Translation Strategy

At the age of globalization and the dominance of media, the audiovisual translation is no more considered as a marginal area and plays an important role in bringing cultures closer to each other. While taboo terms are an inseparable part of American movies, the movie maker companies have to reflect the authenticity of their language in audiovisual products in order to make them more tangible for their audiences. However, one of the biggest concerns of Iranian official audiovisual translators is cultural and ideological items such as taboo terms in audiovisual products. One of the aims of the present study was to investigate the strategies applied in the translation of taboo terms in two dubbed American movies by Iranian official audiovisual translators. The results indicated that most of the taboo terms have been altered or deleted ideologically during the process of translation due to the cultural differences between the source and the target culture. Finally, Iranian official audiovisual translators attempted to tone down the strong language, offensive expressions, vulgar descriptions, etc. in the process of dubbing and create an acceptable translation for their audiences.

Culture-specific items (CSIs) abound in languages. Sometimes these items are peculiar to one culture and sometimes they may be shared across several cultures. Every translator encounters a variety of CSIs in different texts ​​and may face difficulties in translating them, particularly in literary translation (e.g. children’s literature). To overcome the problem of finding the right equivalent, the translator has to rely on different strategies. This study investigates the strategies used to render CSIs in two Persian translations of Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and Chocolate Factory”, following Newmark’s (1988) model (which includes categories such as cultural equivalent , transference , functional equivalent , through-translation , etc.). The study also compares the two translations, inspecting and explaining the strategies used in each one to translate the CSIs observed. Based on the data analysis and the results of the study, the most widely used strategies was “cultural equivalent”, followed by “through-translation” and “recognized translation.”

Translating accounting documents, in general, and accounting terminology, in particular, is not a simple task, especially when the new terms keep created in pace with accounting developments. This study was carried out to find the most common and preferable ways to translate accounting terms from English into Persian. Also, an attempt was made to identify the frequently used patterns of word-formation in the rendition of technical terms in English and Persian. To this end, Mir dictionary was selected and the accounting terms were identified and categorized. Then, patterns of word-formation in English and Persian were identified. Also, a comparison was made between the English accounting terms and their Persian equivalents in order to determine the translation strategies used. The results of the study revealed that the most frequently employed patterns of word-formation for rendering the accounting terms in English and Persian are noun+noun and adj+noun and the most commonly used translation strategy is transposition.

The novel Les Miserables (Hugo, 1985) is one of the most universally translated works, and there are a number of adaptions in several languages. One recent adaption is the Persian musical play performed in Iran. In this performance, culture-specific items (CSIs) were translated differently since visual and aural elements were added to the stage. The present study aims to investigate translation strategies used in the above adaptation to indicate what translation solutions are possible when the medium changes. After watching the ninety-minute recorded play in VOD format, culture-specific items were selected purposively corresponding to those in the novel. Subsequently, they were analyzed based on Newmark's model (1988). The findings showed that the most frequent translation strategies applied were adaptation, followed by communicative translation, and literal translation. Compared with the original performance, some scenes were deleted from the recorded play. Hence, there was no exact one-to-one correspondence with the original text of the book. While instances of censorship contributed to some of these omissions, probably one reason for the issue is the publishing regulations administered in Iran for VOD formats of the plays. These results suggest that while target language-oriented strategies dominated the entire translation approach, the translator of the play tried to familiarize the audience with French culture through literal translations and with the help of visual and aural aids. Since the audience were presented with pictures and songs, it was easier for them to locate themselves in the era of the French Revolution and French customs.