The Translator’s Agency and the Text Superstructure in the English-Arabic News Translation

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper explores the possibility of the translator’s ideological impact on the reproduction of the text superstructure in translating argumentative political newspaper articles. The superstructure of the source argumentative newspaper articles and their translations are compared and interpreted following the problem-solution model and the notion of ideology. The research data consists of 16 source articles and their 15 translations. The data was collected from five leading media outlets that report mainly about Middle East affairs. The language pair of this study is Arabic and English. The paper investigates whether or not the translator’s ideological stance contributes to the alteration of the source problem-solution pattern through a partial reconstruction of the superstructure in the target texts. Based on this data, it was found that the translator’s ideology significantly affects the reproduction of the text superstructure. The examined translations show empirical evidence of the role played by the translator’s ideological position in shifting signals of the source texts and offering different value-driven problems and solutions from those offered in the original articles. Addition, omission, and re-organizing of materials are among the textual devices used by the translators in altering the source patterns.