Strategies Available for Translating Persian Epic Poetry: A Case of Shahnameh

Journal of Language and Translation

مقاله 6، دوره 8، شماره 2، تیر 2018، صفحه 71-83   

نوع مقاله: Research Articles

نویسندگان

Rasoul Firouzi^* ؛ Salar Manafi Anari

Allameh Tabataba’i University

چکیده

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 ques- tions. 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, adapta- tion, 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 imita- tion 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 strat- egy. 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.
 

کلیدواژه‌ها

Approximation؛ Michele H. Jones؛ Shahnameh؛ Skopos theory؛ Translation strategies

سایر فایل های مرتبط با مقاله

6-Rasoul Firouzi -71-83.pdf

مراجع

Aristotle. (1907). The poetics of Aristotle (S. Butcher, Trans. 4 ed.). London, England: MacMillan.

Bahraman, M., & Erfaniyan Qonsuli, L. (2017). Metaphor and translation: A case study of the story of Zal and Simorq in the Shahnameh. Applied Science Reports, 17(1), 8-11. doi:10.15192/PSCP.ASR.2017.17.1.811

Baker, M., & Malmkjaer, K. (1998). Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies. London, England: Routledge.

Bassnett, S. (2014). Translation. London, England: Routledge.

Benjamin, W. (2000). The task of the translator. In L. Venuti (Ed.), The translation studies reader (pp. 15-25). London, England: Routledge.

Bly, R. (1982). The eight stages of translation. The Kenyon Review, 4(2), 68-89.

Dehbashi, M. R. (2010). An investigation of Davis' translation of Shahnameh, Rostam and Sohrab Story in focus. Language in India, 10(10), 451-468.

Ferdowsi, A. (1910). The Sháhnáma of Firdausí (A. G. Warner & E. Warner, Trans.  Vol. V). London: Trubner.

Ferdowsi, A. (1999). In the dragon's claws : The story of Rostam & Esfandiyar, from the persian book of kings (J. W. Clinton, Trans.). Washington, DC: Mage.

Ferdowsi, A. (2007). Shahnameh: the Persian book of kings (D. Davis, Trans.). New York, NY: Viking.

Frajlich, A. (2006). Between dawn and the wind. Austin, TX: Host.

Ghadery, K. (2010). Strategies adopted in the English translations of Khayyam's Ruba'iyat. (Unpublished Master's Thesis), Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran.

Hanson, H. (1992). The translation of poetry. Translation Review, 38-39(1), 28-34.

Holmes, J. S. (1994). Translated!: Papers on literary translation and translation studies. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Rodopi.

Jones, M. H. (1997). The beginning translator's workbook or the ABC of French to English translation. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

Lefevere, A. (1975). Translating poetry: Seven strategies and a blueprint. Assen, the Netherlands: Koninklijke Van Gorcum.

Lewis, F. (2015). The Shahnameh of Ferdowsi as world literature. Iranian Studies, 48(3), 323-336.

Manafi Anari, S. (2001). An approach to the English translation of literary and Islamic texts (Vol. 2). Tehran, Iran: SAMT.

Mashhady, H., & Noura, M. (2012). A case study: Translation problems in the story of Rustam and Sohrab based on Warner & Warner translation. English Language Teaching, 5(9), 115-121. doi:10.5539/elt.v5n9p115

Mohammadi, B., & Keshavarzi, A. (2016). Cultural translatability and untranslatability: A case study of translation of “Rostam and Sohrab”. Journal of Global Research in Education and Social Science, 6(3), 138-147.

Nabokov, V. (2000). Problems of translation: "Onegin" in English. In L. Venuti (Ed.), The translation studies reader (pp. 71-83). London, England: Routledge.

Rahimzadeh, G. (2008). Strategies applied in translating Shahryar's Heydar Babaya Salam into English. (Unpublished Master's Thesis), Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran.

Reiss, K., & Vermeer, H. J. (2014). Towards a general theory of translational action: Skopos theory explained (C. Nord, Trans.). London, England: Routledge.

Robinson, P. (2010). Poetry & translation: The art of the impossible. Liverpool, England: Liverpool University Press.

Shuttleworth, M., & Cowie, M. (1997). Dictionary of translation studies. Manchester, England: St. Jerome.

Toury, G. (1995). Descriptive translation studies and beyond. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John Benjamins B.V.

Venuti, L. (2000). The translation studies reader. London, England: Routledge