STRATEGIES OF TRANSLATING QUR’ANIC CULTURAL TERMS

Abstract

The translation of cultural terms is considered one of the most difficult challenges a translator may face. This is due to the fact that such terms have specific meanings in the source language and culture which do not exists in others. In fact, translating cultural terms become more complicated when dealing with religious texts due to the sensitivity of these texts. One of the most challenging texts for translators is the Noble Qur’an. The translator of Qur’anic cultural terms is required to be very accurate as the mistranslation of such terms may lead to a complete distortion of the meaning. To help in producing equivalent translation for cultural terms, two translation strategies were suggested by Venuti in 1995. These strategies are domestication and foreignization. The present study investigates the use of both strategies by the translators of the Noble Qur’an in translating cultural terms. Also, it tries to find out which strategy can be applied to achieve equivalence in translation.