A Discourse Analysis of Mahfouz's Attitude to Women and to Religion: A Translation Perspective

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the issues related to translating literary work from Arabic into English. In particular, it focuses on the theory of foreignization and domestication. Two main ideological perspectives are investigated: the reference to religion and the reference to women. The data are drawn from three novels by Naguib Mahfouz: قصر الشوق Palace of Desire (1957), أولاد حارتنا Children of Gabalawi (1959), and الحرافيش Alharafish (1994). The religious expressions are classified into four main categories: Holy Quran verses and Prophet Muhammad's hadith, idiomatic expressions with reference to religion, supplication, and miscellaneous. The reference to women section highlights the main female character and the way women are addressed and referred to in the novels. The findings of the study indicate that translators of the novels are in favor of foreignization over domestication, while dealing with religious expressions and reference to women. This finding can be attributed to several reasons. The fact that translators are concerned about the different interpretations that such expressions may present could force them to rely on the safest method in translation: foreignization. Another reason is the tendency, on the part of the translators, to faithfully preserve the cultural and ideological images reflected in such religious and cultural expressions.