Investigating domestication and foreignization in literary Translationالترجمة

Abstract

The study aims to extract the historical status of Arabic and Western literature in the development of translation studies throughout the centuries. It also sheds light on the impact of Arabic literature on the rise of global literature, as it is considered the oldest and richest one. Hence, literary translation attracted the attention of researchers and linguists due to its characteristic of being the most complex, which is not limited only to the transmission of intended words and meanings but also the transmission of artistic and cultural heritage from one language to another. This is what made it more complex in the eyes of translators, similar to other translations. Therefore, the translation of the novel was considered among the tasks that exhausted the seller (the translator) and revived the buyer (the reader) to go through, enjoy, and open the eyes of readers and listeners to cultures and customs they were previously unfamiliar with. These challenges undertaken by the translator are aimed at maintaining the fidelity of the original work while creating a unique version that captivates foreign readers, as it does with the source audience. Simultaneously, the translator strives to preserve the original text's essence, eradicate any loss of its distinctive features, and replace them with elements that resonate with the target culture. Consequently, the translator deems the domestication of the text inevitable, driven by various reasons such as the cultural spirit, religious considerations, and social factors. In this context, the present study focuses on the translator's utilization of Lawrence Venuti's concepts of domestication and foreignization in the translation of Qandil Um Hashem's novel by Yahya Haqqi. Through a comprehensive examination, we assert that the translator employs literal translation, explanation, and transliteration as the most suitable approaches to ensure the preservation of the foreign language without likely breaking any target conventions when it relates to religious or cultural concepts. Additionally, the translator opts to perform adaptation and cultural equivalence to domesticate the text to convey the meaning of the source text in compliance with the linguistic and cultural norms of the target language. This strategic combination of translation techniques enables the translator to strike a balance between fidelity and readability