Evaluating Razani’s Translation of Naguib Mahfouz’s Al-Liss wa Al-Kilab through Antoine Berman’s Deforming Tendencies: Emphasis on Rationalization, Clarification, and Qualitative Impoverishment

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD student in Arabic Language and Literature, Allameh Tabatabaei University

2 Assistant Professor of Linguistics, Department of Foreign Languages & Literature, Payame Noor University (PNU), Iran.

10.22054/rctall.2026.89600.1821

Abstract

Scientific translation criticism is a systematic approach to translation quality assessment and the stability of translator decision-making. In the past, evaluation was largely conducted in a traditional and impressionistic manner; however, models grounded in translation studies theories have since developed for methodical, theory-based assessment. Adopting a descriptive–analytical approach, this study examines Bahman Razani’s Persian translation of Naguib Mahfouz’s novel Al-Liss wa al-Kilab through Antoine Berman’s deforming tendencies. To this end, three chapters from the initial, middle, and final sections were selected as the sample corpus and analyzed focusing on three recurrent tendencies: rationalization, clarification, and qualitative impoverishment. The frequency of each tendency was quantified and presented graphically.



Analysis shows qualitative impoverishment, with a frequency of 89, is the dominant tendency. This manifests in inaccurate lexical choices and reduced semantic and phonetic load, which weakens meaning transfer. Rationalization, with a frequency of 72, uses segmentation of long sentences, punctuation changes, and simplification of syntactic structures to render the source text’s fluid, multilayered style more linear. Clarification, with a frequency of 61, adds explanations and specifies referents/gender of pronouns, enhancing target text readability; nevertheless, eliminating deliberate ambiguities reduces the text’s deliberate strangeness. Findings reveal a clear tendency toward target-orientedness and a marked departure from the source text's style. Results underscore the necessity of employing theoretical models in literary translation critique and delineating the boundaries of obligatory rationalization in structurally divergent language pairs.

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Main Subjects

Translation Researches in the Arabic Language And Literature

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 01 February 2026

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