Source- and Target-Oriented Strategies and Procedures in the English Translation of Persian Cultural Words in Mowlana’s Mathnavi

Abstract

Translators who work on texts from remote cultural backgrounds may confront difficulties conveying the source culture to the target language and culture accurately, due to cultural differences. Relying on the distinction between source-oriented and target-oriented strategies proposed by Venuti, this research tries to examine the two key strategies used in the English translation of cultural words in the Mathnavi. To this end, cultural words in the original Persian text were identified and compared with their English translation by Barks. This research is product-oriented and attempts to describe and analyze translators’ overall preferences in the application of domestication and foreignization strategies. The research objectives are to explore the dominant strategy of domestication and foreignization used by Barks in translating the Mathnavi. Additionally, the scope of application of these two strategies and procedures is explored. The obtained results showed that domestication was applied more in the Persian-English translation of the Mathnavi. The most frequently used procedures were literal translation, cultural adjustment, and explanation.