The results of this research are important for improving Iranian students’ knowledge while translating Persian literary texts into German.
Eshrat Sadat Mir Hosseini
Abstract
Political news usually provides ample grounds for ideological confrontations. This research analyzes the strategies used by translators when translating English political texts into Persian and determines translators’ most frequently used strategies. In addition, this study shows how translators ...
Read More
Political news usually provides ample grounds for ideological confrontations. This research analyzes the strategies used by translators when translating English political texts into Persian and determines translators’ most frequently used strategies. In addition, this study shows how translators use several different strategies at once to change a syntactic structure and accomplish their ideological goals. For this purpose, a news item from the Washington Times about Iran-China relations was compared with its Persian translation in Fars News Agency. The analysis was guided by Hatim and Mason’s theoretical framework and van Dijk’s model. The findings show that the most frequently used strategies were expansion, addition, contraction, omission, lexical cohesion, polarization and description of the agent. The translator, however, mainly relied on the two strategies of omission and contraction to polarize the target text.Political news usually provides ample grounds for ideological confrontations. This research analyzes the strategies used by translators when translating English political texts into Persian and determines translators’ most frequently used strategies. In addition, this study shows how translators use several different strategies at once to change a syntactic structure and accomplish their ideological goals. For this purpose, a news item from the Washington Times about Iran-China relations was compared with its Persian translation in Fars News Agency. The analysis was guided by Hatim and Mason’s theoretical framework and van Dijk’s model. The findings show that the most frequently used strategies were expansion, addition, contraction, omission, lexical cohesion, polarization and description of the agent. The translator, however, mainly relied on the two strategies of omission and contraction to polarize the target text.
Mohammad Akhgari
Abstract
The advent of radio and the ability to send audio messages to distant parts of the earth have turned this medium into an opportunity for informing and advertising. That is the reason why global media services began to work rapidly, especially during World War II. Translation is the main pillar of the ...
Read More
The advent of radio and the ability to send audio messages to distant parts of the earth have turned this medium into an opportunity for informing and advertising. That is the reason why global media services began to work rapidly, especially during World War II. Translation is the main pillar of the World Service Channels. Radio Pars Today, affiliated with IRIB World Service channels, has been very active in translating various cultural, political and economic texts into 30 languages, especially after the Islamic Revolution. It has however received lesser scholarly attention because it only sends auditory messages. The current case study presents the researcher’s personal accounts and experiences during his presence in Radio Pars Today and analyzes the role and position of translation in intercultural communication and pinpoints the difficulties of cultural translation. The statical population of the research includes Pars Today’s political and cultural programs and the sample was purposefully selected for the analysis. The results show that translation is the main communicative factor in international media services and translating cultural-specific references is of difficulty due to historical and linguistic differences between the languages. Figurative concepts, metaphors and Islamic terms were the main area of difficulty for translation. Choosing wrong translation equivalents, along with using literal translation can prevent the audience from decoding the foreign message. This is also the case of direct transfer of the original structures and genres, which are sometimes unfamiliar to the audience. Therefore, the unit of translation is not “word” or “sentence” but culture, when it comes to cultural translation.
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 ...
Read More
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 ...
Read More
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.
Masoumeh Mehrbi; Behrooz Mahmoodi Bakhtiari
Abstract
Given the significance of cultural considerations and cultural categories in determining appropriate translation equivalents, this paper discusses the cultuling of ‘insult’ based on Iraj Pezeshkzad’s My Uncle Napoleon translated by Dick Davis into English and the original Persian version ...
Read More
Given the significance of cultural considerations and cultural categories in determining appropriate translation equivalents, this paper discusses the cultuling of ‘insult’ based on Iraj Pezeshkzad’s My Uncle Napoleon translated by Dick Davis into English and the original Persian version of the novel where there can be found so many linguistic segments containing or conveying insulting connotations. Cultuling refers to those pieces of language which are the manifestation of cultural concepts since language is the representation of culture, and it is also bounded by culture. The investigation of insults just like cursing and swearing are common issues in language and culture, especially when considered in two languages. That is the real motive for conducting the present inquiry, and more importantly, perfect translation needs cultural knowledge. As for the research methodology, Del Hymes’s (1967) SPEAKING model as a discourse/ qualitative method as well as frequency effects as the quantitative method were employed. Applying this methodology, the speakers’ motivation for the use of insults is found in this culture. Moreover, the cultural differences leading to and manifested in linguistic differences are discussed. Meanwhile, strategies for appropriate equivalents were laid out. The results are of use and value for the entrenchment of the cognitive-cultural views of translation studies as well as socio-cultural studies of linguistic issues. The data analysis shows that these insults form around the pivotal centers of animals, body part, human characteristics, personality traits, human behavior, dignity, honor, reputation, originality and dependence to family. The results show that sexual(nāmūsi) insults are more frequent for which the cultural explanations were offered.
Reza Kazemian; Mehrdad Vasheghani Farahani
Abstract
Metadiscourse features are considered important elements of discourse that are used to establish communication between different parts of discourse as well as to help audience (readers and listeners) in understanding the functional relationships. The aim of this study was to investigate these metadiscourse ...
Read More
Metadiscourse features are considered important elements of discourse that are used to establish communication between different parts of discourse as well as to help audience (readers and listeners) in understanding the functional relationships. The aim of this study was to investigate these metadiscourse features and to conduct a comparative corpus-based study on some of the most important metadiscourse features in English and Persian. To this end, ten Ted talks, focusing on the political issues in English, were randomly selected and, along with their Persian translations, were added to Sketch Engine corpus software. Hyland’s (2005) framework was selected to analyze and categorize metadiscourse features. In this classification, metadiscourse features are divided into two main categories, namely, interactive and interactional. Transitions belong to the interactive category. The comparative analysis between these elements and their Persian translations suggested that the translation process of these elements can be described in form of two general strategies; literal translation and underspecification. Underspecification process consists of three types, namely, deletion, extension and restriction. Other findings of this study highlighted the significant relationship between the type of underspecification and the type of strategies adopted. Using statistical and quantitative analysis, it was also found that strong transitions are often translated literally, while weak transitions such as “and” are sometimes translated literally and sometimes with underspecification. The findings of this study can be used in future research in the field of corpus-based translation studies and contrastive linguistics.
Leila Tavakoli; HamidReza Shairi; Ali Rabi; Ali Karimi Firuzjani
Abstract
Each translator directs his/her translation choices based on vocabulary substitution and coherence of grammatical structures and by taking into account what intentions the source text holds and the importance of the target culture. Given the fact that the translator is under the influence of an interpolation ...
Read More
Each translator directs his/her translation choices based on vocabulary substitution and coherence of grammatical structures and by taking into account what intentions the source text holds and the importance of the target culture. Given the fact that the translator is under the influence of an interpolation space between source and target languages, the semantic approach was employed to analyze the process of meaning transfer. Given the semiotic definition of translation, which is understood as an intercultural and intertextual relationship, the purpose of the present study is to show that in the translation of The Prophet, the work by Gibran Khalil Gibran’s work, which was translated by Hossein Elahi Qomshei, the culture of both source and target languages play a role, following two converging and diverging semantic systems. The function of the converging semantic system is to preserve the cultural morph of the source text, and the function of the divergent semantic system is to create intercultural anomalies. The question is, however, how cultural elements could facilitate the transfer of meaning within the framework of a discursive value in the abovementioned translation. The novelty of this study lies on the fact that it studied the cross-cultural elements in this translation from the perspective of the semantic sign.
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 ...
Read More
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.
Mohammad Reza Farsian; Nasrin Esmaeili
Abstract
1. IntroductionOne of the ways through which the holy Quran attempts to convey various messages is repetition; this may hold true for a single word, a phrase, or a sentence. The holy Quran was revealed to the Prophet gradually during 23 years. Consequently, it was necessary for a number of phrases and ...
Read More
1. IntroductionOne of the ways through which the holy Quran attempts to convey various messages is repetition; this may hold true for a single word, a phrase, or a sentence. The holy Quran was revealed to the Prophet gradually during 23 years. Consequently, it was necessary for a number of phrases and anecdotes to be repeated in order to guide and nurture people. This demonstrates the fact that Quran is not merely a history book in which an event is described only once and then neglected for the rest of the book, but it is a book of education and humanization; as it is perfectly known that certain events ought to be repeated again and again, given the educational conditions, by looking at subjects through various dimensions and reaching conclusions in every direction. In other words, education sometimes requires reliance on an important matter for a number of times in order to induce a profound impact on the readers’ minds and orient the minds towards more subjects.Of the highly repeated phrases in Quran, “بسمالله الرحمن الرحیم” has been mentioned over 114 times. It has been repeated 113 times at the beginning of 113 surahs, and once in “Naml” surah at the beginning of Solomon’s letter to Belcais. Given the similar appearance of this phrase throughout Quran, one may consider a same meaning and interpretation for the phrase; however, it can also be interpreted according to where it is used in Quran as well as its subsequent verses.2. Methodology Following the analysis of the phrase in Quran in this study, 10 accessible translations of the phrase were examined using the descriptive-analytical method with reference to valid interpretations in order to identify the suitable translation. Ultimately, several recommendations were provided for the correct translation of the phrase.3. Discussion In fact, “بسمالله الرحمن الرحیم” is a part of each surah and is in compliance with its contents. As each surah includes a theme different with others, “بسمالله الرحمن الرحیم” then conveys a different meaning in each of the surahs. Undoubtedly, the purpose of each surah is different from the others, and the purpose remains the same to the end of that surah. As a result, this phrase in each surah denotes the very single intention that is followed in such a surah. Taking into account the significance of the phrase as well as the fact that it contains the Almighty’s name, we should translate the Quran through proper means so as to convey its true meaning to the reader. In this study, 10 French translations of this phrase were analyzed. It was revealed that the translators had only transferred the formal meaning of the words and failed to transfer their true meanings. Consequently, it is essential to examine the meaning of the words in this phrase in order to provide a proper platform for a profound understanding of its true meaning, so that a suitable equivalent could be found in French.4. ConclusionBased on the results of the current study, the researchers have proposed the following recommendations for translating this phrase:Though the phrase consists of only four words, its translation to another language is considerably difficult; in this regard, none of the ten selected translators had been able to offer a correct translation and failed to correctly convey its meaning. These translators could have referred to interpretation books so as to decode such Quranic words and then attempted to transfer their meanings to French. This could have resulted in fewer mistakes in transferring Quranic notions, at least by specifying the semantic difference between the two adjectives, “raḥmān” and “raḥīm”.A sole fluency over Arabic and French is not a sufficient qualification for translation as the translators have to fully comprehend Quranic words and phrases prior to any attempt for translation; doing so requires translators’ complete familiarity with the Quranic language along with using Hadith and narratives in cases where the words are vague or ambiguous.In these ten translations of the phrase, “بسمالله الرحمن الرحیم”, it was observed that the translators had only paid attention to the formal meaning of the words, selecting equivalents that failed to transfer the true meaning of the verse. Subsequently, it would have been better if they had considered such words through a more scrupulous perspective, searching for their hidden meanings as well. Nonetheless, this requires a collective attempt for translation.A more suitable and uniform translation of the phrase could have been provided if there were unvarying, proper dictionaries in the area of translating Islamic texts, specially the holly Quran. The absence of such books has led to the emergence of various translations of a single phrase, as the majority of translators act according to their ideological orientations. Such ideological perspectives of translators could easily be identified through a closer look at their chosen equivalents. For instance, Chouraqui had attempted to use equivalent terms with Hebrew origins in order to translate the words of the phrase. As the Hebrew language belongs to the Jewish community, it can be inferred that he was unable to disregard his ideologies which had affected his selection of words.
Masood Khoshsaligheh; Elmira Soleimani Rad
Abstract
1. Introduction
Collocations are defined as syntagmatic and lexical structures that tend to go together repeatedly (Afshinpoor & Ibn al-Rasul, 2014). In other words, they are a sequence of words whose occurrence together is frequent, and this frequency is to a degree that cannot be considered accidental. ...
Read More
1. Introduction
Collocations are defined as syntagmatic and lexical structures that tend to go together repeatedly (Afshinpoor & Ibn al-Rasul, 2014). In other words, they are a sequence of words whose occurrence together is frequent, and this frequency is to a degree that cannot be considered accidental. Collocations, which play a crucial role in the coherence of various types of texts, are regarded as one of the most important properties of each language (Sharifi & Namvar Fargi, 2012). There are different ways of analyzing translated texts. One way is to examine translations as independent texts with regard to the elements involved in their production. The current study examined a corpus of translated texts, with focus on collocations and their role in the coherence and fluency of translation.
2. MethodologyIn this study, the importance of collocations and their role in contributing to the coherence and fluency of the translated texts were investigated. To this end, the book Twenty Stories by Twenty Nobel Prize Winners was purposively selected. This book consists of twenty stories by twenty different authors, translated into Persian by Asadollah Amraie. The sample of study, including word combinations, were collected randomly from all twenty stories. The analysis of the data was carried out in three phases: 1) the quantitative phase, 2) the qualitative phase, and 3) the descriptive phase. In the quantitative phase, the collocations were examined from the viewpoint of the audience. So, a questionnaire was designed and distributed among 150 participants. The participants were asked to evaluate the collocations both from the perspectives of understandability and commonality. In the qualitative phase, an in-depth interview was conducted with five participants who were professional literary books’ readers. In the descriptive phase, the word combinations were analyzed based on the kinds of lexical combinations that appear in collocation dictionaries.
3- Result and Discussion The results of the quantitative phase indicated that none of the selected collocations were rated as either fully understandable or commonly used. The data from the interview phase indicated that there are ambiguities in some parts of the text. So, the participants considered the translated text as awkward. This tends to indicate inadequate considerations on the part of the the translator in his lexical choices which led to the pitfall of negative transfer of source language structures. This was due to the fact that the words were not collocated commonly, and this challenged the naturalness and fluency of the translation. The readers are forced to read and reread certain segments of the text to make sense of it. It also was revealed that the word combinations are relatively comprehensible but not common and prevalent in Farsi language speech community. It can also be inferred the translator’ choices cannot be attributed to the translator’s creativity in constructing new word combinations, as they are prevalent neither in non-translated texts nor translated texts by professional authors and translators.The study inferred that the translated text as an independent text should be fluid and comprehensible to the target language readers rather than merely reproduce the linguistic structures of the source text. That is why the use of appropriate collocations in the way native speakers use language is a very important issue in the clarity and fluency of translation. It seems imperative that translators should have sufficient knowledge of the target language.The findings showed that one of the most important factors for choosing and accepting a translation is the fluency of the text. The translation should be written in a natural language that conforms to the conventions of the target language. Using unfamiliar and unusual structures should be avoided, and the text should be written in a consistent style. The results of the different phases of the study indicated that the translator has used word combinations that have a low frequency in everyday speeches. As the frequency of these collocational structures is low in Farsi, the text does not enjoy coherence. It is worth mentioning that the study of collocations in translation can have a significant role in the production of natural word combinations that can contribute to more acceptable translated texts.
Marzieh Malekshahi; Ali Khazaifarid
Abstract
1. IntroductionDiscourses and theories are produced in different ways, whether they are produced within the borders of a culture, or imported from a different culture through the channel of translation or other forms of rewriting (e.g. original writing on the imported discourse). In Iran, many modern ...
Read More
1. IntroductionDiscourses and theories are produced in different ways, whether they are produced within the borders of a culture, or imported from a different culture through the channel of translation or other forms of rewriting (e.g. original writing on the imported discourse). In Iran, many modern discourses and theories are products of different types of translations. This does not mean that some elements of these discourses have not been previously present in Persian literary and philosophical works, but it means that such discourses and theories as coherent sets of knowledge, philosophy and theory and with a specific purpose and worldview are products of translation and importation from different cultures. However, few historical studies have been carried out in this regard and even in those few studies the role of translation in introducing new discourses has been totally ignored.2. Theoretical frameworkThe present study aimed to use, as Bandia (2006) suggests, the current theories and methodologies which are developed in the field of history. Thus, among the current theories, Reception Theory, proposed by Jauss (1970), has been suggested and modified to account for the way modern discourses in Iran are received. Following Rundle's (2012) distinction between historical and scientific methods in historical translation studies, the present study aimed to avoid yielding a general account of the role of translation in the immigration of theories and discourses and instead focused on the history of the reception of modern discourses in Iran with a focus on the role of translation among other forms of rewritings. Thus, as Rundle (2012) suggested the results may interest a wider range of audience, historians as well as translation studies scholars.3. DiscussionThe present paper sought to emphasize the transfer of contemporary discourses as an important area in Historical Translation Studies in Iran and suggested it be an essential area for research among Translation Studies scholars in Iran. To this end, first, some of the ideas on the transfer of discourses and the current discussions in the field of historiography were briefly reviewed, and then an attempt was made to adapt Jauss's (1970) Reception Theory to the needs of Historical Translation Studies scholars interested in studying the transfer of discourses.4. ConclusionConsidering the importance of translation in the transfer and development of contemporary discourses, this paper attempted to propose a historical approach to address the issue of the transfer of contemporary discourses in Iran. Adopting a historical approach helps us avoid imposing a pre-existing theory on the data, and thus emphasizes the specific characteristics of the transfer of each discourse. In addition, the emphasis put on using the “Reception Theory” distinguishes it from similar approaches to the problem of the transfer of discourses which seek to examine the impact of imported discourses on the target culture.
Saeede Mohagheghian; Saeed Ketabi
Abstract
1. Introduction The pun refers to the similarity of two or more words in the morphemes with different meanings. The pun, which is used more than other kinds of humor, can be found in not only words but also idioms. Puns that are categorized as language jokes are considered humorous as a result of being ...
Read More
1. Introduction The pun refers to the similarity of two or more words in the morphemes with different meanings. The pun, which is used more than other kinds of humor, can be found in not only words but also idioms. Puns that are categorized as language jokes are considered humorous as a result of being dependent on different meanings. Beside the musical richness that puns add to words, pun jokes could be means of improving learners' interest and ability level and creating a fun atmosphere in classrooms. To benefit from the positive implications of using puns in classrooms it is important to make sure that learners have sufficient knowledge of puns and their different meanings. Considering the paucity of research regarding learners' comprehension of pun jokes in Iran, the present research has made an attempt to fill the gap to some extent.Over the years, translatability of puns has been studied by different researchers. Translatability of puns has been studied by Qafzezi (2013) in the translation of Alice in Wonderland. The findings showed that Albanian translators in Qafzezi's study (2013) had a lot of problems in translating puns. Perez (2008) studied the same issue in the translation of Spanish film titles. He found that sometimes the difficulty of pun translations forced the translators to omit the puns totally and provide a different translation. Saadi's Golestan and the translation of puns in Saadi's Golestan was investigated by OliaeeNia and Ordoodari (2006). The results showed that, despite having some methods for translating puns, sometimes it is not possible to translate them. Although puns and their translatability have been the main focus of many studies, it seems that pun jokes are not studied enough. This is what Laurian (1992) believes and Popa (2005) thinks puns' magical structure is the reason for lack of studies in the areas of pun humors and translation. Lems (2013) considers English to be a rich language in the case of puns and since Persian has the same situation, using English pun jokes in Iran's English language classes can have positive influences on learning. Furthermore, Kilgore (1994) believes that the requisite for benefiting from the positive effects of pun jokes on learning is that learners should reach a high level of understanding of such jokes. 2. Methodology Twenty-one Iranian undergraduate students participated in this study. Among these students, who were 19 to 24 years old, 12 were the students of English Translation and 9 were the students of English Literature. These students were asked to take part in a test with 12 pun jokes. All of the jokes were in English and each contained a pun. The participants were asked to read the jokes and then translate the pun sentence which was underlined in each joke. The participants were also allowed to look up the words they did not know in a dictionary in order to make sure that they would not skip any joke only because the words were new to them. Subsequently, the participants answered a question, the purpose of which was to realize whether they had understood the humor of the joke or not. The question was "why was the joke funny?" A proper answer to this question was the criterion to participants' understanding. Participants' responses to each joke were studied and the results were portrayed on a number of graphs. 3. Discussion The results showed that most of the participants were not successful in translating the puns. In some cases, some of them could not even recognize which word was humorous, and believed that the joke was not funny at all. The participants of this study did not show enough mastery of pun words in English, either in recognizing or arriving at their meanings. As a result, they could not have a proper translation. In some cases, the translations were acceptable but the answer provided for the question showed that the participants were not successful in understanding the humor. In other words, the ability to understand the joke fully depended on recognizing the pun and its different meanings. 4. Conclusions Since the main problem was with the participants and their lack of knowledge in recognizing the puns, to improve the situation, it is better to start with instructional programs enriched with pun humors and use teachers and masters who are interested in carrying out such programs. It can also be a good idea to encourage participants themselves to enrich their process of English learning by using humor books or joke websites. Since jokes can create a friendly and funny atmosphere for learning, it can be implemented to ease the process of learning and be a kind of help for learners. There are some suggestions for further research. Firstly, the effect of teaching humor in English classrooms in Iran on learners' level of interest and participation in learning can be investigated. Another study can focus on whether Iranian English learners learn vocabulary better if humor becomes the tool of instruction. Finally, the relation between Iranian learners' rate of learning and use of humor in English language classes can be studies.
Mazdak Bolouri
Abstract
1. IntroductionThe present study focused on the effects of the women policies adopted by the Reformist and the Fundamentalist administrations on the selection of feminist literary works for translation into Persian after the 1979 Revolution in Iran. The purpose was to assess the influence of power institutions ...
Read More
1. IntroductionThe present study focused on the effects of the women policies adopted by the Reformist and the Fundamentalist administrations on the selection of feminist literary works for translation into Persian after the 1979 Revolution in Iran. The purpose was to assess the influence of power institutions and their policies on the development of translated feminist literature in the Iranian literary polysystem. The two administrations followed very different women policies: the Reformist administration (1997-2005) adopted policies which contributed toward the realization of gender equality and women’s active presence in different areas of social life, and it showed more tolerance toward ideas introduced by Western feminists; the Fundamentalist administration (2005-2013), however, focused on the policy of ‘women in family’ and showed serious opposition with feminism and the ideas rooted in it, encouraging women to adhere to their traditional roles. The study attempted to investigate how such different policies affected the selection and non-selection of feminist literary works for translation into Persian.Lefevere’s (1992) theory of “patronage” was used as the theoretical framework of the study. Patronage is defined as the powers (persons and institutions) that can further or hinder the reading, writing, and rewriting of literature. According to Lefevere (1992), patrons try to regulate the relationship between the literary system and the other systems, which, together, make up a society, a culture. They see to it that the literary system does not fall too far out of step with the other subsystems society consists of. In order to publish their works and distribute them among their readers, the producers of literature should not write anything against their patrons. The ideological component of patronage, then, acts as a constraint on the choice and development of both form and subject matter. The selections of the translator and all those involved in the translation process, including those who make decisions about the selection of texts for translation, are determined by ideologically-based strategies governed by those in power. Before a book is published in Iran, it is required to be sent to a Book Bureau controlled by the administration in order to receive a publication permit. This means that the administration can exert strict control over what is published, and any book which does not match the ideological expectations of the administration might fail to receive the publication permit.2. MethodologyTo investigate how the different policies adopted by the two administrations affected the selection and non-selection of feminist literary works for translation into Persian, a list of “Best Feminist Fiction” (Retrieved in 2016) which consisted of 100 books and was posted on the goodreads website was chosen. The titles of the books were searched on the National Library and the House of Books websites to see which of the books had been selected for translation and which ones were published after they were translated. The publication dates of the published translations were extracted in order to find the number of feminist literary works published under each administration. As for the books which had been translated but not published, the publishers who had sent them to the Book Bureau were contacted to find the reasons behind their non-publication. 3. DiscussionSeventeen novels on the list (19.76%) were translated for the first time under the Reformist administration and thirteen novels (13.26%) were translated under the Fundamentalist administration. All the seventeen novels translated in the first period were published and distributed (100%), while only seven of the thirteen books (53.84%) translated in the second period had the chance to be published. This means that six of the books translated at that time were not published. Contact with the publishers revealed that five of the books did not receive the publication permit and one was not published for economic reasons. 4. Conclusion The results of the study show that the selection of literary works for translation is not an arbitrary and haphazard phenomenon, but is determined by the conditions dominant in the cultural and political system in any society. Under the Reformists, who followed the policy of gender equality and attempted to maximize the presence of women in social life, more feminist novels found the chance to be published, but under the Fundamentalist, who opposed feminism and the idea of gender equality, fewer feminist works were translated and published. The patrons seem to have influenced the formation of translated women literature on two levels: 1) indirect influence, by encouraging the translation of certain works and discouraging translators from translating other literary works; the results of the present study show that not only the selection of works for translation, but also their non-selection is determined by the dominant ideology and the state policies in countries like Iran. 2) direct influence, through the censorship bureaus which control the publication of literary books. It seems that the Iranian literary translators enjoyed more freedom under the Reformists to select and translate feminist literary works, while they faced more restrictions when the Fundamentalists came to power. Textual analysis of the translations of feminist literary works and the manipulations in those works can contribute to the better understanding of the effects of the dominant ideologies on the formation of translated literature in any society.
Samaneh Farhadi
Abstract
1. Introduction In the not so long history of translation studies, scholarship has always had pride of place in the act of translating. Essentially, the weight and authenticity of a translated work may be measured in the amount of research done about and around the work. In other words, the deeper the ...
Read More
1. Introduction In the not so long history of translation studies, scholarship has always had pride of place in the act of translating. Essentially, the weight and authenticity of a translated work may be measured in the amount of research done about and around the work. In other words, the deeper the translator’s research on a work, the more vivid the essence of the text involved, including, among others, its meaning, content, and function. Translation is usually based on the common assumption that the source and target texts are, in one way or another, typically identical; yet, more often than not, translation fortified by scholarship may generate a translated text which may surpass the original, so much so that it may function quite independently. We may also come across translators who not only rely on research while translating, but also depend on research prior to translation. In this article, the author explores both the process and product in Behzad Ghaderi Sohi’s (re)translations of Henrik Ibsen’s dramas by focusing on two aspects of his work, namely, research and dramaturgy before, during, and after the translation process. 2. MethodologyThe present study is qualitative in nature and means to show the role of research and dramaturgy in Ghaderi’s work. After a review of the translator’s authorial, scholarly background, interests, and attitudes, a specific categorization of three (interrelated) elements - para-textuality, intertextuality, and textuality has been contrived to be applied to a data-based exploration of his (re)translations of five Ibsen’s dramas, 1)The Wild Duck, 2) Ghosts, 3) Rosmersholm, 4) Little Eyolf, and 5) When We Dead Awaken, to eventually draw conclusions about the impact force of research and dramaturgy employed by the translator. 3. DiscussionBased on a close reading of the above mentioned texts, the author argues that paratextual parameters as employed by Ghaderi, can be divided into three sub-categories: a) introductions, b) criticisms, and c) footnotes. The first category includes comprehensive prefaces/introductions tagged to the texts by him (or, where necessary, other Ibsen scholars/translators) to promote his readership’s knowledge of Ibsen’s world, in general, and the translated work, in particular. Such detailed introductions typically cover literary analyses of each and every given dramas, with a view to establishing their dialectical relationships within the overall cycle of Ibsen’s plays. The second sub-category of paratextuality (i.e., criticism), refers to explanations and critical points made by Ghaderi within (or prior to) his own translations, sometimes also fortified by making references to other translators’ works. Being quite familiar with the art of dramaturgy, Ghaderi recognizes translation as a kind of performance, yet a linguistic performance. He has illustrated the linguistic processes involved and the problems ahead of the craft of translation as much as he can, aiming at sharing with his readership the strategies and solutions he has already managed to apply to such problems. Such information can be beneficial to researchers and for educational purposes. Footnotes, as the third sub-category of paratextuality, have been further sub-divided, in their own rights, into two different forms: sometimes, the proper names appear in the footnotes while, at other times, potential readers have been provided with certain additional explanations. At another level, Ghaderi’s translations further reflect the role of research and dramaturgy in terms of intertextuality. In a constant attempt to ensure reasonable reactions on the part of his readership, Ghaderi tries to (re)shape the given drama’s meaning by making frequent genealogical and prototypical references to other texts around it; in other words, he resorts insistently to intertextual analyses, be it inner or outer intertextuality. By “inner intertextual analysis”, the author means the interrelationships among different dramas written by Ibsen while "outer intertextuality" refers to the relations of Ibsen’s dramas with other writers’ literary works. Finally, the last analytical layer used in exploring Ghaderi’s (re)translations has been labeled as textuality. An assessment of Ghaderi’s performance at text level displays his success in not neutralizing language varieties of the source texts at both macro and micro levels. Reflecting the informal and colloquial speech forms in writing, recreating language varieties at the two levels of language user and language use, achieving idiomatic renderings and emphasizing on performativity of the target dramatic texts rather than their mere literary aspects, among others, are the most important characteristics of Ghaderi’s translations at the level of textuality. 4. ConclusionAs stated earlier, the present article has been an attempt to show the role of research and dramaturgy in Behzad Ghaderi Sohi’s (re)translations of five Ibsen’s dramas. Ghaderi’s works reflect at least five different translation strategies employed in rendering Ibsen’s dramas. He has adopted a specific approach which does not necessarily result in so-called faithful renderings – he has his own views about faithfulness - but entails creating experience-driven translations, experiences derived from the translator’s deep and close readings of dramatic literature, in general, and, of Ibsen’s dramas, in particular. The provision of introductions, criticisms, and footnotes as well as his unique, detailed explanations at the intertextual level offer sufficient evidence that he, as a translator, has always been anxious to consider the significance of research in translation. Bearing in mind the significance of such qualities as reflecting informal and colloquial forms in the written variety of language or recreating linguistic varieties at both levels of language user and language use, the author suggests that a thorough examination of Ghaderi’s translations may always be inspiring for students and scholars because it shows his focus on the representation of essential elements of drama on a stage, that is, the final arena for dramaturgy.
Abbas Emam
Abstract
1. Introduction Since the late 1990s, the world has been experiencing a gradual involvement into an emerging trend of translation-related activities; a transition from “translation” and “interpretation” towards “media translation”. This has been a period characterized ...
Read More
1. Introduction Since the late 1990s, the world has been experiencing a gradual involvement into an emerging trend of translation-related activities; a transition from “translation” and “interpretation” towards “media translation”. This has been a period characterized by an ever-increasing momentum in dubbing, voice- over, subtitling, etc. with regard to a multitude number of movies, TV series, documentaries, multi-media factoids, and the like. These obviously require domestication/deforeignization of the materials. According to Venuti (1995, p. 20)“domestication” is defined as “an ethnocentric reduction of the foreign text to target language cultural values, bringing the author back home”. Thus, domestication involves some sort of manipulation in a foreign text aimed at reproducing it to serve the recipient language and culture. Recent sources on the issue too appear to comply with this perspective(Ramieri,2006; Tymoczko,1995; Ulrych,2000).American directors were in fact among the first to elaborate on issues related to the linguistic barriers confronting movie productions, as well as the challenges involved in dubbing animated cartoons(Chiaro,2009), later to be followed by linguists and researchers into translation studies(Denton &Ciampi,2012). Helgren(2007),for one, did research on allusions used in the animated cartoon The Simpsons. Another researcher, Gall(2012) carried out a comparative study on the original English version of Chicken Runversus its Romanian and Hungarian versions. Bruzdziak(2009) too highlighted the conceptual changes taken place in translating verbal expressions in Shrek in its Polish dubbing. A number of animated cartoons were also analyzed by Burczynska(2012). The same research line was followed by Song(2012), and Nachkebia(2012). In Iran, however, to the best knowledge of the present researcher ,only a very few articles and still fewer theses have so far been devoted to such an emerging field of inquiry: the first, a study by Qumi (2009),the second, a thesis by Javadi(2010), and the third by Jamalimanesh, Fatholallahiand Rahkhoda(2010).2. MethodologyWith an eye on domestication literature in translation studies (e.g.,Ramieri,2006; Ulrych,2000; Venuti,1995), in this study we intend to show in what ways and to what extent domesticating techniques are used by Iranians involved in the dubbing industry. A classification of eight techniques is also offered. Two research questions are formulated: one, dealing with the identification of the overall domestication techniques being adopted, and the second ,with the identification of the most frequent ones. To this end, three Persian dubbed animated cartoons Barnyard, Panda Kung Fu, and Hoodwinked were selected. Their original English version scripts were obtained from the relevant online sources. Later on, each of the English vs. Persian version pairs was independently compared and contrasted to arrive at a list of the most frequent techniques employed in Iranian animated cartoons.3. DiscussionThe data revealed that Iranian translating/dubbing agents tend to adopt a technique from among the eight ones specified below to domesticate and/or deforeignize non-Iranian animated cartoons:1. Substituting original English foods and drinks with Iranian ones2. Substituting original English dialects with Iranian social/geographical ones 3. Substituting original English non-idiomatic expressions with idiomatic Persian expressions4. Substituting original English non-idiomatic expressions with Persian neologistic slang expressions5. Substituting original English idioms with Persian slang expressions6. Substituting original English songs/lyrics with Iranian folk songs or contemporary lyrics7. Adding linguistic elements with no counterparts in the original English script8. Omitting particular cultural and/or linguistic elements from the original English scriptThe results of the present study revealed that in Iran, by and large, translation and/or dubbing of the English animated cartoons are done in ways, giving the impression as if the original English scripts were written in Persian.4. ConclusionIt could be claimed that Iranian translators of English animated cartoons tend to manipulate western English original scripts in ways which facilitate maximal domestication / Iranization of the materials to make the plot more believable and native-like. That is typically crystallized by making use of as many instances of Persian idioms ,slang ,colloquial expressions, as well as proverbs ,as possible. The findings of this study are likely to comply with “skopos” as suggested by Vermeer(1984/2004). On the other hand, it might be argued that the translation and dubbing of the above movies are so carefully done that their Iranian Persian-speaking viewers could hardly sense the “presence” and /or “visibility” of the translators.
Mostafa Hosseini
Abstract
1. IntroductionUndoubtedly Omar Khayyam is the most famous Persian poet in the West. His fame, on the one hand, rests upon his aphoristic and epigrammatic poems involving universal and enduring themes and subjects which are written in concise and rhythmic forms. On the other hand, Edward FitzGerald’s ...
Read More
1. IntroductionUndoubtedly Omar Khayyam is the most famous Persian poet in the West. His fame, on the one hand, rests upon his aphoristic and epigrammatic poems involving universal and enduring themes and subjects which are written in concise and rhythmic forms. On the other hand, Edward FitzGerald’s (1809- 1883), the Victorian English poet-translator, masterly and poetic rendering made them on every tongue. No doubt Omar Khayyam had the greatest impact on literature and society in English speaking countries. Omar’s poems, through FitzGerald’s adaptation, borrowing John Dryden term, gradually traversed the western literatures and societies. Perhaps Omar Khayyam, as an “other”, provided a mirror through which the West saw itself. According to Charles Eliot Norton (1869) the poem “reads like the latest and freshest expression of the perplexity and of the doubt of the generation to which we ourselves belong (567).”2. DiscussionThe present paper tries to analyze the Persian translation of one of Encyclopedia Iranica entries. To do so, the present author has tried to discuss it through the prism of fluency, fidelity, and exactness. This entry, which is written by Jos Biegstraaten, is entitled “Omar Khayyam: The Impact on Literature and Society in the West”. This entry has been translated by Mostafa Sedaghat- Rustami and has been published by a monthly magazine named Golestane (June, 2014, 131, 67-69). Jos Biegstraaten (2015) wrote this essay, on the request of Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor in cheif, for Encyclopedia Iranica. This papers deals with the impact of Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam on literature and society in the West, that is to say, in England, America, France, Germany, and Netherlands. According to Biegstraaten, his influence in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was vast and tremendous. Although, these days, its fame has declined slightly, it is still one of the most popular poems in the English language. Omar’s poem has inspired freethinkers, pictorial artists, composers, and poets all over the world.Jos Biegstraaten, one of the brilliant Omar-scholar in Netherlands and the head of The Dutch Omar Khayyám Society, has authored some scholarly and path breaking books and papers on Omar and FitzGerald poem. Some of his seminal papers are as follows: a) “Omar with a smile”, (Biegstraaten, 2005); b) “Omar Khayyam: Impact on Literature and Society in the West”, (Encyclopedia Iranica, 2008); c) “How Umar Khayyám Inspired Dutch Visual Artists”, (Seyyed-Ghorab, 2012). Entry-writing is a difficult and laborious task. It requires special training and can’t be done by everyone. Interesting to say, in some languages there is a separate word, encyclopedist, for someone who is an expert in it. In the same way, the translation of an encyclopedic entry entails some qualifications and is a hard nut to crack. First, one must have a good command of the source and target languages. Second, one must have a flair for writing. Third, one must be familiar with the area which is translating. Therefore, translating Iranological texts is not an exception, and cannot be done by someone who does not know the basics of this area.Unfortunately, this translation is full of errors and mistakes. I’ll mention some of the seminal ones. For example, many proper nouns are mispronounced and misspelled, some of the titles have been left untranslated, and some of the sentences are misunderstood and then mistranslated. The present author has tried to find and categorize them under seven separate titles: 1) mispronunciation and misspelling of French nouns (six items), 2) mispronunciation and misspelling of German nouns (nine items), 3) mispronunciation and misspelling of English nouns (seven items), 4) mispronunciation and misspelling of Dutch nouns (two items), 5) Untranslated titles (three items), 6) mistranslated titles (seven items), and 7) incorrect translation of some sentences (five items). Also, after each section some suggestions and explanations are added. It is worth noting that the last part (that is to say, part 7) does not encompass all the cases. To name only a few, just some of them are included. Also, in this part at first the English text then the Persian translation and finally the suggested translation are added. It must be born in mind that the suggested translation is not at all the final translation of the sentences.3. ConclusionIn short, translation is an important task, and mastering it needs time and effort. The practitioners of this laborious job must be patient and assiduous. Needless to say, cursory translations are misleading, mostly for the young readers, and can lead them astray.
Samaneh Farhadi; Alireza Khanjan
Abstract
1. IntroductionIn recent years, thanks to efforts made by such scholars as Maria Tymoczko, translation studies has started a movement towards reacting to Euro-centrism in the discipline. The movement stresses the necessity for internationalization of translation theory and the significance of taking ...
Read More
1. IntroductionIn recent years, thanks to efforts made by such scholars as Maria Tymoczko, translation studies has started a movement towards reacting to Euro-centrism in the discipline. The movement stresses the necessity for internationalization of translation theory and the significance of taking into account translation traditions all over the world. The authors of the present paper do believe that if we, too, as the Iranian, are going to play a decent role in the expansion of the translation theory and development of translation studies, then we should first achieve a comprehensive knowledge of translation traditions all through the Iranian cultural history. In line with the necessity for such type of research, we have tried to show that Sa'di in his book, Gulistan [Flower Garden], besides being an author and a poet, has functioned as a translator as well. In so doing, the paper has been inspired by the theoretical framework of 'micro-history' in order to provide appropriate answers to three essential questions: (1) Has Sa'di ever made use of the art of translation in his Gulistan? (2) If yes, what translation strategies have been employed by him and is it possible to compare such strategies with recent achievements of translation studies as a modern discipline? And (3) Is Sa'di’s translation approach in conformity with the dominant translation norms of the time?2. MethodologyThe present study is qualitative in nature as inspired by the analytical framework of micro-history. In order to understand Sa'di's responses to cases of linguistic hybridity throughout the text of Gulistan, all Arabic expressions, sentences and poems have been studied in full to see if such hybrid forms have anything to do with translation.3. DiscussionBased on the data collected, we have argued that there are 4 different types of inter-lingual translation in Gulistan: (1) zero translation, (2) hidden translation, (3) free translation, and (4) source-oriented translation. ‘Zero Translation’, as intended in the paper, involves some verses of the holy Quran as well as expressions and poems that Sa’di has preferred or has been obliged to keep them in their original Arabic form without any Persian translations. We may possibly attribute Sa’di’s zero-translation strategy to the high frequency of occurrence of such Arabic expressions in the Persian language community of the time resulting in the intertextual familiarity of the target readers in question, so as to say that, Sa’di has felt no need for rendering such expressions into Persian. Some cases of zero translation in Gulistan refers to Quran verses and Nabavi Hadiths where such a decision may be attributed to Sa’di’s observation of the past literary, religious, and cultural tradition, on one hand, and his being in line with literary and cultural norms agreed by some influencing figures of literature of the time, on the other. In an attempt to find a solution for resolving the religious or normative impasse of translation of holy texts, Sa’di resorts to another strategy labeled as ‘Hidden Translation’ where the original form of the Quran verse or the Nabavi Hadith is absent and Sa’di has only mentioned its translation. Hidden translation, as intended in the paper, refers to any fragment that has passed through the filter of translation but its target version has been hidden by any reason(s). In other words, in hidden translation, there is a source text but there is no formal co-occurrence of the two texts (i.e., the source and target texts) involved. The third type of translation in Gulistan is ‘Free Translation’. We have found out, through analyzing the data, that the most frequent translation tendency in Gulistan has been free translation; a finding that can be analyzed within the scope of ‘self-translation’ framework. Self-translation is a text “authored by a writer who can compose in different languages and who translates his or her texts from one language into another” (Hokenson & Munson, 2007, p.1). And finally, the last type of translation employed in Gulistan is what we have labeled as ‘Source-oriented Translation’. In this type of translation, Arabic expressions have been translated into Persian through a formally and semantically close rendering in a way that Sa’di has not only sufficed to the transfer of the themes in question but has also recreated as precisely as possible the meaning of each and every single Arabic expressions in the form of Persian equivalents and even Persian grammatical structures.4. Conclusion As stated earlier, Sa’di has experienced different translation strategies in rendering Arabic expressions and sentences. In limited cases, he has adopted a more faithful approach to the source text resulting in a ‘source-oriented’ translation while in most cases, he has resorted to a ‘free translation’ method, more specifically in rendering his own writings within a self-translation process. The co-existence of both plain, uncomplicated prose translations as well as magnificent rhymed translations in Gulistan provides sufficient evidence that Sa’di, as a translator, has always taken into consideration his own high-level standards of authorship. What we may acquire by examining Sa’di’s translations, more specifically his unique source-oriented translations from Arabic to Persian or vice versa, shows that a distinguished translator can potentially and simultaneously pay attention to both the source and the target systems without decreasing the quality of the resulting work. This capability is exactly why one may rank Sa’di as a top global translator all through the history of translation.
Mohammad Reza Farsian; Mahshid Jafarzadeh
Abstract
1. IntroductionGustave Flaubert, the leader of realism and the modern novel, is an influential French novelist. It should be noted that the careful attention in choosing the words distinguishes his style from other writers. His biggest concern in life is social problems. His masterpiece Madame Bovary ...
Read More
1. IntroductionGustave Flaubert, the leader of realism and the modern novel, is an influential French novelist. It should be noted that the careful attention in choosing the words distinguishes his style from other writers. His biggest concern in life is social problems. His masterpiece Madame Bovary is a novel which influences many famous romans. Although some of his works have been translated into Persian, these works have been translated again and again which means his works have the important place in Persian literature. This article will attempt to examine the position of the author, his work, and his influence on Persian writers and their styles.2. Theoretical FrameworkGustave Flaubert is are a list, social and political writer. Flaubert loved literature when he was a young boy. He started writing and created some books that became masterpieces. These were often fanciful stories with the theme of autobiography (autobiography) (i.e. Asmar[Smarh]). His interest in writing history was influenced by his teacher in high school. He went to Paris to study legal rights after completing high school at the age of 18. Death of his father, sister, and his passionate love of Mrs. Eliza Schlesinger (Elisa Schlésinger) influenced his esprit because he did not forget it. That is why his novels are the mirror of his life. Elisa Schlesinger inspired works such as Diary of a madman (Mémoires d'un Fou) (which depicts mystical love), November (Novembre) (which tells the love of land and physical love), and Sentimental Education (L'Éducation sentimentale). He always detested the bourgeois class. He attacked bourgeois type with the character of Homais (Homais) in Madame Bovary (Madame Bovary).The collection of his works can be divided into three categories: the first category is anti quityi son which Salammbô (Salammbô) and Hrvdya (Hérodias) reflect. The second category of works of art such as the legend of St. Julian (La légende de Saint Julienl' Hospitalier) and third category is fictional works such as the Temptation of Saint Antoine (La Tentation de Saint Antoine). At first glance, a kind of contradiction is evident in Flaubert’s work; however ,there is one thing in common behind these different works, and that is the beauty of art.Realistic styles, literary arrays, the structure of rich sentences and deep psychological analyzes illustrate the features of his writing. Deep Flaubert’s thoughts influenced the worldview of the other great writers and writing styles .In writing Madame Bovary, Flaubert opens new windows to realism. Throughout this book, Madame Bovary, the blame against romanticism is evident. Despite the fact that Flaubert inherited his writing style, words, and songs from Romantics, finally he concluded that he should harness the power of his imagination. This article describes the researches on translations of his works too.3. MethodologyIn this article ,first we intend to introduce Flaubert and realism school and we consider their impact on Persian literature. In doing so, the East impact on Flaubert and his writing techniques are examined. Then, the history of translation, its evolution, and the factors involved in translations are exhibited. This article attempts to survey all of the Flaubert’s translations as far as possible.4. Results& DiscussionThere is no doubt that a lot of research on Gustave Flaubert and his work has be end one. We sometimes encounter more than 10 different translations of his novels. Despite the fact that Flaubert is one of the world's great authors, his books were translated into Farsi very late; however, this issue can also be very beneficial. It is important that the translators have their own styles. 5. Conclusions& SuggestionsGustave Flaubert is one of the greatest novelists. Flaubert's careful choice of words and figure of speech is unique and clearly shows the excessive obsession of Flaubert in the creation of a literary work. Translations of western writers altered the writing style and fiction in Iran so that the role of other writers out shines that of Flaubert. However, Flaubert’s work could not be successful (in Iran). Like Balzac the folk did not pay attention to his masterpieces; however, Madame Bovary gained big success among Iranians, and his books were translated into Farsi one after another.
Samir Hassanvandi; Mojtaba Askari; Asma Alishvandi; Zahra Jannessari Ladani
Abstract
1. IntroductionThe present study aims to investigate the potentials of two significant translation paradigms in children’s literature: 1) Skopos paradigm; and 2) equivalence paradigm. The former seeks equivalence in the source text while the latter seeks it in the target text. To this end, three ...
Read More
1. IntroductionThe present study aims to investigate the potentials of two significant translation paradigms in children’s literature: 1) Skopos paradigm; and 2) equivalence paradigm. The former seeks equivalence in the source text while the latter seeks it in the target text. To this end, three translations of “The Little Prince” by Mohammad Ghazi, Ahmad Shamlou, and Abolhassan Najafi were analyzed. The results showed that the translation by Shamloo, unlike the two other translators, was target-oriented and is based on the Skopos paradigm which fully considersthe children as its specific audience. The two other translators adopted a text-based approach in their translations and sometimes used words and phrases that were complex for children to understand. These two translations might conveniently fall under the equivalence paradigm. The findings indicate that Skopos is a more exhaustive paradigm when dealing with children’s literature as compared with the equivalence paradigm. 2. Methodology Adopting a qualitative approach, this study analyses three translations of the Little Prince's story. to do so, the excerpts of the original text and three of its translations (i.e Abolhassan Najafi, Mohammad Ghazi, and Ahmad Shamlou) were analyzed. The theoretical frameworks used in this study are two important paradigms in translation studies, namely the equivalence and Skopos paradigms. In fact, the selected translations were analyzed from the perspective of these two paradigms.3. DiscussionBased on the analysis of the three mentioned translations of the story, it can be concluded that the extent to which a chlidlren literature story might be successful is highly related to its particular audience, namely the children. The language should be simple and understandable and avoid any kinds of complexities. In this regard, Nida (1969) believes that “the differences between the translations can usually be attributed to three main factors: 1) the nature of the message; 2) the aim(s) of the author and by proxy, the translator; 3) thetype of audience” (as cited in Hatim &Munday, 2004, p. 164)In children's literature, the nature of the message, the purpose of the author (translator), and the audience is very clear. Nida (1969) also believes that the decoding ability in any language includes four following levels“1)the capacity of children, whose vocabulary and cultural experience are limited; 2) the double-standard capacity of new literates, who can decode oral messages with facility but whose ability to decode written messages is limited; 3)the capacity of the average literate adult, who can handle both oral and written messages with relative ease; 4) the unusually high capacity of specialists (doctors, theologians, philosophers, scientists, etc.), when they are decoding messages within their own area of specialization. Obviously a translation designed for children cannot be the same as one prepared for specialists, nor can a translation for children be the same as one for a newly literate adult” (as cited in Hatim &Munday, 2004, p. 166). According to Nida , children have the least ability to decode the message than the other three groups. Thus, in translations for children this essential point should be taken into account. The three analyzed translations revealed that the translation by Shamlou paid more attention to the children as compared with the two others translations. Using simple words, dynamic, and fluent language, he provides a fluent translation which is devoid of complexity and easier to understand for children. But the two other translations by Najafi and Ghazi have taken a different approach as compared with Shamloo and have more complex words and a language that makes it difficult for children to understand. Based on the analysis, Shamlou’ stranslation can be considered under Skopos paradigm, whereas the two other translations have an equivalence-based approach and are classified under the equivalence paradigm. 4. ConclusionThe present study analyzed three translations of “the Little Prince” story under the equivalence and Skopos paradigms. In the end, it was revealed that the translation by Shamlou is more fluent and reader-oriented. Using words such as “Akhtarak”, “Kavir”, “Sahra”, and so forth, Shamlou has provided a more understandable translation for his specific audience (i.e. children) and adolescents who have limited vocabulary and cultural experience. Shamlou has also attempted to translate the text in a colloquial style; therefore, decoding the messages is simpler for children with low literacy levels. Thus, Shamloo, categorized under the Skopos paradigm while taking into account his specific audience (i.e. the children who have little cultural experience), has provided a more fluent translation. The other two translators adopted a text-based approach in their translations and sometimes used words and phrases which complicated the text for children to understand and follow. The translations provided by these two translators should be considered under the equivalence paradigm.
Hamid Reza Shairi; Babak Ashtari
Abstract
Translation is an active process in which a meaning is transferred from a source to a target language. During this process, meaning must have accordance with two main semantic sub-systems: signification and evaluation. Signification is related to a signified unit of a linguistic sign and its encompassing ...
Read More
Translation is an active process in which a meaning is transferred from a source to a target language. During this process, meaning must have accordance with two main semantic sub-systems: signification and evaluation. Signification is related to a signified unit of a linguistic sign and its encompassing properties known as seme. However, evaluation includes a range of different actualizations from more tangible referential properties to the most abstract ones. In this research, which is specially marked for its concentration on semantic features and their relationship with evaluation attributes (or values), we will have a look on afferent and inherent semantic features, notions first used by Rastier, and considering the inborn interculturality of translation, we will establish an explanation, in a semantic framework, about meaning-making process and its variations in practice. In this regard, we assume that inherent features satisfy initial needs of translation while afferent properties are for answering its essential needs. Yet evaluation systems and semantic values can always interfere with the discourse meaning-making process during translation and break the boundaries of semantics. The purpose of the present article is to provide an analysis of the semantic features and their status in translation studies based on textual values and evaluation systems of the target language and its culture.
