Publications
Publication details [#18301]
Rahab, Nadia. 2002. Explaining the implicit: the Qur'an translator's dilemma. In Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, Barbara and Marcel Thelen, eds. Translation and meaning 6. Maastricht: Universitaire Pers. pp. 119–130.
Publication type
Article in jnl/bk
Publication language
English
Keywords
Abstract
It is a well known fact that the Quar’an, the Muslim Scripture, makes extensive use of implicit information. This highly praised feature of the text can sometimes be the source of serious problems. First at source analysis level, the translator as a reader/interpreter struggles to retrieve the information left implicit in order to understand the meaning of the text. Secondly, at transfer stage, the translator has to decide how to convey this covert information in the target text without betraying the Qur’anic text or the target reader. A rather difficult balancing act. The paper starts by examining the use made of implicit information in the text of the Qur’an, then it attempts, through examples from the Quar’an and different translations in English, to demonstrate that implicit information is, indeed, one of the most frustrating problems the Qur’an translator has to tackle. The paper then looks at and assess the solutions suggested to solve problems raised by implicit information. Finally, an attempt is made to draw some conclusions on how to deal in translation with this much appreciated yet so complex feature of the Qur’anic text.
Source : Based on abstract in book