The Challenges of Fidelity in Translating English Proverbs into Arabic
Noor Ghazi Mahmood
Department of Translation, College of Arts, University of Tikrit
Noorjan Hussein Jamal
Department of Translation, College of Arts, University of Tikrit
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25130/Lang.8.11.18
Keywords: English Proverbs, Fidelity, Translation Challenges
Abstract
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source language text using an equivalent target-language text. The main problem of translation is meaning. Thus fidelity or faithfulness should be to meaning and not to the form, style, or even the context of the source language To achieve an accurate and appropriate translation the translator should also have a good background knowledge of the SL and the TL culture, s/he take into consideration the context of the text in the TL. The main problem here is that translators cannot achieve total fidelity in translating texts that belong to languages that have considerable gaps between their cultures, especially in translating proverbs. In every translation process, there is a purpose or a function that is not inherited in the words of the original text. One of the main challenges and problems in translating English proverbs into Arabic is the lack of linguistic equivalence in the Arabic language due to the differences between Arabic and English cultures, religion, social norms, etc. In this case, the translators may use direct literal translation which is inappropriate in translating proverbs because proverbs acquired their meaning from everyday experience which is inevitably different between Arabic and English. This study aims to explain the concept of fidelity in translation and how it may affect the translation process. Also, it aims to explore the challenges and difficulties of fidelity in translating English proverbs from English into Arabic. To fulfill the above aims, the current study hypothesizes that fidelity in translation is very important because it enables the translator to transpose the author's ideas and style accurately but sometimes this makes it difficult for the readers of the target language to understand the meaning effectively if the translator tries to achieve fidelity rather than the purpose of the source text. Also, translators who have a good background in both languages are more successful in their translation. Two proverbs as data for this study were chosen from the book entitled “One Thousand and One English Proverbs Translated into Arabic" written by Dr. Omer Osman Jabak, a lecturer at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. Subsequently, these proverbs were given to ten M.A. students at the Department of Translation, the College of Arts, Tikrit University to render them into Arabic.
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