Foreignization and Domestication in English Translations of Culture- Specific Items in the Holy Qur an (Chapter 5)

Islamic Azad University Science and Research Campus Faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages Department of Translation Studies Foreignization and Domestication in English Translations of Culture- Specific Items in the Holy Qur an (Chapter 5) A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements of the Degree of Master of Arts in Translation Studies Advisor: Salar Manafi Anari, PhD Reader: Mohammad khatib, PhD By Naheed Sheerzad February 2011 2

Table of Contents Abstract 10 Acknowledgements... 3 List of Tables... 9 CHAPTER ONE Introduction... 11 1.1. Background and the Purpose... 11 1.2. Statement of the Problem... 14 1.3. Significance of the Study... 15 1.4. Purpose of the Study... 15 1.5. Research Question... 16 1.6. Statement of Hypotheses... 17 1.7. Theoretical Framework... 17 1.8. Definition of Key Terms... 18 1.9. Delimitation of Study... 19 CHAPTER TWO Review of the Related Literature... 20 2.1. Overview... 20 2.2. Translation Studies... 20 2.2.1. Cultural Turn in Translation Studies 25 2.2.1. 1. Cultural Turn and Translation of Holy Texts... 29 2.3. Foreignization and Domestication... 30 2.3.1. Historical Background... 30 2.3.2. Foreignizing and Domesticating Translation... 33 2.3.3. The Translator s Invisibility... 38 2.3.4. Domestication and Translation from Arabic... 44 2.4. The Holy Qur an... 47 2.5. Qur an Translation... 50 2.5.1. Historical Background... 50 6

2.5.2. Style and Strategies of Qur anic Translation... 53 2.5.3. The Translatability and Legitimacy of Translating the Qur an... 57 2.5.4. Culture Specific Items in the Holy Qur an (CSIs)... 62 2.5.5. Strategies for Translating Culture Specific Items... 68 CHAPTER THREE Methodology... 73 3.1. Overview... 73 3.2. Description of Type of Research... 73 3.3. Corpus... 7 4 3.4. Size of Corpus... 74 3.5. Procedure... 75 3.6. Data Collection and Recording... 77 3.7 Data Processing and Analysis... 77 CHAPTER FOUR Data Analysis and Interpretation... 78 4.1. Overview... 78 4.2. Analysis and Evaluation of the Samples in the Corpus of the Study... 78 4.3. Status of Foreignization and Domestication in the Corpus of the Study 124 4.4. Outcomes... 129 CHAPTER FIVE Conclusions, Implications, and Suggestions for Further Research... 132 5.1. Overview... 132 5.2. Restatement of the Research Questions... 132 5.3. Implications... 136 5.4. Suggestions for Further Research... 137 REFRENCES... 138 144...چکید 7

List of Tables Table 1.... 125 Frequency of the Domesticating Strategies applied in the corpus of the research Table 2.... 126 Frequency of the Foreignizing Strategies applied in the corpus of the research Table 3.... 127 Percentage of the Domesticating Strategies applied in the corpus of the research... Table 4.... 128 Percentage of the Foreignizing Strategies applied in the corpus of the research 8

Abstract In the framework of two key cultural strategies of foreignization and domestication postulated by Lawrence Venuti (1995), this research made an attempt to investigate the way in which culture- specific items in the Holy Qur an have been portrayed in English context.to meet this purpose, some parts of the Glorious Qur an in Arabic were compared with three translations in English. The outlet of this study was based on the taxonomy of procedures (techniques) gleaned from a number of studies by translation scholars.the research questions aimed to work out the more frequent strategy in the dichotomy proposed by Venuti (1995)in dealing with cultural items in the Holy Qur an as well as the scope of application of these two strategies in the corpus of the study. To answer the questions, this descriptive translation research first made an effort to extract some cultural items in the Glorious Qur an. Next, it tried to perform a comprehensive analysis of the foreignization and domestication procedures applied for the translation of these particular items. The study finally came up with the conclusion that the target texts under investigation are mostly domesticated. Key terms: culture, translation, strategies of translation, translatability & untranslatability 9

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چکید ای تسمیك ثش اعبط ت بیض ثی د سا جشد اعبعی فش گی ثیگب گشایی ث يی گشایی ک تی دس عبل 6991 طشذ کشد اعت دس پی کب ػ تک یک بیی اعت ک دس تشخ ا گهیغی آیت بی فش گی دس ع س يجبسک يبئذ دس لشآ کشیى ثکبس سفت اعت. ث عجبست دیگش ای تسمیك ت صیفی فشآ سد ث یبد- پژ ؾی اعت کیفی ثب ذف ت صیف تسهیم ؽی بی ع هی سا جشد بی تشخ ث يی ثیگب گشایی. پشعؼ بی تسمیك دس صذد اعت سا جشد غبنت یض گغتش ای د کبسثشد سا دس تغیى ث ذی د گب ثیگب گشایی ث يی گشایی دس پیکش تسمیك ثکب د. دسساعتبی ای ذف ع تشخ ا گهیغی اص لشآ کشیى ثب يت اصهی لشآ ث صثب عشثی يمبیغ ؽذ ا ذ. ثشای دعتیبثی ث پبعخ بی پشعؼ بی يطشذ ؽذ تالػ ؽذ آیتى بی فش گی ثشاعبط طجم ث ذی عجذانشئ ف اصپ د ی ع س لشآ کشیى )ع س يجبسک يب ئذ ( اعتخشاج ؽذ تشخ ا گهیغی آ ب ي سد تدضی تسهیم لشاس گیشد. ثشاعبط تبیح ثذعت آيذ ث يی گشایی سایح تشی سا جشد فش گی تشخ ي سداعتفبد دس پیکش تسمیك ؽ بخت ؽذ اعت از ای را وا : فش گ, سا جشد بی تشخ,تشخ پزیشی تشخ بپزیشی 144

دا شگا آزاد اسالهی احد عل م تحقیقات ت راى دا شکد ادبیات زبا ای خارج دپارتواى هطالعات ترجو پایاى اه هدرک کارش اسی ارشد هطالعات ترجو بیگا گرایی ب هی گرایی در ترجو ا گلیسی آیتو ای فر گی در قرآى کرین )س ر هبارک هائد ) استاد را وا دکتر ساالر ه افی ا اری استاد هشا ر دکتر هحود خطیب گارش: ا ید شیرزاد ب وي 9831 145