The contribution of register analysis to the translation of Red Sorghum
The Chinese novel
Hóng Gāoliáng Jiāzú (
红高粱家族,
Red Sorghum
2008) was written by the Nobel-winning Chinese writer Mò Yán (
莫言). Its Arabic translation (
الذرة
الرفيعة الحمراء,
al-Dhurra al-Rafī‘a al-Hamrā) was published in
2013. By comparing the Chinese source text with the Arabic target text, this paper aims to present an
assessment of the Arabic translation based on an awareness of translation theory and, in particular, translation quality
assessment or what is widely known as register analysis (
House 1997) in order to
propose additional solutions for the translation of Chinese literature into Arabic. The paper also surveys the field of
translation studies specifically in regard to scholarship concerning translation between Chinese and Arabic, and it attempts to
add additional literature for Chinese-Arabic translators or translator trainees. Relying on textual analysis that relates to a
wider socio-cultural framework, the paper concludes that the original translation of the novel is not successful, as it lacks an
awareness of register characterization which plays an important part in the translation-oriented analysis of literary texts. This
results in the misrepresentation of Chinese cultural experience as well as an absence of evaluative meanings at an interpersonal
level. For this reason, this study offers alternative translation techniques into Arabic that foreground the author’s style
without modifying the cultural elements. This approach will be illustrated through a number of examples representative of many
examples translated and assessed by the authors. We suggest that an awareness of register variables results in a more appropriate
communication of the Chinese cultural context, and is therefore more likely to be viewed positively by the Arab audience, piquing
its curiosity in regard to the cultural specificities found in this foreign culture.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction to Red Sorghum and its translation into Arabic
- 2.Chinese literary translations into Arabic: Theoretical overview and suggestions for a register analysis approach
- 3.Register analysis and translation quality assessment
- 4.Quality assessment of the Arabic translation of Red Sorghum
- 5.Conclusion
- Note
-
References
References (26)
References
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Cited by (1)
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