Loss of Meanings of Cultural Metaphors in Translation: An Analysis of Translated Bulleh Shah’s Punjabi Poetry

Sana Asghar

doi:10.33195/jll.v5iii.330

Abstract

Language encompasses the whole native culture and social norms and traditions but the translation from one language to another changes the context and sometimes meanings as well. The translators feel difficulties in finding word equivalences. Sometimes the equivalence of the words of one culture does not exist in the other culture which creates difficulties in translation to convey the complete message. There are so many issues while translating the Punjabi language into English. There are so many metaphors in Punjabi which do not have word equivalence in the English language. The research project aimed to trace out the loss of the meanings and context while translating Punjabi poetry into English. Many Punjabi Sufi writers have projected the colors of Punjabi in different forms and contexts but Bulleh Shah has a very unique style. Two poems of Bulleh Shah translated by Taufiq Rafat were under examination. This was purely qualitative research where data has been collected from books, libraries, and research journals. Textual analysis has been used as a research method to analyze the data. The findings revealed that Punjabi poetry has distinct metaphors that represent Punjabi culture, but when translated into English the original meaning is lost.

Highlights

A cultural metaphor is a significant phenomenon in a community with which most people identify cognitively or emotionally and through which the national culture can be represented in detail (Gannon, et al, 2005)
This research project aims to highlight that during the translation of Bulleh Shah’s poems into English, the cultural metaphors used in his poems lose their meanings when they are translated into English
An extensive literature survey suggests that no research has been done on how during the translation of Bulleh Shah’s poems into English, the cultural metaphors used in his poems lose their meanings when they are translated into English

Summary

Introduction

A cultural metaphor is a significant phenomenon in a community with which most people identify cognitively or emotionally and through which the national culture can be represented in detail (Gannon, et al, 2005). St. Clair (2002) is of the view that metaphors are used for representing different cultures. Punjabi poetry is replete with cultural metaphors. After India’s partition, the Punjabi language was not given any government support that was necessary for the spread and development of a language (Riaz, 2011). Punjabis are the largest group in Pakistan. About 125 million people worldwide have Punjabi as their mother tongue. The provincial language of Punjab is Punjabi (Manan & David, 2014)

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