Ambiguity in Literary Translation: A Semantic Approach of “Ibn Arabi's Small Death” by Mohamed Hasan Alwan

Document Type : Original Article

Author

English Department, Faculty of Languages and Translation, Pharos University, Alexandria, Egypt

Abstract

The study focuses on semantics ambiguity in translating “Mawt Sa8er” موت صغير by Mohamed Hasan Alwan (2016) which is translated by William M. Hutchins (2022) into ‘Ibn Arabi's Small Death”. The study adapts connotation and denotation as the theoretical framework for the analysis using Newmark’s (1988) division of ambiguity in translation into seven types: grammatical, lexical, pragmatic, cultural, idiolectal, referential, and metaphorical. The study tries to utilize the challenges of ambiguity faced by the translator and to what extent he manages to overcome them. This study looks into ambiguity by defining its sources and types, and translation decision-making patterns as well as trying to answer the following research questions: How the translator overcomes the challenges of language ambiguity from the source text to the target text? To what extent he manages to deliver the cultural context of the ST to the target audience? The study points out the ambiguity intended by the author and how the translator deals with it to convey the same stylistic effect.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Transcultural Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 28 August 2023

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics