Cultural Equivalence intheEnglish Translation of Naguib Mahfouz’s  Palace of Desire

Alaskar, Hajer

doi:10.21608/aafu.2023.323277

Cultural Equivalence intheEnglish Translation of Naguib Mahfouz’s Palace of Desire

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Hajer Alaskar

College of Languages and Translation, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, (IMSIU),KSA, Riyadh

10.21608/aafu.2023.323277

Abstract

The current descriptive, analytical-qualitative study aimed at exploring the application of Venuti’s theory of translation, which includes the strategies of domestication and foreignization to examine Hutchins et al. English translation of Naguib Mahfouz’s novel Palace of Desire. The study used Venuti’s theory as a guiding tool of analysis to identify the problems of translating culturally bound concepts and terms and how the translators solved them. Data analysis depended on comparing non-random samples collected from the sourceand target texts.The research findings indicated that by applying the foreignization strategy, the translator could enrich the English literature and culture by conveying the cultural aspects of Mahfouz’s novel. Another finding pointed to the procedures translators used to apply foreignization, including transliteration, literal translation, and borrowing. Therefore, the study concluded that foreignizing strategy has a positive impact on achieving cultural equivalence. The results of the study indicate the importance of employing Venuti’s strategies to examine different literary genres in order to convey cultural diversity to the target readers. The study also recommends enhancing the role of the translator as a cultural transmitter

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