Deforming Tendencies in the Transfer of Proper Nouns in Fantastic Literature

A Case Study

Abstract

There are various procedures proposed by translation scholars for translating proper nouns. However, there is still a strong tendency among most Persian translators to transfer (transcribe, transliterate, copy) proper nouns in fantastic novels. Some studies have been carried out on such tendency or the various procedures available but none has focused on the “metaphoric” and “iconic” functions of proper nouns. Studying the translation procedures adopted by Saeed Kebriai and Morteza Madaninezhad in translating Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone novel into Persian, the present paper attempts to explore the transfer of proper nouns in terms of two of Berman’s deforming tendencies: “qualitative impoverishment” and “the destruction of underlying networks of signification”.