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Key Cultural Texts in Translation
Edited by Kirsten Malmkjær, Adriana Şerban and Fransiska Louwagie
[Benjamins Translation Library 140] 2018
► pp. 275–297

Chapter 16
Cultural satirical features in translation

The Pessoptimist as a case study

Satire is closely related to its context, so translated satire may lack “satirical flavor”. This article investigates whether Arabic cultural features remain in Habiby’s The Pessoptimist, a translation of a major work in the modern Arabic literary canon written by a noted Palestinian writer and politician. Due to its theme, the Israeli-Arab conflict, and its unique satirical style, this novel has been translated into Hebrew and English. Analysing the English translation, I seek to identify culture-bound satirical features in the source text, investigate the translation strategies used to render them, and to emphasize the role of the translator in preserving the satirical flavour. I draw upon a modified version of Simpson’s (2003) model of satire, Translation Studies, and literary studies.
Keywords: satire, cultural features, The Pessoptimist , translation studies, stylistics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Satire: Towards a better understanding
    • 2.1Satire as a universal practice
    • 2.2Satire as a discursive practice
    • 2.3Satire as a social practice
  • 3. The Pessoptimist as a Key Cultural Text
  • 4.Methodology
  • 5.Discourse world
  • 6.Satirical method
    • 6.1Metonymic satirical method
    • 6.2Metaphoric satirical method
      • 6.3Satirical hooks
  • 7.Satirical uptake
  • 8.Results
  • 9.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 16 May 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.140.16abd
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