Cultural Problems in Literary Translation from English into Arabic

Abstract

Translation is a process of cultural transfer that involves more than simple search for a semantic equivalent. Sapir (Culture, language and personality. University of California Press, Los Angeles, 1956) states that “no two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached” (p. 69). Translators, therefore, have to take the sociolinguistic aspects of language such as politeness, terms of address as well as aspects related to discourse into consideration being aware of how these concepts are manifested in each culture. Since literature is usually viewed as a cultural portrait of nations and communities, it poses a great challenge to the translator who is sometimes torn between the aesthetics and cultural component of the source text and the culture of the target text reader. The present study investigates the cultural problems involved in literary translation from English into Arabic. It analyzes university students’ translations of English literary texts in an attempt to identify the basic problems Jordanian translation students encounter, strategies and processes students follow to account for these problems. The study revealed that poetry was the most difficult genre for students who relied basically on paraphrase as a translation strategy. Different strategies were employed in translating narrative texts such as literal translation, substitution, omission and free translation.