Translating Cultural Bound Terms (Cbts) From The Zuqaq El Midaq (Midaq Alley) By Naguib Mahfouz: Challenges And Strategies

Abstract

This study aimed at identifying the translatability of CBTs that existed in the "Zuqaq El Midaq" novel by Naguib Mahfouz and its translated English version "Midaq Alley" by Trevor Le Gassick. Moreover, the study sought at investigating the translation strategies that the translator has adopted to render the CBTs from Arabic into English. The study relied on the descriptive approach to reach the study goals. The study concluded that the most adopted translation strategies are literal translation, functional, addition, omission, transliteration, and cultural substitution. Moreover, literal translation was the most common followed by the cultural substitution strategy, while the least adopted is the translation by omission. Besides, it was noted that CBTs are very challenging for translators due to the difficulty to find the most accurate and closest cultural equivalence for the CBTs in the TT. Finally, the study revealed that literal translation and translation by omission could lead to translation loss.