Foreignization & Domestication Strategies of Metaphor Translation in Sahar Khalifa’s Assabbar: A Cognitive, Reader-Oriented Approach

Abstract

The translation of metaphor has always been a challenge to the translators of literary works. Two seemingly opposing concepts were introduced by Venuti to describe the choices translators of literature make: Domestication which is often equated with reader-orientedness and Foreignization which means staying close to the source text. In their translation Sahar Khalifa’s Assabbar, however, Trevor LeGassick and Elizabeth Fernea have aptly chosen different Domestication and Foreignization strategies: Exact Translation, Substitution, Deletion and Explication while retaining the Original Metaphor. Thus, they could render a natural translation while preserving the culture of the original text. 31 out of 74 metaphors of fighting in Assabbar are rendered an Exact Translation which proves that this metaphor has similar mapping conditions in both the English and Arabic cultures. It also proves that the translators have opted for Strong Domestication to evoke in the TL reader the same feelings the SL reader receives from the original text; namely, the persistence of Palestinian Resistance despite the martyrdom of its icons.