The Ideological Representation of the Holocaust in Persian Translations of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: A Discourse-Based Analysis

Abstract

This study examines how Holocaust-related ideological elements are represented in two Persian translations of John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, by Parvaneh Fattahi and Hormoz Abdollahi. Drawing on Hatim and Mason's (1997) discourse-based model, it examines thirty-two purposively selected samples organized into five thematic categories: Bruno's mispronunciations of Nazi-related terms, power and authority, dehumanization, suffering and death, and Jewish identity. Five discourse-analytic tools—lexicalization, reduction, elaboration, modality, and tense shift—are applied to identify translational choices bearing on ideological representation. The analysis shows that both translators preserve the novel's overarching condemnation of Nazi ideology, including its treatment of dehumanization, authoritarian power, and the erasure of identity, yet diverge markedly in how explicitly these meanings are conveyed. Fattahi tends to retain the understated, childlike register of Bruno's narrating voice, sustaining the irony that depends on his limited understanding, whereas Abdollahi more often resolves ambiguity through elaboration and explicit lexical choice. The two translators converge almost completely, however, at the novel's two most ideologically charged moments, suggesting that ideological fidelity and variation operate at different levels of the text. The paper argues that ideological meaning in literary translation is reconstructed rather than transferred, with implications for translating historically sensitive fiction.

Keywords: Discourse Analysis, Holocaust Literature, Ideology, Literary Translation, Persian Translation