Towards a Theoretical Basis for Selecting a Literary Translation as Book of the Year

Abstract

The present paper intends to propose a set of criteria, drawn from Translation Studies, against which to assess the quality of the candidates for the award of the Best Literary Translation of the Year. This will be preceded by a critical analysis of the set of criteria currently used for awarding the Islamic Republic of Iran Book of the Year Prize. Using a historical method with a qualitative-applied approach, it has extracted the set of criteria used within 36 years for selecting the Best Literary Translation. The documents include the following three: the list of translations awarded the Book of the Year Prize (with emphasis on literary translations); 2. Assessment forms presented to referees as selection guidelines as well as the Regulations of the Book of the Year Award; 3. The two-volume Ayineh Dowran. The study then critically analyzed the extracted criteria and then based on the functions of literary translations, a set of qualitative criteria as guidelines for referees have been proposed. The analysis of the data shows that the criteria used so far for selecting the Best literary Translation are mainly quantitative, and that they are not much different from the criteria used for selecting the best books in other fields, translated or otherwise. The criteria proposed are the following: “Boosting the variety and richness of literature in the target culture”, “actualizing the potentials of the target language and adding to them”, and “being as much similar to the original text as is permissible”.