Translation in Arabic language and literature
Mohammad Rahimi Khoigani
Abstract
An underexplored topic in the realm of Arabic-Persian translation is the impact of translation on political discourse. The study of political discourse in translation centers on the unavoidable ideological modifications that take place in any text throughout the process of translation, which warrant ...
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An underexplored topic in the realm of Arabic-Persian translation is the impact of translation on political discourse. The study of political discourse in translation centers on the unavoidable ideological modifications that take place in any text throughout the process of translation, which warrant careful examination and evaluation. Hence, the objective of this study is to examine several renditions of the dialogues between the Qatari Minister and the Saudi envoy during the commencement of the 148th session of the Arab League. This research aims to investigate the translation and representation of a single text by multiple media outlets, taking into account their ideological and political perspectives. Drawing on Christina Schäffner's theory and utilizing a descriptive-analytical technique, the study intends to determine the variations in translation and representation among these channels. The results of this study imply that both internal and external beliefs have an impact on translation modifications, and that various media platforms have altered the language and structure of the original text through word choice, grammatical changes, and textual reproduction.Keywords: Translation Critique, Christina Schäffner, 148th Arab League Summit, IdeologyIntroductionThe focus of translation critics lies on scrutinizing and assessing the essence of translation modifications and their underlying causes. This study seeks to examine the motives and techniques employed by different news agencies when modifying the texts of speeches delivered by Qatari and Saudi representatives at the 148th Arab League summit. Additionally, it aims to determine the impact of ideology and politics on the translation process and the selection of information. In order to accomplish this, the research utilizes Christina Schäffner's theoretical framework and applies it to the specific text. The study aims to ascertain the modifications made by various news outlets to the structure of Qatari and Saudi speeches, as per Christina Schäffner's theory.What was the rationale behind the modifications made to the speeches of the Qatari Minister and the Saudi Envoy, and how did these changes affect the overall content and tone of the text?The research hypotheses are assumed to relate to the following aspects: Observable changes are made in the translation and republication of the original text, encompassing word selection, information selection, transmission, and restructuring at all levels.The primary factor influencing changes in the translation process is linked to the beliefs and macro-policies of each news agency. Literature ReviewMofeh and others (2016) have attempted to examine the type of rewriting, selection, and transmission of political data.Khalozadeh et al. (2012) have tried to identify possible translation behaviors based on ideological concepts evident in the translations by fundamentalist and reformist newspapers in foreign media.Torkashvand (2016) has endeavored to demonstrate that, through critical discourse analysis, the existing ideology in the text is also revealed as a factor in its overall direction.Firouzianpour Esfahani et al. (2018) have focused on the role of syntactic strategies in representing the ideologies of Persian translators in translated political and social texts using critical discourse analysis.Abdi et al. (2021) have delved into the verbal tenses in a corpus consisting of two political biographies and their Persian translations from a critical discourse analysis perspective.Karamzadegan and Fatemeh Mozaheri (2023) have analyzed the dominant discourse in the translation of political texts (Arabic to Persian) from 2019 to 2022, focusing on the theme of war, concluding that each country's policies have directly influenced translation choices. Research MethodologyThe stages of this research are as follows:Extracting data through the source text and target text confrontation methods based on changes in the target text;Describing and analyzing the data using the ideological analysis approach based on Christina Schäffer's theoryConclusionDomestic and foreign news agencies had different approaches to the coverage of the dialogue and conflict between the Qatari Minister and the Saudi Ambassador in Egypt. This approach was evident in the selection of words, text reproduction, and information selection.The choice of words by foreign media, especially Al-Arabiya, includes two points: Firstly, sensitive words like the Arabian Gulf were issued by Qatar's representative, and this news agency merely conveyed these words. Secondly, by using the term "regime," efforts were made to draw a line between the government and the people of Iran.3: The words chosen by domestic media are in line with everyday use and Persian language customs. These media outlets have used what is common in the Persian language without considering the original text.4: Both domestic and foreign media have tried to select what aligns with their broader policies and their governments and avoid quoting other matters. However, among them, Al-Arabiya has had the highest volume of selection and omission.5: In the restructuring process, the media have tried to use strategies such as choosing titles, changing beginnings and endings, deletion, transforming direct quotations into indirect ones, transforming the face and form of verbs, etc. All of these efforts are aimed at creating a legitimate role for themselves and delegitimizing others. Additionally, part of the media's efforts is aimed at highlighting their positive features and the negative features of others.
Translation in Arabic language and literature
Majid Salehbek
Abstract
In this research, an attempt has been made to criticize and analyze the Arabic translations of Khayyam's quatrains. Therefore, at the beginning, the history of the quatrains, Khayyam's quatrains, the translations done in the West, and how they entered the Arab world have been discussed. Next, Arab translators’ ...
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In this research, an attempt has been made to criticize and analyze the Arabic translations of Khayyam's quatrains. Therefore, at the beginning, the history of the quatrains, Khayyam's quatrains, the translations done in the West, and how they entered the Arab world have been discussed. Next, Arab translators’ methods have been criticized and analyzed under titles such as ideology, source and target language discourse, translation formats, and translation from the intermediate language by bringing evidence. In the topic of ideology, the influence of the ideology of the translator and the target language, and in the context of discourse, the evolution and transformation of the text and the potential of the translator's success have been discussed. The translator's adherence to the main quatrain format or non-adherence to it, as well as its results in the translation process, in addition to the use of the intermediary language and its positive and negative and sometimes destructive effects in the translation, like other cases, have a special place in this study. In the present research, in addition to what has been said, the personal choices and methods of translators and their influence in clarifying, stylization, changing and deleting, the transfer of the received meaning from the source language which is affected by misunderstanding or intermediate language or cultural differences, have been critically analyzed.Keywords: Khayyam's Quatrains, Arabic Translation, Ideology, Context of Discourse, Quatrain Format. IntroductionAlthough the great brilliance of men like Ferdowsi, Hafez, Saadi, Attar, Khayyam, and Molavi in the sky of the vast land of Iran has aroused the admiration of the researchers of the Arab world and many works in this regard have entered the field of literature, but among the Persian language poets, Omar Khayyam has a special place and fame in the Arab world. In such a way, Omar Khayyam and his quatrains have attracted the attention of researchers and Arabic gatherings more than any Persian poet. The existence of nearly a hundred translations of his quatrains in Arabic shows this attention. In this respect, Adib Taqi Dameshqi says: Despite the fact that Khayyam's quatrains are not among the best masterpieces of Iranian genius, and although Khayyam's position is not such that other Iranian poets have not been able to achieve it, what is the secret of this superiority and priority of literature, a phenomenon that may make people wonder (Safi Najafi, N.D.: 17). In response to this question, Reza Tawfiq Bek, a Turkish philosopher, says in his book "Khayyam's Quatrains" that: This success achieved by Khayyam's quatrains is derived from his understanding of the meaning of life based on the present taste and civilization, the basic principles of which are arranged in a new way in his quatrains; Westerners have not turned to Khayyam except because they saw him as a contemporary European sage and followed his teachings (Ibid: 18).Khayyam's name is Omar, his nickname (Kunya) is Abū al-Fatḥ, and known as Ghiyāth al-Dīn. The reason for his fame as Khayyam or Khayami is not known correctly. It has been said that his father had this title and may have been a curtain maker (Foroughi, 1379: 13).What is certain is that during the reign of Jalal al-Din Malik Shah Seljuqi and the ministry of Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk in the year 467 A.H. when they wanted to correctly determine the order of the calendar according to the astronomical rules, they chose a group of scientists for this purpose to arrange the calculation, and Khayyam was one of those scientists, and it seems that he was ahead of everyone (Foroughi, 1379 AD: 13 and 14).Literature ReviewAlthough the research studies that have been done about Khayyam and his quatrains cannot be counted, in line with the title of this research, we can refer to the following items:- The article Analysis of Yusuf Hossein Bekar's critical views on the translations of Khayyam's quatrains based on Antoine Berman's theory written by Zahra Bavand, Shahriar Rahmati, Touraj Zeinivand, and Ali Salimi. In this article, the respected authors' critical opinions on the book "Al-Tarjamat al-Arabiyyah Lerobaiyat al-Khayyam" are examined based on Carman's theory.- The article Review and Analysis of Arabic Translations of Khayyam's Quatrains written by Hossein Kiani and Saeed Hesampour, respected authors, although they have discussed the translation of Rami and Saraf in general terms in their research, but they have not provided an example for their theoretical discussions.- The article Abdul Rahman Shukri and Khayyam's Quatrains written by Jamil Jafari and Sherafat Karimi, in this article the subject of Shukri's influence on Fitzgerald's poetry is examined.- The article Researching on Khayyam based on the Arab World written by Naser Mohseninia, this article focuses more on Khayyam's life and his works in the Western world and the Arab world, and in another section, Khayyam's influence on the Akhawan al-Safa, as well as Ma’ari, has been discussed by referring to the debate between him and Zamakhshari.MethodologyThe method used in this research is descriptive-analytical. It is worth mentioning that in order to clarify the discussions raised in this research as much as possible, an effort has been made to use different examples of well-known Arab translators from different Arab countries, such as Safi Najafi, Ahmed Rami, Abdulhaq Fazil, Ibn Tavit, Ariz, Heydari, etc. and at the end while answering the research questions, present a summary of the findings to the readers.ConclusionAt the end, the results of this research are:- The translation of literary works is always influenced by various factors such as the culture and ideology and personal belonging of the translator, so it is impossible to come across a translation that is not influenced by the culture and ideology that governs the worldview and the translator's belonging, and does not have traces of these things. In other words, any concept and meaning in the form of language cannot be free from culture and ideology, because translation is based on language. It is for this reason that Fitzgerald and his translation, under the influence of the dominant culture and the special position of Great Britain and its undisputed power in the 19th century, have a contemptuous view of the Eastern culture; to the extent that he considered meddling in the works of Iranian poets, including Khayyam, as a source of his entertainment, he stated that they do not have the qualities of a poet and need a little art. Another aspect of it is the cultural and ideological ties of poets such as Safi Najafi and Ahmed Hamed Saraf, who are related to the completely traditional society of Iraq, especially to the religious cities of Karbala and Najaf, or Ibrahim Ariz and Aqqad, whose origin is a society with traditional customs and traditions such as Bahrain and Egypt. As we can see, the apparent invitation to wine in Khayyam's quatrains in Safi Najafi's translation loses its clarity and is used in an inspirational way; and finally, the translator of those quatrains feels remorse because of the popularity of his translation, and seeks to destroy it; or because Ariz who avoids the translation of wine and calls to it and shows a different perception or neglects himself; Aqqad's confrontation with Khayyam and Ahmad Rami's recklessness in saying wine and drinking are also interesting.- The Arab translators not sticking the Persian quatrain format and choosing other formats such as Solasiyat (three stanzas). Moraba’at (four stanzas). Khumasiyat (five stanzas). Musaba’at (seven stanzas). although it has been chosen under the pretext of ease of translation, so that the translator feels free in choosing more words and expressions; but this intention has not been realized, because we come across many evidences that despite the size of the format and the change in meter, not only the entire quatrain has not been translated, but sometimes one or two stanzas have been removed or focus has been made on one or two stanzas.- The polysemous words and their dependence on the sphere of different discourses are other significant things in translation, and at the same time, they provide an opportunity for a capable translator; where the translator can make the necessary balance between the source language and the target language, taking into account the discourse of the age and the audience, to undergo a positive transformation. Among its examples, the interaction of translators such as Wehbi, Saraf, Abdul Haq Fazil, Ibrahim Ariz, Noble Abdul Ahed, Abdul Latif Nashar, Mohammad Jamil Al-Aqili, Abushadi and... with the addition of "Jam Jam" in the negative and positive aspects of the translation of "Water of Life" by Saleh Jafari.- Distance from the original language of the text and the translation from the intermediate language, which, according to the translator himself, is an interpretative translation; or misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the nuances and subtleties of the source language, by the translators' own admission, who do not know even a word of Persian, and the whole translation from translation and lack of adherence to the same Latin text, along with the distance of the Latin text from the Persian equivalents of quatrains, are other challenges. In any case, the results of distance from the Persian original of quatrains in the translation of this group of translators are not surprising. In addition, Fitzgerald, who is the authority of many Arab translators, refrained from bringing the part of Khayyam's prayer that was not in accordance with his poetry. As a result, the comprehensiveness of Khayyam's thought has been damaged in Arabic translations.- In addition to verse translations, a group of Arab writers have turned to prose and word-for-word translations, and their main concern has been to adhere to the text and be faithful in preserving the concepts, preferring the melodious language and style of poetry.- Not adhering to the semantic relationship and the unity of the subject of each stanza and relying on the taste of the source language or pure captivity in the target language to the extent that it leads to the elimination of the subtleties and nuances of the text, all tell about the importance of this issue. Finally, the methods of the translator in clarifying or simplifying or changing and deleting, etc., are all positive or negative aspects of the translation and translator.
Translation in Arabic language and literature
Zahra Karamzadegan; Fateme Mazaheri
Abstract
Critical discourse analysis gave the translators the permission to violate the principle of trustworthiness, and in the translation of texts that contain ideology, to recreate and make their language choices in line with the culture and ideology of the target text. On the other hand, the speed and intensity ...
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Critical discourse analysis gave the translators the permission to violate the principle of trustworthiness, and in the translation of texts that contain ideology, to recreate and make their language choices in line with the culture and ideology of the target text. On the other hand, the speed and intensity of the impact of media discourse has made the media the center of attention of politicians and those in power, and a tool for the dissemination of political discourses. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the application of the strategies presented in the critical discourse analysis approach in the process of translating political texts using a descriptive-analytical method and using the Vandyke model. The research data has been selected from the two news networks Al-Arabiya and Al-Sharq in the period of 2019 to 2022, focusing on the Yemen war. And the findings of the research indicate that these two news networks use the strategies of minimization, disclosure, delegitimization, legitimization, prejudice, empathy, generalization and magnification from the axis of syntax, and the strategies of initiation, marginalization and word order from the axis of syntax, the strategy of playing with numbers from the axis of rhetoric, the strategy of choosing words aligned from the axis of style, two strategies of anti-realistic forms and truth from the axis of reasoning and the strategy of changing behavioral actions from the axis of action, trying to present a negative representation of The actions of the Houthis are a positive representation of the actions of Saudi Arabia. And in the process of translation, the translator must reverse these representations in line with the politics of her country by using similar and sometimes opposite strategies to the strategies in the source tex.Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, Van Dijk Model, Media Discourse, Ideology.IntroductionEach type of political discourse is carried out with a special communication purpose and role, such as persuading, forcing, threatening or promising the audience. Writers and translators of political texts always use ideological strategies in order to reflect their thoughts, ideology, political beliefs and the ruling system of their society, in order to emphasize or downplay events and political actors. On the other hand, the approach of critical discourse analysis, which was formed due to the inadequacy of the formalist approach in the analysis of the discourse to the sentence and text, considers ideology as the guiding factor of the text, and the main task of the critical analyst is to discover and analyze the ideology reflected in the linguistic structures in the context. It knows its socio-political. Therefore, with the approach of critical discourse analysis, the translator can influence the feelings, opinions and thoughts of his audience through "intrusion and capture" or in other words by changing the linguistic forms of the source text.Literature ReviewSo far, countless researches have been carried out with the approach of critical discourse analysis in order to analyze texts from different genres in Persian, Arabic, English, etc. languages. In this article, we limit ourselves to mentioning examples from two groups of these researches.1-1-Researches that have investigated the reflection of ideology in political texts- In his article "Opinions and ideologies in the press" translated by Zahra Haddad and his colleagues (2006), Theon E. VanDyke explained the complex relationships between ideology, opinions and discourse structures and explained the ideological square and tools. Bayani, in ideological representation in media discourse, has done a detailed analysis of a part of the note printed in the Washington Post newspaper, which is written by Jim Hoagland.- Agha golzadeh and his colleague (2013) in the article "Analysis of representational methods of news selection based on the critical discourse analysis approach" to evaluate and analyze the vocabulary used in the media, including nouns, adjectives and adverbs, in the framework of lexical generalization strategies., addressed expressions, extreme vocabulary have been discussed.- Lotfollah Yarmohammadi (2013) in his book called "Communications from the perspective of critical discourse analysis", has given ten articles in the field of critical discourse analysis, which were written by him or with his colleagues. Among these articles, we can refer to the article "Research on the degree of openness or concealment of the message in selected Iranian editorials: a relationship between discourse-oriented structures and intellectual-social infrastructure structures".- Shahryar Niazi and his colleagues (2017) in the article "Study of Ideological Representation of Iran in the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper based on the Vandyke model", after examining twenty political analyzes from the "Al-Sharq Al-Awsat" newspaper in a one-year period from 1996 to 1997, came to this conclusion. It has been found that news writers have tried to present a negative image of Iran by using strategies such as "default" and "distancing" and on the other hand, by using strategies such as "showing" a positive image of Saudi Arabia. have presented.1-2- Researches that have investigated the translation of texts, including political texts, with the approach of critical discourse analysis:-.Schäffner and his colleague (2010) in their article called "Political Discourse of Media and Translation" have analyzed political news and the way of their translation process and have reached the point that the target text is subject to the cultural conditions of its audience. and not a function of the structure of the source text.- Li (2010) in his doctoral dissertation entitled "Translating Chinese Political Discourse: A Functional Cognitive Approach to English Translations of Chinese Political Speeches", analyzed his selected political texts in Chinese. Then, by comparing these texts with their translation in English, he has extracted the strategies that the translators have applied based on the meta-discursive elements of ideology and power in order to manage minds strategically.- Ferdous Agha golzadeh and his colleague (2015) in the article "Investigation of Ideological Representation in English Political Translated Texts in the Framework of Critical Discourse Analysis: Style and Rhetoric Axes", selected their research data from 300 written paragraphs in English about Iranian political issues. and after confronting and comparing them with the Persian translation presented by them, they investigated the issue of how far the Persian language translators used strategies based on style and rhetoric in order to reflect their ideology.- Farshid Turkashund (2015) in his article entitled "The application of critical discourse analysis in translation from Arabic to Persian", while stating the advantage of the discourse approach and especially its critical type compared to the text-based approach, one paragraph from Manflouti, two paragraphs from Mikhail has analyzed Naimah and one paragraph of Tawfiq Hakim based on Farklough's model at three levels of description, interpretation and explanation, then he has translated the texts in consideration of the analysis done.- Ailin Firouzian and her colleagues (2017) in the article "The role of syntactic strategies in the representation of the ideology of Persian translators in translated social-political written texts from the point of view of critical discourse analysis", analyzing and examining 250 speech fragments from written English social-political texts which is related to Iran's issues at the international, national or regional level. This research compares the discourse of the source language with its re-creation in the target language, and relying on the Vandyke ideological square and the syntax axis from the six axes, it has extracted the strategies used by the translators.- Hanieh Qarakhan Bagli (2021) in her master's thesis entitled "Review and analysis of the translation of Arabic political news headlines in Fars news agency based on Van Dyke's discursive approach"; It tries to investigate and explain the differences between the news headlines translated in Fars news agency and their Arabic texts between July 30, 2019 and July 30, 2014, using the descriptive-analytical method and the Vandyke model.MethodologyThis research tries to provide solutions based on the approach of critical discourse analysis and the Van Dyke model (at both micro and macro levels Vandyke model (at both micro and macro levels), so that new Iranian translators, faced with political discourses containing ideologies that conflict with the ideology of their own country, can translate the source text. The research data were selected from the two news networks "Al-Arabiya" and "Al-Sharq" which are subordinate to the policies of Saudi Arabia, focusing on the Yemen war. Next, the news that covered the events in Yemen from 2019 to 2022 were examined, then due to the limitation of this research, some speeches and texts that included the most and most comprehensive strategies proposed by Van Dyke were selected. and analyzed. Then, based on the obtained analysis, the news were translated with the approach of critical discourse analysis and the translation was also analyzed.ConclusionThis research, by examining and analyzing political texts in general and the news of Yemeni war incidents in particular, showed us that in the media discourse, an incident is narrated in different ways and sometimes such incidents undergo changes and distortions. They look as if a new incident has happened. Therefore, translators of political texts need political, cultural and social knowledge in addition to linguistic knowledge. In fact, critical discourse analysis teaches them how to use their linguistic knowledge to discover and extract the ideology hidden in texts. Then, taking into account the accepted ideology in the target text, try to neutralize that ideology or even turn the ideology around. Also, the findings of this research showed us that in texts where ideology and politics are in conflict with each other in the source and target texts, using a strategy that is opposite to the strategy embedded in the source text can be a way forward for the translator. Also, along with other strategies analyzed in the article that lead to the neutrality or neutralization of the source text, the two strategies of deletion and addition are very effective in reversing the source text.
Translation in Arabic language and literature
Amir Mesgar
Abstract
The approach of critical discourse analysis is a new approach that dates back to the end of the twenty century. This approach provides the reader with various possibilities in the field of text analysis so that he can achieve a better or more accurate understanding of the text or discourse through their ...
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The approach of critical discourse analysis is a new approach that dates back to the end of the twenty century. This approach provides the reader with various possibilities in the field of text analysis so that he can achieve a better or more accurate understanding of the text or discourse through their application. Since the condition of having a good and perfect translation is the correct understanding of the original text, the possibilities of this approach can provide great help to translators to understand the text. Therefore, in this article, we decided to analyze the story under the umbrella of Najib Mahfouz's writing by applying this approach in order to have a better understanding of the ideology and messages of the story. It was done by Hossein Shamsabadi and Mehdi Shahrokh, we investigated and found that the translators did not have a good understanding of this story and as a result, they did not provide a good translation to their audience. This is despite the fact that by using the theory of critical discourse analysis, they could understand the semantic fields as well as keywords and leave behind a better translation. In addition, the authors of this article, relying on the description stage of the theory of critical discourse analysis, which pays special attention to the ideological load of keywords, investigated the translation of this story and came to the conclusion that the lack of correct equivalence in the translation of words and semantic areas of this story has caused that the main ideology of the story, which according to the writers of these lines is chaos and change, is not conveyed to the audience.
Rezaali Ghaseminasab; Sadeq Askari
Abstract
Vocabulary is chosen purposefully in the media to convey specific concepts. A quick look at how words are chosen in the media shows that the meaning of the media is hidden behind the words. Targeted vocabulary selection also includes media translation activities. In this research, we first point out ...
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Vocabulary is chosen purposefully in the media to convey specific concepts. A quick look at how words are chosen in the media shows that the meaning of the media is hidden behind the words. Targeted vocabulary selection also includes media translation activities. In this research, we first point out the importance and position of media translation, and then we talk about factors such as politics and ideology and how they imperceptibly penetrate the lower layers of meaning and introduce themselves to the audience in the form of truth. The research method in this research is descriptive and analytical and the statistical population is news texts translated from Arabic to Persian and vice versa. We searched the Arabic and Persian media and collected news texts published in these media in the last few years. And among these news texts, phrases that were in line with the objectives of the research were purposefully selected and examined. The purpose of choosing different media is to say that the technique of using words to convey the hidden meaning in media translation is not limited to specific media and exists in different media. The results show that media translators are subject to their media beliefs and policies in their choice of words. Therefore, they try to cleverly choose a word to convey the meaning in the translation that meets the goals and demands of their media and their desired meaning is conveyed to the audience. Using alternative words, using words with negative semantic load, changing words, and adding adjectives to some words are some of the methods that media translators use to induce their own meanings and concepts in translation.
