Current Postgraduate Students
Mr Musstafa Melad
Contact Mr Musstafa Melad (email at m.a.melad@durham.ac.uk)
Biography
Problems of Translating Cultural Terms with Reference to the Novels of Ibrahim al-Kawni
Aim and Scope of the Work
The work intends to show to what extent culture affects the understanding of a given text. In more basic terms, whether or not the equivalent given for cultural, ecological, social or religious terms evoke the same response in the target language reader as it does in the source language reader. Furthermore, i would like to illustrate the need for the translator to be familiar with, at least, the main cultural and religious aspects of both the source and target language.
The work is based on the English translation of the novels "The Bleeding of the Stone, Gold Dust, Anubis and The Seven Veils of Seth" by Ibrahim al-Kawni as an example of the difficulties that arise when translating such cultural terms. Furthermore, we have explored religious terms that are significance and connotations for cultures in which Islam is the dominant religion. The analysis of these terms aids us in our understanding of the unique interaction of a language and its corresponding culture and religion.
Within the context of this thesis, the role played by culture in the process of translation will be subject to scrutiny, and to the effect and impact of culture on translation: the relation between language and culture on one hand and the relation between translation and culture is discussed. Generally, this thesis focuses on the triangular relationship between language, culture and translation, with specific reference to cultural terms.
The term equivalence describes the relationship between a translation and the text from which it is translated.