Interdependence of culture and translation with special reference to the Arabic translation of cultural terms in Romeo & Juliet play
Abstract
Various cultures have distinct and separate linguistic communities which characterize different aspects of the society. Consequently, the cultural differences among languages usually pose some challenges to translators, especially the translators of literary works. This study investigates the challenges encountered while translating the cultural items in the Romeo and Juliet play from English into Arabic. It also examines how culture and translation are interconnected and how translators should deal with cultural challenges in translation. The study employed the qualitative approach for collecting and analyzing the data of the study. It also employed the Newmark’s (1988) model regarding the translation strategies for the analysis of the translation as well as his cultural categories for identifying the cultural terms in the play. Eighteen cultural terms were identified in the first two chapters of the play and then their translations were qualitatively analyzed. The findings of the study revealed that the strategies utilized in the translation of cultural terms in the play include functional equivalents, descriptive equivalents, cultural equivalents, shifts or transposition and naturalization. It is also found that the translator encountered some challenges while translating some cultural-specific terms due to the cultural gap between Arabic and English. Based on the obtained findings, it can be stated that there is a close connection between translation and culture and thus translators should take into account the differences in culture between the source and target language especially when translating cultural-specific terms. The study recommends that translators should employ many translation strategies simultaneously and have sufficient knowledge in both the source and target languages to convey the meanings of such cultural terms appropriately. The present study provides important implications which could be useful to translators and interested researchers.
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