Towards a Methodology for Teaching CultureWaleed A. Othman

IntroductionHaving recognized that culture-specific material in a text can be more troublesome for the translator than the linguistic difficulties, that translation is a cultural rather than a linguistic transfer, and that successful communication depends on shared associations of terms, scholars of translation have now shifted their attention towards intercultural translation problems. This is a well-justified trend as words and expressions are not usually uttered in vacuum, nor are they only part of language, but of the culture they are anchored in as well. Words and expressions, in other words, are meant for a certain audience in a certain place and time (i.e. culture).

Words and expressions are put in a text to mean something that should be preserved when rendered into a different language. However, when such a meaning is peculiar to a certain language, hence culture, the implicit associations surrounding expressions prove painstaking for a translator unaware of such specificity. It is from this fact that our interest in this matter springs.

In an attempt to verbalize some advice for student-translators when tackling such culture bumps, and to help them confidently face such obstacles and minimize (if not overcome) distortions of both message and content of text, the researcher has examined, as his study corpus, a part of an Arabic novel (namely, Naguib Mahfouz’s Qasr el-Shawq) and its translated version, The Palace of Desire (translated by William Maynard Hutchins, Lorne M. Kenny and Olive E. Kenny and published by the reputable Black Swan).

The novel has been selected for its richness in culture-specific material peculiar to the Arab Egyptian setting. Its English version, translated by professional translators and published by a reputable house, makes it a good corpus for the purpose of the present study. The research procedure is thus based on examining the two versions of the novel to see how cultural material in the source text ST (the Arabic novel) is rendered into the target text TT version of the novel.

The main focus is given to Realia. By “Realia” we mean “words (and collocations) of a national language which denote objects, concepts and phenomena characteristic of the geographical surroundings, culture, everyday realities or socio-historical specifics of a people, nation, country

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or tribe, and which thus convey national, local or historical color; such words have no exact equivalents in other languages” (Vlakhov & Florin 1970; in Shuttleworth, 1997, 139-40).

For reasons of space, the researcher has limited his concern to three major problematic types of Realia (or culture-specific material). These are:- Mythology and Religion- Proper Nouns- Figurative Language

Through the course of the study, reference will be made, where necessary, to theoretical translation approaches such as cultural borrowing, substitution, transposition, exoticism, among others, in order to come up with solutions, recommendations and teaching methodology that could be of help to the translation trainee.

Mythology and ReligionReligion, as well as myth, makes one of the domains of human behavior where language is an important component. For different speech communities, these are spoken of in a manner peculiar to each community, thus making them fields of considerable cultural significance. It is this localization of religion and myth that adds to the difficulty of the translator’s job, since what is considered normal in the denotative sense of one language may turn out to be meaningless in other languages. Let’s consider the following examples from the corpus:

)1(. دينك استكمال في تفكر أن لك آن

For a speaker of English, or any other language, the meaning would never be clear by means of a literal translation of this example. Another example is:

)2( - : إذا حاسد شر ومن الخمس أصابعها بين مفرجة وجهه في يمناها راحة تبسط وهي خديجة فقالتحسد.

Only for a reader well aware of the cultural association of such a situation will the following rendering be of any meaning:

Khadija spread her fingers apart and held her hand with he palm facing Yasin, reciting. “And from the evil of the envious in his envy” (Qur’an, 113:5)

For another recipient who is ignorant of the cultural significance of the text, it would by no means be easy to recreate an equivalent response in his/her language while maintaining such a cultural load of the ST. Is it wise then to erase the cultural difference and have such a vague literal translation as the one above? The answer is simply ‘no’.

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Let’s now return to the corpus and see the way the translators dealt with such material regarding religious and mythical data. After examining the relevant examples, the researcher has noticed that the translators adopted the following methodology:

a- When dealing with Qur’anic verses, the translators tend to opt for a literal translation, e.g.

)3(. بأنفسهم ما يغيروا حتى بقوم ما يغير ال الله لكن

“God doesn’t change people until they change themselves” (Qur’an, 13:11).

As can be seen, the translated verse has been documented; i.e. the ordinal number of both the Surah (chapter) and the verse, as they appear in the Holy Qur’an, are given in parentheses.

b- When literal translation does not read fluently, the translators coupled it with a paraphrase, which could give the target text a foreign appearance and make it more attractive to its audience (a method of cultural translation labeled as Exoticism by Hervey & Higgins, 1992). The following examples make things clear:

القدر… …)4( ليلة

… The Night of Destiny, at the end of Ramadan when prayers are sure to be answered…

)5(. 9روني د;ّث م9لوني َز;

… the prophet’s words when he would feel a revelation coming and cry out for help: ”Wrap me up! Cover me with my cloak!”

The same would apply for examples (1,2) above, translated thus:(6) It’s time for you to think about getting married, if only to comply with the teachings of religion.

(7) To ward off the evil eye, Khadija spread her fingers apart and held her hand with he palm facing Yasin, reciting. “And from the evil of the envious in his envy” (Qur’an, 113:5).

In short, when faced with materiel from religion or myth, a literal translation is often coupled with a paraphrase. This helps maintain that foreign sense while still have a fluent and readable translation, and consequently “avoid reconstitut[ing} … the foreign text in accordance with the values, beliefs and representations that pre-exist it in the target language” (Venuti, 1993 in Harker 1999,28).

Proper Nouns (People & Places)

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Names, whether real or fictional, make a good portion of culture-specific materials in almost any piece of writing, particularly in literature and history. Such names are usually those of people who made themselves, or have been made, memorable by writers of fiction and historians. Most noticeable of those are leaders and artists (painters, TV and movie stars and celebrities). Related to these figures are places and events. Other proper nouns may have their origin in holy books or mythology, of which works of literature are rich sources. Consider the names ‘ Antara, Qais and Laila, Hatim, Hittin, etc.

Names like these have their associations in the ST culture only, sometimes in various cultures- through translations of famous works and classics (Sinbad is a good example). The name, ‘Hatim’, would recall the quality of generosity for an Arab readership. In English, on the other hand, it would prove void. To consider yet another example, this time from English, take ‘Robin Hood’.

It is also worth remembering that such names of cultural connotations are to be found in proverbs and idiomatic expressions. In Arabic, when someone’s attempts end up in failure and loss, it is said,

حنين،) 8( بخفي عاد

echoing a famous tale in the culture of the Arabs.

For a translator who is after both triggering a response in the TT reader equivalent to that of the ST reader and after maintaining the communicative act realized by a certain expression, this is not easy. What, then, is the ideal way to deal with proper nouns as the ones aforementioned? Would a dictionary be the authority that would help the translator unpack the meaning of such nouns? So many instances of proper nouns referring both to people and places have been cited in the corpus of this study. Examples include:

األَزبكية) 9(

Ezbekia entertainment districtالحسين) 10( فقراء

The needy around al-Husayn Mosqueالبر) 11( رأس

The summer resort of Ra’s al-Barrالمهدية) 12( منيرة

The star, Munira al-Mahdiyaالحماسة) 13(

Al-Hamasa, a medieval anthology of poetryّثروت) 14( أو عدلي

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The important politicians, Adli Yeken Pasha and Abdel khaliq Sarwat Pasha

كشر) 15( بمبة

Miss Mamba Kashar, the seductive songstressعنتر) 16( ملحمة

the folk epic about Antar- the heroic black poet of ancient Arabiaاصبع) 17( أبي باشا ابراهيم تمثال

the statue of the national leader Ibrahim Pasha with his finger in the air

As can be noticed from the examples above, all proper nouns (whether of people or locations) have been transferred, rather than translated, into English, and coupled with the appropriate generic name in each case for purposes of educating the TT audience. This strategy is to be followed “when the denotation of the name is not known or obscure to the reader’ (Newmark, 1981,71).

Even when some names (as Bamba Kashar, Adli and Sarwat, and Ibrahim Pasha) are used connotatively, they have not been culturally transplanted – i.e., replaced by target culture elements, but transferred verbatim. In addition to transliterating such names; the translators have also brought out their connotations so that the reader would, by extra help from the adjacent context, be able to figure out their relevance to the overall situation. By so doing, rather than by opting for a translated or an adapted rendering, the translators seem to say that message and culture are equally important and should be reproduced in the TT.

The translators have also managed, by not adapting the proper names (e.g. Abraham for Ibrahim) but by following the Exoticism approach to preserve the “foreign” appearance of the text and to make it more yielding to its audience. Megrab (1999) considers this technique of foreignization justifiable if faithfulness to the ST is to be achieved, provided that the communicative goal for the TT reader is not impaired.

Figurative ExpressionsLiterary works, for some reason or another, abound in figurative expressions. Whatever this reason might be, it’s the translator’s role to find equivalents every time he is faced with a figurative occurrence. Is this an easy thing to do?

Figurative language is expressed by means of several vehicles, including similes, metaphors, hyperboles, metonymys, among others; each of these can give the translator a hard time since they are usually based on culture-specific concepts, notions, beliefs, images, etc.

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Metaphors, for example, depict images associated with something current in a given culture while absent in others. Where these images exist, there are surely lexical items to express them; where they don’t, no means of verbalizing them are found.

The corpus of this study is laden with figurative expressions, most of which, if not all, are peculiar to the Arab culture. Following are some examples together with their translations as given by the translators of the novel at hand:

Similes)18. كالجاموسة) قبيحة أنت

You’re as ugly as a water buffalo.كانت) …19( كالغزال

She was as pretty as a gazelle.)20. كالزهرة) جميلة شابة رأيت

I beheld a young woman as beautiful as a flower.)21. كالمحمل) … كلتاهما

… each of them as massively beautiful as the ceremonial camel when it sets off from Mecca with the pilgrims.Hyperbole

)22. الحسين) مئذنة تحركت ولو

Even if the minaret of al-Hussayn Mosque started shaking.)23. عبدا) له صرت حرفا علمني من

I become the slave of anyone who teaches me a single syllableMetonymy

)24. له) يستجيب من يجد فال قلب يتكلم أن مؤسف أمر

It’s devastating when a heart speaks out and finds no one who will respond.

)25. الجواد) عبد أحمد صدر لها اهتز أصوات

Al-Sayyid Ahmad was deeply moved …Metaphor

)26 . عجين) من وأذنا طين من أذنا

I act as though one of my ears was made of clay and the other of dough.)27. جوفه) في قلبين من المرء الله يجعل لم

God didn’t place two hearts in a man’s breast (Qur’an, 33:4))28. واد) في وهو واد في فؤاد

There was a mountain separating him from Fuad.)29 (Sاللبؤة بنت يا

You, bitch.روح) 30( يا طولك اللهم

O’ God have mercy!)31 (Sباردة عليك عيني

I don’t envy you!

Each of the cited examples above depict some sort of image, some are peculiar to the culture of the Arabs, others are universal. It is this fact of

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universality or peculiarity that seems to be of significance to the translator. Whether the image is depicted by means of a simile, a metaphor or otherwise, what counts is its making sense to a recipient even when the same image is differently lexicalized in different cultures. For instances of such universally-comprehended images, see example (18), where comparison is made between an ugly woman and a buffalo; example (19), where a pretty young woman is likened to a gazelle; and example (20) where the young woman is compared to a flower.

It is not difficult in these cases to get to the point of similarity between the compared and the comparee as the quality is explicitly given in each simile. It is also universally accepted, we believe, that a buffalo is ugly, a gazelle is pretty and a flower is beautiful.

What applies to similes is also true of other figures of speech. Consider example (22), where al-Husayn Mosque, frequently mentioned before in the novel, is utilized in a hyperbole to express the meaning of “something impossible to happen”. See also examples (24:metonymy), (27,28: metaphors).

The case being so, the translators, having analyzed the images and come to realize that they are easily understood by an English speaker, opted for a literal rendering rather than a “situational equivalent” ( Vinay & Darbelnet (1995, 342), or a “ functional equivalent”, to use Nida's term (Nida 1964, 171).

Analysis of the image proves more essential when the image is only clear for the speakers of a certain language in a certain culture. Larson (1984, 249) emphasizes this task of decoding the image when dealing with metaphors in particular. We would also recommend analyzing the other figurative expressions if one is to get to what the writer aims at. When an image is specific to the ST a literal translation would make no sense to a TT recipient. How, then, should such instances be treated?

Looking yet again at the examples above, we find the answer in examples (21, 25, 29-32). In example (21), two ladies are being compared to al-Mihmal (المحمل), a term used in Arabic to denote the quality of beauty.

It is this connotation that the translators cared to convey. The same is true of examples (25, 29-32). The translators, therefore avoided rendering such instances literally in favor of a TT metaphor (e.g. 29) or a paraphrase (e.g. 25, 30-32)

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RecommendationsVermeer, 1986 (in Snell-Hornby, 1987) argues that a translator needs to be bilingual and bicultural. Nida, 1954 and Straight, 1977 (cited in Leighton, 1991, 220) are both for the same argument, contending that a translator needs to be culturally knowledgeable. But is this achievable? How can we make our student translators bicultural?

This is very much easier said than done. What solutions should we seek then?

If we can’t teach culture to our students, we can surely teach them how to deal with it. The following list of recommendations, we hope, should prove pedagogically beneficial to a student of translation when tackling cultural material.

Recently, two very helpful sources of cultural material have been published; namely,

The Longman Dictionary of Language and Culture, and the Oxford Guide to British and American Culture.

These are rich sources and a final authority for a lot of cultural data.

Encyclopedias make another resort. The Encyclopedia Britannica and the Encyclopedia Americana would help not only with a term from the English culture, but also when other cultures are involved. In Arabic, a couple of invaluable encyclopedias are there to help the student when dealing with his/her own culture.

Available on the market one can find books about so many cultures. These could also be studied prior to translating the text. For information about these visit NCELTR Publications at http.//www.nceltr.mq.edu.au/publications and the Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd. at www.continuumbooks.com

Before embarking on a translation process, a translator is urged to read about the author of the text, where and when and for whom the text was written.

Students of translation should be encouraged to study texts already translated by professional translators as a means to seeing how problematic cultural issues are dealt with.

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Authorities (educated readership) from the ST speech community could be consulted for assistance.

We needn’t always domesticize every aspect of the ST culture into the TT culture; preserving the foreign sense of the ST is permitted if the translator intends to educate the TT audience on the ST material or to make the text more attractive to them, provided that the message is not distorted. Literal translation is the method to use in such a case.

Context (linguistic and situational) is our first consultant when choosing between a literal translation or otherwise.

When a culture-specific image is neither vital for the text nor contributory to the general understanding of the text, adaptation is recommended.

Annotations could help the reader get to the real connotation. This method shouldn’t be frequently adopted, however.

In a work where Realia abounds, a commentary, definitive index could be very helpful. Such an index could include anecdotes, customs, beliefs, etc. specific to the SL culture.

ConclusionThe present study springs from an interest in institutionalizing specific methodological procedures to be followed when culture is concerned. For this ambitious goal, the researcher has studied part of an Arabic Novel together with its translated version. Light has been shed on three important categories of cultural material- religion and myth, proper nouns and figurative language. The instances cited in both versions of the corpus have been scrutinized, and a number of conclusions have been reached. Finally, recommendations for translators have been given.

The approach of this study could prove helpful for other studies in the cultural domain. Researchers are urged to study other aspects of cultural material in this way. Among these are expressions that have to do with food, furniture, ecology, terms of address, clothing, to mention but a few of the sources of mismatches between different cultures.

ReferencesHarker, Jaime (1999) Contemporary Japanese Fiction &

‘Middlebrow’Translation Strategies: The Case of Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen. The Translator 5(1). 27-44

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Hervey, Sandor & Iann Higgins (1992) Thinking Translation: A Course in Translation Method: French to English, London: Routledge.

Leighton, Lauren G. (1991) Two Worlds, One Art: Literary Translation in Russia and America, DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press.

Larson, Mildred L. (1984) Meaning-Based Translation: A Guide to Cross-Language Equivalence, Lanham: University Press of America.

Megrab, R.A (1999) “Ideological Shifts in Cross-Cultural Translation”, in Jean Boase-Beier and Michael Holman (eds) The Practices of Literary Translation: Constraints and Creativity, Manchester, UK: St Jerome Publishing.

Newmark, Peter (1981) Approaches to Translation, Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall.

Nida, Eugene A (1964) Towards a Science of Translating: With Speciaa Reference to Principles and Procedures Involved in Bible Translating, Leiden: E.J. Brill.

Shuttleworth, Mark (1997) Dictionary of Translation Studies, Manchester, UK: St Jerome Publishing.

Snell-Hornby, Mary (1988) Translation Studies: An Integrated Approach, Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Vinay, Jean-Paul & Jean Darbelnet (1995) Comparative Stylistics of French and English: A Methodology for Translation (translated and edited by Juan C. Sager & M.J. Hamel), Amsterdam &

Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.بين: األعمال ( 19) محفوظ نجيب الشوق، قصر القصرين، الكاملة

الخامس، الجزءبيروت. الجديدة، العلمية المكتبة

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From: Waleed OthmanTo: Prof. Murtadha J. BakirChairman-Organizing CommitteeFax: 5232899

==================================================Translating Culture:

Pedagogically SpeakingWaleed Othman

AbstractWhen scholars of translators recognized that translation is not a mere transfer of linguistic material, but of culture as well, they shifted their attention towards intercultural translation problems. They now understand that any text is anchored in a culture and that the cultural competence of translators is equally important to the linguistic one. The present paper springs from this very important fact, and from the need to teach student translators how to tackle cultural material when translating. The researcher will suggest, both for the students and teachers of translation, a number of tips on how to render cultural material. Each tip will be supported with examples from literary works translated by professional translators.

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Examples cited

) 1 ) . ص) دينك استكمال في تفكر أن لك )506آن)2 - : إذا) حاسد شر ومن الخمس أصابعها بين مفرجة وجهه في يمناها راحة تبسط وهي خديجة فقالت

ص. ( )493حسد)3 ). ص) بأنفسهم ما يغيروا حتى بقوم ما يغير ال الله )469لكن

“God doesn’t change people until they change themselves” (Qur’an, 13:11). (p. 7)

ص) … … ( 4( القدر )476ليلة

… The Night of Destiny, at the end of Ramadan when prayers are sure to be answered… (p. 15)

)5 ) . ص) 9روني د;ّث م9لوني )478َز;

… the prophet’s words when he would feel a revelation coming and cry out for help: ”Wrap me up! Cover me with my cloak!” (p. 18)(6) It’s time for you to think about getting married, if only to comply with the teachings of religion. (p.45)(7) To ward off the evil eye, Khadija spread her fingers apart and held her hand with he palm facing Yasin, reciting. “And from the evil of the envious in his envy” (Qur’an, 113:5). (p. 34)

ص) ( 9( )469األَزبكية

Ezbekia entertainment district (p. 7)ص) ( 10( الحسين )470فقراء

The needy around al-Husayn Mosque (p. 8)ص) ( 11( البر )475رأس

The summer resort of Ra’s al-Barr (p.14)ص) ( 12( المهدية )478منيرة

The star, Munira al-Mahdiya (p.17)ص) ( 13( )511الحماسة

Al-Hamasa, a medieval anthology of poetry (p. 51)ص) ( 14( ّثروت أو )502عدلي

The important politicians, Adli Yeken Pasha and Abdel khaliq Sarwat Pasha (p. 41)

ص) ( 15( كشر )503بمبة

Miss Bamba Kashar, the seductive songstress (p. 42)ص) (16( عنتر )511ملحمة

the folk epic about Antar- the heroic black poet of ancient Arabia (p. 51)

ص) ( 17( اصبع أبي باشا ابراهيم )511تمثال

the statue of the national leader Ibrahim Pasha with his finger in the air (p. 53)

)18 ) . ص) كالجاموسة قبيحة )484أنت

You’re as ugly as a water buffalo. (p. 24)ص) … ( 19( كانت )519كالغزال

She was as pretty as a gazelle. (p. 60)

)20) . ص) كالزهرة جميلة شابة )522رأيت

I beheld a young woman as beautiful as a flower. (p. 62))21). ص) … كالمحمل )539كلتاهما

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… each of them as massively beautiful as the ceremonial camel when it sets off from Mecca with the pilgrims. (p. 78)

)22 ) . ص) الحسين مئذنة تحركت )495ولو

Even if the minaret of al-Hussayn Mosque started shaking. (p. 35))23) . ص) عبدا له صرت حرفا علمني )518من

I become the slave of anyone who teaches me a single syllable (p.58))24 ) . ص) له يستجيب من يجد فال قلب يتكلم أن مؤسف )522أمر

It’s devastating when a heart speaks out and finds no one who will respond. (p. 62)

)25) . ص) الجواد عبد أحمد صدر لها اهتز )537أصوات

Al-Sayyid Ahmad was deeply moved …(p.77))26 ) . ص) عجين من وأذنا طين من )495أذنا

I act as though one of my ears was made of clay and the other of dough. (p.35)

)27) . ص) جوفه في قلبين من المرء الله يجعل )532لم

God didn’t place two hearts in a man’s breast (Qur’an, 33:4) (p.72))28 ) . ص) واد في وهو واد في )536فؤاد

There was a mountain separating him from Fuad. (p. 62)ص) ( 29( Sاللبؤة بنت )522يا

You, bitch. (p. 62)ص) ( 30( روح يا طولك )512اللهم

O’ God have mercy! (p. 52)ص) ( 31( Sباردة عليك )496عيني

I don’t envy you! (p. 36)

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