Drama Translation into Arabic. Shakespeare’s Macbeth: Issues and Solutions

Abstract

In the field of drama translation, requirements that usually characterize an acceptable translation could be identified from two different perspectives: 1. Translation as a derived product from the source text which should always be the reference to assess and determine the acceptability of the content of the target text. 2. Translation as “Independent Text” in the host culture which must be “usable.” From this view, translation quality assessment (TQA) of dramatic texts is either based on the requirements imposed either by the source text (ST) environment or by the target text (TT) environment. The objective of this research is to conduct a comparative study of two translations of Shakespeare’s Macbeth into Arabic to determine the problematic aspects of translating dramatic texts from English into Arabic and attempt to provide solutions to prevailing translation problems. The research will focus on two translations of Shakespeare’s Macbeth into Arabic conducted by Jabra Ibrahim Jabra in 1980 and Salah Niazi in 2000. Among the seven parameters of translation quality assessment (TQA) suggested by Al Qinai, we will be employing only four of them because we do believe that they are the most relevant for assessing such type of texts. The study will attempt to solve some of the pragmatic and semantic problems pertaining to translating dramatic texts by means of employing a cognitive approach to translation in an attempt to ensure the elements of speakability and performability. By addressing these elements, it is believed that drama translation may overcome some of its pragmatic obstacles in the TT.