The Problems of Translating Classical Arabic Embedded in Saudi Novels from a Cultural Perspective

Abstract

This essay examines the problematic issues that arise when translating classical Arabic language embedded in contemporary Saudi literature, with a particular emphasis on Girls of Riyadh a modern Saudi novel written .The premise of the present study is that classical Arabic has undergone semantic change through pejoration amelioration, through which their original meanings have been either completely changed or different connotations have been added. When the classical Arabic terms are used in an informal context, they may acquire new connotations, the interpretation of which is totally different from their original meaning. In most cases, these classical lexical items have been transformed into dialectal lexical items. Therefore, the present study inquires whether the translation of the classical Arabic elements embedded in Girls of Riyadh effectively and comprehensively captures the impact, pragmatics, style, atmosphere, aesthetics, and culture shown in the novel. A methodology based on corpus linguistics has been employed. This study engages in descriptive research by analyzing source text-target text pairs. The corpus of the study was composed of 29 examples taken from Girls of Riyadh. The study involved categorizing selected classical Arabic phrases from the Saudi novel as cultural indicators and examining their translation using House's covert translation idea and criteria, as well as Dickins's levels of cultural transposition. The findings of this study indicate that the translators predominantly employed a communicative approach, omitting classical Arabic terms or rendering them into formal English instead of employing tactics of domestication or foreignization.