Ideology in the Translation of Legal Treaties

Abstract

The British Colonial Era produced a number of international treaties, such as the 1820 General Treaty of Peace with the Arab Tribes. The treaty produced in English was translated into Arabic three times. This study analyzes the differing discourses between the three translations in order to uncover the influences that played a role in the production of the translation. The study analyzes differences in skopos, word choice, and sentence structure in order to uncover the influences. This study demonstrates, despite the common assumption that legal translations are literal, that legal treaties may be translated differently depending on the context and cause of its translation. The study concludes that significant differences in the goals of the translation can result in significant differences in the discourses between the three translations.