Gender and Ideology in Translation with a Critical Discourse Analysis Approach

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between gender of the translator and the extent to which his/her ideology is reflected in his/her translation. The study uses a descriptive methodology with an ex-post facto design and analyses the data within the framework of critical discourse analysis as applied to translation by Farahzad. The 24 subjects participating in this study were selected through purposive sampling and with an equal number in both genders. They were given certain texts to translate and their translations were analysed within CDA framework. The results showed that both male and female participants had reflected their ideology in their translations, while this proved to have a greater frequency in male translations. Moreover, since all the participants were Iranian, compliments, which is a known Iranian cultural element, were also studied; for this purpose, the participants were asked to translate a particularly selected text from Persian into English; the analysis of their translations revealed that both male and female translators reflect compliments in their translations, but this time, it had a higher frequency in female translations.