Motivations and Goals of Translation in Iran: A Historical Perspective

Abstract

There are lots of evidences indicating that the history of translation in Iran return back to millenniums ago. Being under the influence of ever-changing condition of the country, translation in Iran has had many ups and downs. In some periods, the amount of translation has been so remarkable that we have had “the movement of translation” in those periods. The goals and motivations for translation during the time are different. Among these goals and motivations are delivering the messages and orders of the government to the people and tribes in different part of the Iranian empire, and its neighbors, filling the scientific gaps of the society, having access to the scientific findings of other nations and finding ways to get rid of the factors behind the country being undeveloped, expanding religious beliefs, personal motivations, and so forth. Some of these motivations, as filling the scientific gaps in the country, can be seen along the history of Iran, but some are special to specific historical periods being influenced by political and social conditions.