Paratextual elements in Translation: Study of a novel of Goli Taraghi

Abstract

Paratexutal elements, especially on the cover of a book, play an important role in shaping the reader’s horizons of expectation of a literary work. Therefore, when it comes to translating, it is important to study the relations between these elements and the atmosphere of the book. In addition, paratextual elements on the cover of a book are considered the first and most effective part of a literary work that is related to the reader’s social and cultural world. Hence, translation of a book from a language into another language is actually the transition of a book from a linguistic-spatial-cultural fact into another linguistic-spatial-cultural reality and when a literary work is translated, these elements undergo various changes.

After providing some explanations on the paratext, its position in representing the atmosphere of a work, as well as its relation with the concepts of a culture, the present article aims to study the changes made in the paratextual elements of a novel written by Goli Taraghi, “Scattered Memories”, and its translation into French.