The Routledge Handbook of Persian Literary Translation (original) (raw)
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Routledge, 2022
Translation is a complex decision-making process; perfect equivalence is a “utopian dream,” especially since any two languages are asymmetrical, and most words are polysemous even in the same language (Baer 2019, 59). This chapter begins by discussing different linguistic-oriented approaches to translation, moving to textual considerations, like stylistics, followed by translation universals, then to the translation process, and finally to extraneous considerations, such as translator invisibility or visibility. Subsequently, these discussions are applied to Persian literary translation by discussing comparative linguistics of Persian and English in terms of syntax and lexico-semantics, as well as discourse analysis and pragmatics. Throughout this chapter, genuine examples from Persian literary translations are given, and different kinds of equivalences, as well as the problems that arise in finding these equivalences, are discussed.
Investigation of Literary Translation based on historical periods in Iran
International journal of humanities and social sciences, 2016
Literary translation is the replacement or displacement concepts of literary text a language (source) with its equivalent in another language concepts (target language) as a literary work is no longer in the target language. Literary translation has its own principles, which lack a full understanding of these principles makes the translation of literary desired shape not And it should not be the result of a translation of the source language text indicates similar or close to the original text both in terms of style and what will not semantically. This study is devoted to the literary translation of Iranian literature. The main contribution of this paper is to translate Persian literatures to the other languages such as Arabic and English. The division of the source language text to the appropriate departments and units and adopt a reasonable approach to text translation It can be expected that the translation is very close to the original text and in some cases even better than the...
A CULTURAL AND DISCOURSAL PROSPECT TOWARD PERSIAN LITERARY TRANSLATION ASSESSMENT
THE ROLE OF DISCOURSE AND DISCOURSAL ELEMENTS IN THE FORMATION OF ANY TEXT IS VERY IMPORTANT. MANY SCHOLARS HAVE CARRIED OUT STUDIES RELATED TO THE ISSUE. TRANSFERRING THESE ELEMENTS FROM ONE LANGUAGE TO ANOTHER IS SUCH A GREAT WORK THAT TRANSLATORS FIND IT DIFFICULT TO RENDER AND TRANSFER THE ELEMENTS COMPLETELY. THE LACK OF PERFECT KNOWLEDGE OF THE DISCOURSAL ISSUES AND OTHER CONTEXTUAL ELEMENTS OF A TEXT LEADS TO SOME MISUNDERSTANDINGS AND MISTRANSLATIONS. TRANSLATORS OFTEN RESORT TO ADAPTATION IN ORDER TO DEAL WITH THE SL SITUATIONS THAT DO NOT EXIST IN THE TL BUT IN THIS PROCESS SOME DISCOURSAL AND CONTEXTUAL ELEMENTS OF THE ST COULD NOT BE TRANSFERRED. IT COULD BE CLAIM THAT A NATION’S LITERATURE IS A PART OF ITS DISCOURSE AND CULTURAL ELEMENTS ARE EMBEDDED IN THE LITERATURE. THESE TRANSLATIONAL CONFLICTS ARE MORE OBVIOUS IN CONTEMPORARY PERSIAN LITERATURE. IN THIS STUDY, THE SELECTED PARTS OF “THE GAMBLER” BY “FYODOR MIKHAILOVICH DOSTOEVSKY” WERE COMPARED WITH ITS ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS BY SALEH HOSSEINI TO FIND OUT WHETHER THE DISCOURSE AND OTHER CONTEXTUAL ELEMENTS OF THE SOURCE TEXT HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED IN THE PROCESS OF TRANSLATION.
Strategies Available for Translating Persian Epic Poetry: A Case of Shahnameh
Journal of Language and Translation, 2018
This study tried to find the strategies applied in three English translations of the Battle of Rostam and Esfandiyar. To this aim, the source text (ST) was analyzed verse by verse with each verse being compared with its English translations to determine what procedures the translators had used to render the source text. Subsequently, the frequency of usage for each procedure was measured to answer the research questions. Michele Jones's fourfold classification of poetry translation strategies and Reiss and Vermeer's skopos theory were used as the frameworks of this study; Jones introduces literal, approximation, adaptation , and imitation strategies, ranging from literal which is very faithful to the original form, to imitation that is very free and has little in common with the original. The analyses showed that, regardless of imitation not used in this corpus, the translators of this study had mostly rendered the ST using approximation, with adaptation being the least frequently used method. Translators' paratextual materials, including their fore-and afterwords, were used as the sources for identifying the reason for the application of each strategy. Moreover, we have concluded that, according to skopos theory, translators use different strategies according to the different functions target texts (TT) will have in the target context.
The main objective of the present study was to semantically and syntactically explore translation strategies applied by translators in the translation of chapter nineteen of Vandidad from Avestan to Middle Persian for ritual purposes. To this end, the Middle Persian translation of Vandidad was studied, and the meaning of the words accompanying their syntactic roles in the Avestan language were compared to their Middle Persian equivalents. Then, the strategies applied by the translators were divided into two categories: semantic and syntactic ones. The findings of the study can shed some light on the translation strategies applied in the translation of ancient texts which can be used for deeper and broader scientific inquiry into Iranian ancient languages.
Abstract: Shifts are one of the universals of translation. Vinay & Darbelnet (1997) implicitly divide shifts into obligatory or nonobligatory. Obligatory shifts are the results of the inevitable systembased differences between source text (ST) and target text (TT), whereas non-obligatory shifts (NOS) are related to individual translators’ cultural, stylistic and normative choices. In this study, the NOSs of three professional Iranian translators in three translated novels were identified and their drivers and cumulative impacts were discussed and accounted for. The common NOSs were found to be (1) frequent use of nativized Arabic lexical and functional items, (2) tendency to use various doublets instead of single items (3) style-mixing (4) styleshifting and (5) frequent use of colloquial culture-specific idioms. Iran's long tradition of poetry and poetic prose (nasr-e-mosaja), leakage of contemporary author-translators' styles (their linguistic signatures) and the dominant cultural-linguistic norms of the Iranian community are thought to be the underlying causes of these NOSs
Routledge, 2020
This paper examines linguistic and metalinguistic factors, including culture, that influence translation. First, it discusses the linguistic approaches to translation and their respective prevailing theories, including the Saussurean approach, the Systemic Functional approach, the Generative Dynamic approach, the Psycholinguistic approach, the Cognitive Linguistic approach, and the Relevance Theoretic approach. Then translational universals are explained as an offshoot of linguistic universals. Thereafter, the issue of culture in translation is discussed as per the translator becoming lost not only in translation but also in culture. I focus on the translation of poetry, in particular, because the issues faced by translators of poetry are reflective of universal issues in translation, although not so easily recognized. The essay culminates with a section on untranslatability of both linguistic and cultural kinds, as illustrated in particular in Persian to English translation.
Literary Translation: Old and New Challenges
2012
This paper discusses the main challenges that face literary translation and literary translators. These challenges have been divided into three main categories: Linguistic, cultural, and human. The first type of challenges comes from the nature of the discipline itself since it involves the difficult task of dealing with phonological, syntactic, lexical, semantic, stylistic and pragmatic issues occurring in literary texts whose language is additionally characterized by its linguistic deviation from the norm, especially in its use of figurative language. The second source of challenges stems from the fact that literary translation is primarily concerned with translating culture-bound expressions and concepts which pose one of the most difficult tasks for translators when trying to render them into a foreign language. The third type of challenges is related to the barriers facing literary translation including lack of government funding, poor literary translator training, language and...
LINGUISTIC, CULTURAL AND POLITICAL ACTS IN TRANSLATING LITERARY TEXTS: PRIZES AND PITFALLS
Research Journal of English Language and Literature
While the importance of translation in the postmodern globalized world cannot be overemphasized , the act of translation calls for a unique talent. Translation is best described as a phenomenological act in which a translator seeks to enter the mind of the original author and translates on the basis of equivalence, with as little change to the original as possible. It calls for a certain historical sense and knowledge of linguistic transformation happening over a period of time. The translator has also to be aware of the cultural nuances which are untranslatable. Great translations have always been enjoyed as in the case of The Canterbury Tales. With the passage of time, there are calls to translate texts across the linguistic, cultural, medium and genre-specific barriers. My research shows that of all the considerations, a translation is, broadly speaking, a three-pronged strategy, being linguistic, cultural and political act at the same time. My paper takes up case studies of translations into English of an Urdu and a Haryanvi language text and analyses them from the aforesaid angles, bringing out the benefits and underlining the pitfalls on the way.