Bridging Cultural Gaps in English-Arabic Translation

299 Pages·15.798 MB·English

by  Maisaa Tanjour

Bridging Cultural Gaps in English-Arabic Translation
Perspectives on the Translation and Reception ofD. H. Lawrence's
The Virgin and the Gipsy in Syria
by
Maisaa Tanjour
Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
The University of Leeds
School of Modem Languages and Cultures
March,2011
The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his/her own and that appropriate credit
has been given where reference has been made to the work of others.
This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no
quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement.
To my mother,
whojills my life with love and happiness
Acknowledgements
First of all Iwould like to thank my supervisors Dr. Bethan Davies and Dr. Jeremy Munday
for believing in me in the first place, for their invaluable feedback and continuous
encouraging and for providing me with a firm source of knowledge whenever Ineeded it.
My thanks also goto the members of the Department of Linguistics and Phonetics for their
inspiring enthusiasm and support.
Most of all, huge thanks and love to the one and only who worried about my PhD more
than anything else in the world, my mother. You are my motivation that helped me carry on
with this research. I also thank my brother Alfouz, my sister-in-law Linda, and their
gorgeous children Rene and Leona for their constant support. Special thanks to my lovely
sisters Zoya and Lina for standing by me throughout my research. Last but not least, to the
spirit of my father, I will always miss sharing the details of life with you. I wish you were
here to be proud of your daughter.
This work would not have been the same without the support of all my dear friends in
Salamieh, Syria,particularly Heba Batter and Sawsan Saad.
Thanks to all my friends and colleagues here in the UK especially for creating a warm
and friendly atmosphere.
Mythanks also goto Salamieh "the most beautiful rose onthe borders ofthe deserts".
Many thanks go to the University of Horns, Syria for granting me this opportunity and
scholarship.
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Abstract
Literary translation is the result of the interaction of culture, ideology and translation. It is
also considered tobe one of the most interesting challenges within a specific literary system
due to its special nature and the variation in the cultural environment between source and
target. Researching such challenges entails investigating the different factors that govern
the translation process and product alongside itsreception by a specific readership.
This thesis is located within the framework of translation studies suggested by Holmes
(1988) and developed by Toury (1995), as partly descriptive and partly process-reception
oriented. It employs empirical interviews to investigate and describe the different
economic, political, cultural and ideological factors that govern the translation process and
product in Syria. Such a description provides the background for the assessment of the
responses of groups of target readers to a specific text.
Inthis research, D. H. Lawrence's The Virgin and the Gipsy and two Arabic translations
are used as a sample analysis of the translation procedures adopted to tackle culture-
specific references. The manual analysis in Chapter 5 of the cultural references in The
Virgin and the Gipsy leads to the conclusion that translation procedures adopted in the
published translations are unsystematic and that the two translators may not be fully aware
ofthe effects ofthe chosen procedures on their target readers.
The empirical methods are twofold. Interviews were carried out with Syrian publishers
to explore the Syrian publishing conditions. The results yield a description of the socio-
cultural context of translation in Syria. Within that context, the responses of particular
groups of target readers (English Literature graduates) to certain translation procedures are
examined and then used to investigate the acceptability of the procedures used mainly
endnotes and interpolations based on the students' responses to them. Four questionnaires
were conducted with forty Syrian students. The results show that endnotes and
interpolations are acceptable translation procedures in translating certain culture-specific
references, depending on the needs of target readers and the importance of the cultural
reference inunderstanding the text.
This research demonstrates the potential of using reader-response theory and methods in
analysing translation procedures that are adopted to deal with culture-specific references.
III
The results suggest that extensions and modifications of empirical models are necessary to
gauge target readers' responses and to show how such enquiries can be used in translation
studies.
iv
Contents
Acknowledgements ii
Abstract iii
Contents ~-v
Arabic Transliteration System xi
Figures xiii
Tables xiv
Abbreviations xv
1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Motivation 3
1.2 Research questions 4
1.3 Research focus 5
1.4 Structure of the thesis 6
2 TRANSLATION LITERATURE REVIEW 8
2.1 Chapter overview 8
2.2 The Holmes 'map' of translation studies 9
2.3 The descriptive approach to translation 11
2.3.1 Polysystem theory 14
2.3.2 A cultural perspective 16
2.3.2.1 Domestication and Foreignisation 19
2.3.2.2 The 'invisibility' of the translator 21
2.4 The concept of norms 22
2.4.1 Norms vs. conventions 22
2.4.2 The initial norm 23
2.4.2.1 Preliminary norms 25
2.4.2.2 Operational norms 26
2.4.3 Chesterman's norms 26
2.5 Literary translation as a text-type 28
2.5.1 The role of literary translators ~ 31
2.5.1.1 Translation loss and compensation 34
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2.6 Equivalence in translation 36
2.6.1 The relativity of equivalence 37
2.6.2 Formal or dynamic equivalence 37
2.6.3 Semantic or communicative translation 38
2.6.4 Functional equivalence 39
2.6.4.1 Equivalent effect and the response ofTT readers 41
2.6.4.2 Intended purpose of literary translation 42
2.6.5 Pragmatic equivalence 42
2.6.5.1 Implicature 44
2.6.5.2 Context 46
2.6.5.3 Speech Acts 47
2.6.5.4 Politeness 48
2.6.5.5 Coherence vs. cohesion 49
2.7 Problems of translating culture-specific references 51
2.7.1 Explicitation 54
2.8 Notes as a solution 55
2.9 Summary and Conclusion 57
3 THE ACT OF READING THE NARRATIVE PROCESS: READER-
RESPONSE THEORY S9
3.1 The act ofreading 59
3.2 The place of the reader inthe narrative process 61
3.2.1 The real author/the implied author 62
3.2.2 TheNarrator/the narratee 62
3.2.3 The implied reader/the real reader 63
3.2.4 Text-reader interaction 67
3.2.5 Author and translator 'voice' 71
3.3 The narrative representation oftranslation 74
3.3.1 The translator as reader 80
3.4 Readers oftranslation 84
3.4.1 The translation ofallusions 85
3.5 The use ofquestionnaires and interviews inTS reception research 88
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3.6 Summary and conclusion 90
4 LITERARY TRANSLATION IN SYRIA: THE SOCIO-CUL TURAL
CONTEXT AND TilE CASE OF D. H. LAWRENCE •••••.••••••••••••••.•••••.•••••9..2••..•••
4.1 Literary translation in Syria 94
4.2 The interviews with Syrian publishing companies 98
4.2.1 Syrianpublishing companies 99
4.2.2 Interviews 100
4.2.2.1 DarAl Fikr 100
4.2.2.2 Dar Kanaan 101
4.3 Publishing strategies 102
4.4 Translation rate, category and flow 102
4.4.1 Translation rate 103
4.4.2 Translation category 104
4.4.3 Translation flow 105
4.5 Culture and ideology intranslation 106
4.5.1 Economic conditions 107
4.5.1.1 Translation subsidies, fees and royalties 107
4.5.1.2 Copyright 109
4.5.2 Strategic political conditions 110
4.5.2.1 Editing 110
4.5.2.2 Censorship 111
4.6 Translation strategies 113
4.6.1 The selection of the foreign text 113
4.6.2 The strategy of translation - 'initial norm' 114
4.6.3 Paratexts 115
4.6.3.1 Publishers' peritext - cover and blurb 115
4.6.3.2 Prefaces 117
4.6.3.3 Notes (footnotes/endnotes} 118
4.7 The translation of fiction 119
4.8 D.H. Lawrence 120
4.8.1 Abiographical review 120
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4.8.2 Lawrence and the idea of the novel 122
4.8.3 Lawrence and Nietzsche 123
4.8.4 Lawrence in Syria 124
4.9 Lawrence's The Virgin and the Gipsy 125
4.9.1 Publishers and translators of The Virgin and the Gipsy 126
4.9.1.1 Dar al-ta'Idl 126
4.9.1.1.1 Khaled Haddad 126
4.9.1.2 Dar al-Hiwar 127
4.9.1.2.1 Zaki al-Ustah 128
4.10 Summary and conclusion 130
5 CULTURE-ORIENTED PROBLEMS 131
5.1 Extralinguistic problems 131
5.1.1 Ecology (flora, fauna, winds, plains, hills) 132
5.1.1.1 Names of places 132
5.1.1.2 Names of plants 133
5.1.2 Material culture: food, clothes, houses, towns and transport 133
5.1.2.1 Food 133
5.1.2.2 Clothes 134
5.1.2.3 Houses and towns 134
5.1.2.4 Transport 135
5.1.3 Socialculture: work and leisure 136
5.1.4 Organizations, customs, activities, procedures, concepts 137
5.1.4.1 Religious 137
5.1.4.2 Political and administrative 137
5.1.5 Gestures 138
5.2 Intralinguistic problems 139
5.2.1 Idioms 139
5.2.2 Proverbs 142
5.2.3 Symbolism and imagery 143
5.2.4 Irony and sarcasm 145
5.2.5 Metaphor 147
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5.2.5.1 Lexicalized metaphors 147
5.2.5.1.1 Dead metaphors 148
5.2.5.1.2 Stockmetaphors 148
5.2.5.1.3 Recent metaphors 149
5.2.5.2 Non-lexicalized metaphor 150
5.2.5.2.1 Conventionalized metaphors 150
5.2.5.2.2 Original metaphors 150
5.2.6 Allusions 151
5.2.6.1 Literary and philosophical allusions 157
5.2.6.2 Biblical allusions 160
5.2.6.3 Mythological allusions 162
5.2.6.4 Proper name allusions 162
5.3 Summary and Conclusion 164
6 READER-RESPONSE STUDY: METHODOLOGY AND PILOT STUDY •••165
6.1 Reader-response questionnaires 166
6.1.1 The subject population 166
6.1.2 The sample and criteria for selection 166
6.1.3 Elicitation procedures 167
6.1.4 Questionnaires 168
6.1.4.1 Questionnaire I 171
6.1.4.2 Questionnaire 11 173
6.1.4.3 Questionnaire 111. 176
6.2 The supplementary questionnaire 177
6.2.1 Questionnaire IV 178
6.3 Conduct of fieldwork 179
6.3.1 Presentation of results 180
6.4 Pilot Study 181
6.4.1 The participants in the pilot study 181
6.4.2 Pilot questionnaire 182
6.4.3 Results of the pilot study 183
6.4.3.1 Responses of the students inpilot stage 1 183
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