In the Wake of Pure Farsi-Muslim Culture and Ideology through Translating Anthems in “The Kite Runner”

Abstract

Since the 11th of September, 2001, the media and American public have been obsessed by all things Islamic and Middle Eastern, as the war on terrorism has been essentially engaged against various countries and peoples believed to be terrorists, including Afghanistan. Since America’s declaration of war on terrorism, people have been flocking to bookstores to find and read up on topics like Islam, terrorism, the conflict in the Middle East, and more. While there have been many documentaries published on the Taliban, Osama Bin Laden, and women’s rights in the region, there were still no works of fiction in English published by an Afghan author until 2003. Khaled Hosseini’s 2003 novel, The Kite Runner presents itself as a powerful depiction of the formation of a complex Afghan-American cultural identity against the backdrop of the turbulence of modern Afghanistan. Political change throughout the book influenced people in Afghanistan. Anthems as national and/or religion folklore of Afghanistan make a better sense of pure culture and ideology and the translation of them may help to show the real face of Afghani’s better. This study examined the anthems in The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini and their Persian Translation by Mehdi Ghabraei in accordance with Vahid Dastjerdi’s proposed model of poetry translation on the basis of both textual and extra-textual levels. The results vary from one item to another. The researchers hope that this little work may help to show the innocent spirit of East to reduce the wars and killings there.