translation theory
Intertextuality and Literary Translation Between Arabic and English
Thu, 2014-10-23 12:32 — Nabil Mahmoud AlawiIn our translation programs at Arab universities we devote a lot of time to the teaching of translation theory believing that there are certain rules and theories that if a student masters, s/he will be a better and more competent translator. An awareness of intertextuality undermines the importance of theorizing about translation in favor of boosting translation practices. This paper discusses allusion and the intertextual space in an attempt to highlight the repeated patterns and the tissues of relations that unite all texts. Theorists of intertextuality claim that there is no original text and that there is nothing unsaid before. It is possible, therefore, to deoriginate texts to the zero level, i.e. to find roots for all components of a text in other previous ones. Thus a translator who practices the translation of poetry for several years becomes acquainted with patterns and structures that are repeated in different other texts. Awareness of theoretical materials on the know-how of translation has little value in contributing to the proficiency of a translator; practice is the path of excellence.
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The Problems Involved in Translating Arabic Cognitive Synonyms into English
Sun, 2013-04-07 14:46 — Ekrema Mohammad ShehabThis paper shows that cognitive synonyms feature a serious problem in Arabic English translation. The study explores the translation of a number of cognitive synonymous lexical items in their original context of use. These synonyms were taken from Mahfouz’s two famous novels: “Al-Liss wal-Kilab” and “Ziqaq Al-Midaq”. Some other examples were also drawn from the Holy Quran. Thirty M.A students of Translation at An-Najah National University were the subjects of this study. They were requested to render these synonyms in their original contexts. The study explains that the translation of cognitive synonyms has been frequently done formally, functionally or ideationally depending on two significant factors: the text-type in which they are used and the purpose of using them in a particular context. The study, however, argues that in religious and literary texts where synonyms are usually used to convey certain implicated meanings and where we seek to have the same effect on the Target Language (TL) receiver as that of the original on the Source Language (SL) receiver, the use of formal equivalence is ruled out and hence only functional and/or ideational equivalence should be called for. Keywords: Translation ,Cognitive Synonyms ,Arabic Language, translation theory.
