Foreignization and Domestication Strategies in the Translation of Cultural Specific Items in Itani's and Ali's Translations of Alnisaa’ Sura

Abstract

The researchers aimed to identify the two strategies of foreignization and domestication as adopted by Talal Itani and Abdullah Ali in translating fifty cultural specific items (CSIs) from Al-Nisaa’ Sura in the Holy Quran. They aimed to explore whether the two translations are source-text oriented involving foreignization strategies or target-text oriented involving domestication strategies. The study also attempted to investigate to what extent Itani and Ali had succeeded in achieving cultural equivalence in translating the fifty CSIs. To do the study, the primary research method used to answer the research questions was the comparative textual analysis for the two translations by Itani and Ali and Ivir’s (1987) translation strategies. The results of the study showed that though the translators’ tendencies towards foreignization and domestication seem to be roughly close to each other, they opted for more domestication strategies than foreignization strategies. While Itani’s foreignization percentage was (44.5%) and Ali’s (42.6%), Itani’s domestication percentage was (55.5%) and Ali’s (57.4%). Moreover, cultural equivalence in Itani’s translation accounted for 53%%, while it accounted for 47%% in Ali’s translation. The study also showed that foreignization strategies used by Itani and Ali were more appropriate in achieving cultural equivalence than domestication strategies used by the two translators. At the end of the study, the researchers recommended that the translators of religious texts in general and translators of the Holy Quran, in particular, have to be fully aware of the metaphorical and connotative language of the Holy Quran and be extremely knowledgeable of classical Arabic because it is the language of the Holy Quran. They also called for the importance of identifying the target audience because this may affect the strategies used by translators of religious texts. Based on the results of the study, the researchers recommended other researchers to research the equivalence of the translation of the Holy Quran because any loss of quality or sameness in the interpretation of the Holy Quran may lead to severe and problematic consequences.

Keywords: Arabic Translation, Domestication, Cultural Specific Items, Foreignization, Quran