Translation of Culture-Specific Items in Three Chapters of the Holy Quran: The Case Study of Translators with Different L1 Backgrounds

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of English Translation, Ershad-Damavand University,Tehran,Iran

2 Department of Foreign Languages, Language Center, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran

3 Translation Department, Faculty of Social Science, Ershad Damavand University,Tehran,Iran

Abstract

Translation of religious texts, including the Quran, is a topic of interest to Translation Studies researchers. Recently, an increasing number of studies in this field have focused on translating culture within the source text. This study aims to highlight how cultural-specific items (CSIs) are translated in selected chapters of the Quran. To achieve this, data were collected from selected verses of three chapters of the Quran (Al-Baqarah, AL-Imran, and An-Nisa chapters), and analyzed using Ghazala's (2008) model of translation procedures, which was adapted from Newmark's model (1988). The model was employed by English translators with different L1 backgrounds in their translation of the Holy Quran by Pickthall (1986), Dolati (in press), and Haleem (2004, 2005) as British, Persian and Arabic natives, respectively. The meaning of the data was taken from English Shia exegesis by Tabatabai (1985). The most frequently used procedure by all translators was cultural correspondence. While the dominance of cultural correspondence in the analyzed translated verses shows that the three translators attempted to translate culture, insufficient paratextual references may cause partial loss of meaning. The findings showed that L1 background could affect the translator's habitus in terms of translation choices in religious texts. This research has implications for translators, translation educators, teachers and students, as well as policy makers in publishing religious texts.

Keywords

Article Title [العربیة]

ترجمة عناصر ثقافية خاصة في ثلاث سور من القرآن الكريم: دراسة حالة مترجمين ذوي خلفيات مختلفة في لغة الأم.

Authors [العربیة]

  • منا رودشتي 1
  • محمد أمین مذهب 2
  • أمیر قاجاریة 3
1
2
3
Abstract [العربیة]

تعد ترجمة النصوص الدينية، بما في ذلك القرآن الكريم، موضوعًا يحظى باهتمام الباحثين في دراسات الترجمة. في الآونة الأخيرة، ركز عدد متزايد من الدراسات البحثية في هذا المجال على ترجمة الثقافة في النص المصدر. تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى تسليط الضوء على كيفية ترجمة العناصر الثقافية الخاصة في سور مختارة من القرآن الكريم. ولهذا الغرض تم جمع البيانات من آيات مختارة من ثلاث سور من القرآن الكريم (البقرة وآل عمران والنساء) وتم تحليل البيانات باستخدام نموذج أساليب الترجمة لغزالة (2008) المعتمد من نموذج نيومارك (1988)، وقد استخدمه مترجمون ذوو خلفيات لغوية مختلفة في لغة الأم في ترجمة القرآن الكريم إلی الإنجلیزیة: بيكتال (1960)، دولتي (تحت الطبع) وعبد الحليم (2004، 2005) فهم من أصول إنجليزية وفارسية وعربية على التوالي. معنى البيانات مأخوذ من الترجمة الانجلیزیة للتفسير الشيعي للطباطبائي (1985). والطريقة الأكثر استخداماً في ترجمة جميع المترجمين هي التشابه الثقافي. وفي الوقت نفسه، فإن غلبة التشابه الثقافي في الآيات المترجمة والمحللة تدل على أن المترجمين الثلاثة حاولوا ترجمة الثقافة والمراجع النصية غیر المکتملة، الأمر الذي قد يسبب فقداناً نسبياً للمعنى. فأظهرت النتائج أن خلفية اللغة الأم يمكن أن تؤثر على عقلية المترجم من حيث اختيار الترجمة في النصوص الدينية. ولهذا البحث آثار على المترجمين ومدربي الترجمة والأساتذة وطلبة الترجمة، بالإضافة إلى صانعي السياسات في مجال نشر النصوص الدينية.

Keywords [العربیة]

  • التناص
  • العناصر الثقافية الخاصة
  • ترجمة القرآن
  • دراسات الترجمة

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History

  • Receive Date: 22 May 2023
  • Revise Date: 04 June 2023
  • Accept Date: 02 July 2023

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