A Comparison of Arabic Literature Translation Into English and Swedish
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A Comparison of Arabic Literature Translation into English and Swedish Investigating Domestication in the Translation of Arabic Cultural Words- Imarat Yaqubyan as a case in point Lamia Al Taai Tolk- och översättarinstitutet (TÖI) Examensarbete för magisterexamen, 15 hp Översättningsvetenskap Höstterminen 2011 Handledare: Wadensjö, Cecilia Examinator: Englund Dimitrova, Birgitta A Comparison of Arabic Literature Translation into English and Swedish Investigating Domestication the Translation of Arabic Cultural Words- Imarat Yaqubyan as a case in point Lamia Al Taai Abstract Imarat Yaqubyan is a contemporary Arabic novel that encompasses an intensive and variable Arabic culture; this study contains a survey in tables of cultural words, according to Newmark’s categories, “material culture”, “social culture”, “originations”, and “gestures and habits”, as well as their correspondences in the English and the Swedish translated novel versions. In this tripled language study, Arabic, English and Swedish, I undertake a qualitative comparison between the translation strategies used by each translator of the English and Swedish versions. For this purpose I apply the taxonomy of translation strategies established by Pedersen, which is divided first into SL-oriented strategies categorized into “Retention”, “Specification” and “Direct Translation”, and secondly the TL-oriented that includes “Generalization”, “Substitution” and “Omission”, as well as the “Official Equivalent”. Through my analyses process, I link Newmark’s metaphors types, terminology and the seven procedures of translating metaphors with Pedersen’s strategies. In this study, Pedersen’s SL and TL-oriented translation strategies are considered to correspond to Venuti’s terminology of domestication and foreignization. Conclusions are drawn about the use of domesticating strategies in certain cultural words categories of both English and Swedish versions. The study devises the term “False Domestication”. Keywords Arabic Cultural Words, Arabic-English Translation, Arabic-Swedish Translation, Domestication, False Domestication, Pedersen’s Strategies, The Yacoubian Building, Yacoubians Hus. Sammanfattning Imarat Yaqubyan är en modern arabisk roman som omfattar en intensiv och dynamisk arabisk kultur. Denna studie innehåller en undersökning, enligt Newmarks kategorier “materiell kultur”, “social kultur”, “uppkomst” och “gester och vanor”, strukturerad i översiktstabeller av kulturella ord förankrade i den arabiska kulturen, samt deras motsvarigheter på engelska och svenska i de översatta romanerna. I denna trespråkiga studie – arabiska, engelska och svenska – åtar jag mig en kvalitativ jämförelse mellan översättningsstrategierna som används av respektive den svenska och engelska översättaren av romanen. För detta ändamål tillämpar jag Pedersens taxonomi, vilken har delats upp i översättningsstrategier gällande källkultur/text (SL-oriented), nämligen överföring (retention), specificering (specification) och direktöversättning (direct Translation), samt målkultur/text (TL- oriented), vilka inkluderar generalisering (generalization), ersättning (substitution) och utelämning (omission). Därutöver tillämpas strategin officiell motsvarighet (official equivalent). Genom min analys länkar jag samman Newmarks metafortyper, den gällande terminologin och de sju förfaranden Newmark nämner rörande översättningar av metaforer med Pedersens strategier. I denna studie motsvarar Pedersens SL och TL-översättningsstrategier Venutis begrepp domesticering (domestication) och exotisering (foreignization). Slutsatser dras sedermera angående de strategier som avser domesticeringen av vissa specifika kulturella ord i både den engelska och den svenska versionen. I studien lanseras även begreppet falsk domesticering “False Domestication”. Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................ 1 1.1 Aims .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Translation into and from Arabic Literature .................................................... 1 2. Theoretical Background ....................................................................... 3 2.1 Venuti’s Foreignization and Domestication ...................................................... 3 2.2 Jan Pedersen’s Taxonomy ............................................................................ 4 2.2.1 Determining Analytical Strategies ............................................................ 4 2.2.2 Pedersen’s Taxonomy of Strategies ......................................................... 5 2.3 Newmark’s Taxonomies of Cultural Categories ................................................ 8 2.4 Newmark’s Approaches to Metaphor Translation ............................................. 9 3. Materials ........................................................................................... 10 3.1 The Imarat Yaqubyan Novel ........................................................................10 3.1.1 Imarat Yaqubyan Translators .................................................................10 3.2 Selecting Cultural Words .............................................................................11 3.3 Function of Tables ......................................................................................11 4. Cultural Words Analyses.................................................................... 12 4.1 Material Culture .........................................................................................13 4.1.1 Dress and Cloths ..................................................................................13 4.1.2 Drinks and Foods .................................................................................14 4.1.3 Furniture .............................................................................................15 4.1.4 Geographical Names .............................................................................15 4.1.5 Measurement .......................................................................................16 4.2. Social Culture-Work and Leisure ..................................................................16 4.2.1 Work and Jobs .....................................................................................16 4.3. Social Organization-Political and Administrative .............................................17 4.3.1 Concepts / Islamic Concepts ..................................................................17 4.3.2 Words and Expressions in French ...........................................................18 4.3.3 Institutions ..........................................................................................18 4.3.4 Marriage Contract .................................................................................19 4.3.5 Material Status of Woman .....................................................................19 4.3.6 Metaphor .............................................................................................20 4.3.7 Quotes and Sayings in Dialects ..............................................................21 4.3.8 Relations .............................................................................................23 4.3.9 Religion ...............................................................................................23 4.3.10 Titles.................................................................................................25 4.4 Gestures and Habits ....................................................................................26 4.4.1 Customs ...............................................................................................26 4.4.2 Islamic Customs ....................................................................................26 4.4.3 Greetings .............................................................................................27 4.4.4 Insults .................................................................................................27 4.4.5 Variety of Values ...................................................................................27 5. Results and Conclusions .................................................................... 28 5.1 Analytical Conclusion ..................................................................................28 5.1.1 Material Cultural Conclusion ...................................................................28 5.1.2 Social Culture Conclusion ......................................................................29 5.1.3 Social Origination-Political and Administrative Conclusion ..........................29 5.1.4 Gestures and Habits Conclusion .............................................................30 5.2 Interpretative Conclusions ...........................................................................30 References ............................................................................................ 32 Sources of Material ...............................................................................................32 Bibliography ........................................................................................................32 Holy Books, Dictionaries and Encyclopedia ...............................................................33 Electronic Resources .............................................................................................33 Appendix A ...........................................................................................