Translation in Arabic language and literature
Reza Nazemian; Ahmad Mortazavi
Abstract
Abstract The significance of speakers' objectives in political writing renders the techniques utilized by authors especially important. The translation method is essential because of the strong relationship between persuasive tools and factors such as the author's or narrator's reputation, their role ...
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Abstract The significance of speakers' objectives in political writing renders the techniques utilized by authors especially important. The translation method is essential because of the strong relationship between persuasive tools and factors such as the author's or narrator's reputation, their role in shaping ideas, and the vision created in the audience's mind to attain certain objectives. Ethos is a rhetorical strategy that facilitates text comprehension and ensures precise translation. This study employs a descriptive-analytical method, focusing on three primary axes: the text creator, the audience, and the complex influence of ethos on text production and reproduction. It is vital to employ a suitable technique in replicating the text to guarantee that the primary point is communicated clearly and articulately. This is due to the significant emphasis on the author's position and standing, the representation of their cultural identity, the translator's methodologies, and the satisfaction of the readers' anticipations of the communicated message. This analysis focuses on a work by Alaa Al-Aswany, a modern Egyptian writer, titled Our Advice to the Butcher. Findings show that paying close attention to the author's subtleties and nuances in word choice, such as the choice of conjunctions, as well as finding equivalents for vocabulary and grammatical structures, appealing to the reader's emotions, and using clear and effective language during the translation process are all very important for a successful outcome.IntroductionIn rhetoric, the speaker or writer aims to create an image that captivates the audience and persuades them, fostering a reciprocal communication exchange between the writer and the listener. We discover a collection of strategies and techniques when we analyze the works of orators and novelists that emphasize raising awareness and addressing public opinion while meticulously using the expressive potential of language. These methods and techniques are utilized to facilitate effective communication with the audience and to persuade them to embrace the intended concepts.Ethos, as a language strategy, has a historical foundation, and analyzing this idea might facilitate a clear comprehension of certain texts. It is very proficient in generating a valuable and suitable translation of the material while effectively expressing the nuances pertinent to the audience. Without knowledge or attention to this topic, the primary message of the text may not be adequately conveyed to the audience. By emphasizing pivotal words and terms that activate the audience's psychological elements, the translator can facilitate their gradual acceptance of the knowledge and the adoption of the intended actions. This method enhances the audience's viewpoint, the reinterpretation of the text, and their resolve to embrace or dismiss the concepts presented.Statement of the ProblemThe point of this study is to look into ethos as a persuasive tool and how it works in translation, as well as how it shows up in the steps of figuring out equivalence and choosing preferred language and expressions. The narrative "Our Advice to the Butcher" (originally "Nasihatuna ila al-Jazzar"), extracted from the anthology "Do We Deserve Democracy?" (originally "Hal Nastaḥiq al-Dimuqratiyah?"), functions as the case study for this analysis. Employing the ethos method, we examine the linguistic features and translation techniques of the Arabic text into Persian. Literature ReviewResearch in linguistics is a longstanding and comprehensive discipline. The same applies to text translation and its diverse methodologies, which have garnered the interest of numerous contemporary professors, students, and researchers. The domain of rhetorical techniques has been the subject of numerous books and studies. The primary source in this domain is Aristotle's (1979) Rhetoric. In this book, Aristotle characterizes ethos as a picture that emerges subsequent to discourse within the context of rhetoric. The rhetorical triangle, a notion established by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, encompasses three essential components of persuasive arguments: logos, ethos, and pathos. Numerous essays and theses have been written analyzing the works of the renowned contemporary Egyptian novelist Alaa Al-Aswany; however, none have examined the translation of his works through the lens of the ethos method. Consequently, the present study represents the inaugural endeavor in this domain. No article has yet been published regarding the application of the ethos technique in translation, and, to the researchers' knowledge, it remains unexamined.MethodologyThis study employs a descriptive-analytical methodology grounded on structuralism and incorporates the theories of substitution and collocation. It analyzes different forms of ethos as a potent discursive strategy in communicative processes that influence the subconscious to perform speech acts and achieve pragmatic goals. Furthermore, it examines the function of ethos in the text translation process and analyzes diverse methodologies.ConclusionThe ethos strategy highlights three primary dimensions: the text creator, the audience, and the diverse effects on text generation and replication. It is vital to employ a suitable technique in replicating the text to guarantee that the primary point is communicated clearly and articulately. This is due to ethos placing significant emphasis on the author's position and standing, the translation of their cultural identity, and the satisfaction of readers' expectations for the imparted message.The element of symbolism is notably evident in the collection Do We Deserve Democracy? by modern Egyptian novelist Alaa Al-Aswany. The author contends that democracy in Egypt operates solely as a façade and lacks any substance.The ethos method relies on convincing the reader. Therefore, to maintain the original author's stance and cultural identity, the translation must align the grammatical structures of the source text. The translated text must be believable and persuasive to the audience.The translated material must employ clear and compelling language, necessitating alterations in verb forms and tenses. Linguistic tools are essential for conveying the meaning, subtleties, and complexity embedded in the original text by the author. Every language has distinct powers and potentials, and the translator must comprehend the linguistic tools of Arabic to identify parallels in Persian. This guarantees, firstly, that the tools and grammatical structures of the source language do not encroach upon the target language, and secondly, that Persian readers experience a sense of familiarity and intimacy with the translated text, rendering it credible as though they are reading a text in their own language.Idiomatic expressions, phrases, and the names of locations and cultural situations must be translated to maintain the authenticity of the original author and to accurately represent their cultural identity in the target language text.
Translation in Arabic language and literature
Reza Nazemian; Nasir Maleki; Sadegh Khorsha
Abstract
"Other" is the basis of knowing "Self" and the introduction of self-knowledge. The way to self-knowledge is communication with others. The deforming tendencies of the French theorist Antoine Berman are based on respect for the "other" and avoidance of domestication in translation. He believes that the ...
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"Other" is the basis of knowing "Self" and the introduction of self-knowledge. The way to self-knowledge is communication with others. The deforming tendencies of the French theorist Antoine Berman are based on respect for the "other" and avoidance of domestication in translation. He believes that the source text should be accepted and transferred as it is, and one should not seek to simulate it with one's own culture. The focus of Berman's cognitive translation point of view is respect for the foreign text, acceptance of the other, and recognition of his culture. Berman's theory, in which he believes that the structure of the source text should not be changed and equivalents should not be found according to structural and grammatical aspects, is the result of the extreme formation of the target-oriented movement in translation in his era. In order to criticize the issue of accepting Other based on the tendency of rationalization, we have examined Majedeh Al-Anani’s translation of the story Nūn wa al-Qalam by Jalāl Āl-e-Ahmad, and during the discussion and examination of the examples, we came to the conclusion that the translator in the translation of cultural terms tried to show her faithfulness to the original text, but in some cases, she was not successful and she was only able to replace the word without paying attention to its semantic load and rhetoric.Keywords: Nūn wa al-Qalam, Jalāl Āl-e-Ahmad, Antoine Berman, Majedeh Al-Anani, acceptance of Other.IntroductionSince the issue of "acceptance of Other" necessarily requires the translator to go beyond the body of the cultural and literary system of his society and pay more attention to the source than the target, and his priority should be the writer and not the reader, we found it appropriate to base our investigations and critiques on a theory whose foundation is respect for the author and the original language of the work. Therefore, we found Antoine Berman's Deforming Theory appropriate. Among the most important works of the Persian language, which is considered to be a view of the culture, political, cultural, scientific, and religious approach of Iranian society, is the book "Nūn wa al-Qalam" written by Jalāl Āl-e-Ahmad. This story has been translated into various languages, including Arabic. In the present article, we intend to investigate Majedeh Al-Anani's Arabic translation of Āl-e-Ahmad's "Nūn wa al-Qalam" based on the theory of Antoine Berman and see how the translator translated this work in the face of examples of the component of rationalization - out of the total of 13 components of Berman's theory? And to what extent has he accepted the original text and culture of the source language as "Other"?Literature ReviewBy searching various sources, we found that there are many articles and researches on the application of Antoine Berman's theory in various texts, but in connection with the story of Nūn wa al-Qalam and Berman's theory, there are several sources that we consider:- Reflection of Majedeh Al-Anani's Translation in the Characters of Jalāl Āl-e-Ahmad's Story Nūn wa al-Qalam (based on the elements of Berman's impoverishment) (2022) by Ahmad Lamei Giv. In this article, it has been shown that Al-Anani often intends to preserve the syntactic structure of the source language in the translation of character traits, but this has caused the quality of the translation to drop and has undermined the high meaning of the source text.- Equivalence of Iranian Folklore Categories; Case Study: Arabic Translation of Jalāl Āl-e-Ahmad’s Nūn wa al-Qalam (2018) Marzieh Rabiei and colleagues. This article examines Al-Anani's method of finding equivalents in translation and concludes that the translator has used the cultural equivalent or descriptive equivalent method above all else in finding equivalents that have a cultural connotation. In finding equivalents of material categories, Al-Anani also used various methods of transfer, transformation, etc., and performed weakly and inadequately in translating some terms.- Examination of Majedeh Al-Anani's Translation of Jalāl Āl-e-Ahmad's Nun wa Al-Qalam based on Baker's Idiomatic Equivalence Theory (2018) by Zohreh Ghorbani. This research has examined and analyzed the translation of the terms in the story of Nun wa Al-Qalam, and it is believed that Al-Anani, among the various methods that Mona Baker expresses in her Idiomatic Equivalence Theory, mostly used the method of translating terms into the form of similarity of meaning and change of form. Ghorbani believes that although Al-Anani is an Arabic speaker, she has a relatively correct understanding of Persian terms and proverbs, and this is the reason why she translated some Persian terms correctly.- The relationship between linguistic functions and personality types in the story of Nun wa Al-Qalam (2012) by Seyed Ahmed Parsa and Sa’di Haji, was conducted to examine the compatibility between the linguistic functions of the characters in the story and their personality types, which are important principles of story writing. The result is that in the story of Nun wa Al-Qalam, there is not much compatibility between the linguistic functions of people and their personality types.MethodologyIn the search conducted on the researches on this topic, we did not find an example that examined the rationalization component of Antoine Berman's theory in Majedeh Al-Anani's translation of Nun wa Al-Qalam based on the acceptance of "Other".In order to investigate the deforming tendency of Berman's rationalization in Majedeh Al-Anani's translation of Jalāl Āl-e-Ahmad’s story Nun wa Al-Qalam, the researcher first collected some theoretical foundations around keywords and then selected some samples from the original text and their translation and analyzed the samples with a descriptive-analytical method. After examining the samples, the researcher reached the following results:ConclusionIt can be said that Berman's theory should be applied in texts such as holy texts, literary texts, and scientific texts in which form and structure are important. However, in texts in which the message and effect are more important than the form, one cannot insist on accepting the Other and criticize the rationalization tendency, but the expressive possibilities of the target language should be taken into account so that it can leave the same message and impact on the target audience.In general, by examining the selected samples from the book, it can be concluded that according to Antoine Berman's theory, the foundation of which is the acceptance of the Other, respect for the original text, accompanying the author and his culture, and ignoring himself, the translator did not have acceptable performance and in most cases, intentionally or unintentionally, transferred the same words, phrases, and expressions, and considered the words, phrases, and expressions more than the meaning of the text.Al-Anani has forgotten the "Other" by transferring the same words, terms, combinations, and expressions and not paying attention to how to transfer the meaning and concept of the original text. This means that the audience as "Other" cannot accept the translated text, which has no semantic load in the target language, and refuses to accept it due to the feeling of alienation from the translation.
