Sociological Dimension in the Translation of Syrian Refugees’ Voices

El-Bahy, Ghada K; Mohamed, Nehad

doi:10.21608/tjhss.2023.180058.1144

Sociological Dimension in the Translation of Syrian Refugees’ Voices

Document Type : Original papers

Authors

Ghada K El-Bahy ¹
Nehad Mohamed ²

¹ Institute of Applied Linguistics and Translation, Faculty of Arts, Alexandria University

² BADR University / Alexandria

10.21608/tjhss.2023.180058.1144

Abstract

The process of translation is lodged within social contexts. This starts with people who carry out the translation process as they belong to a particular social system and further proceeds to the translation itself that is embedded in social institutions. These social institutions regulate different aspects of the process of translation, such as the choice, the output, and the dissemination of translation. Consequently, this leads to the translation strategies used in the translation itself. Investigating the agencies and agents involved in the translation process helps in realizing the translator and the researcher as constructing and constructed forces in society. This social dimension is not entirely remote from the cultural dimension since it is almost impossible to describe society adequately without culture and culture without society. Translating the voices of Syrian refugees with perspectives arising from miseries associated with war zones invites the receivers of these narratives to learn a lot about the catastrophic consequences of armed conflicts and highlights the sociological role played by the different agents involved in the process of translation. Bourdieu’s (1977) sociological notions of field and habitus have contributed much to the investigation of translation practices by translation agents and their role in submitting to or refuting the social norms that regulate their translation behaviors. This research seeks to explain how Bourdieu’s notions of field and habitus can be employed in translation studies to account for the process of translation, and the role played by translation agents in this process.

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