An intersubjective study of westernization in translation : translating the occult in J. K. Rowling’s Harry potter from English into Arabic in terms of GideonToury’s descriptive approach

الملخص EN

The occult or the magic is one of most condemned activities in all cultures around the world.

Thus, the beliefs and attitudes of world cultures warn people from reading such books that talk about or teach the occult to avoid approaching the satanic regions which might negatively and fatally affect people’s lives.

From the assumption that, on the one hand, J.

K.

Rowling’sHarry Potter (henceforth HP) which is the case of the present study, is a fantasy book of occult and dark forces and it shakes all the religious, social, cultural and ethical values of human society.

On the other hand, as a literary work, it is a master piece that extended all the literary standards of creativity and entertainment breaking all records of sales and readers worldwide.

These two facts actually complicate the cultural situations that are supposed to be faced by Arab translators for the large distance or the huge gap between the texts, i.e.

the source and the target (henceforth ST and TT), and it is, as a work, directed to children which requires special attention and strategies.

Moreover, a literary work like HP implies good and bad values which, in turn, involves translators to keep the good and leave the bad.

To achieve such a goal they should resort to domestication, use the oblique translation and avoid westernization.

In short, the translators have to control the whole situation by holding the stick from the middle to retain both the positive values of the work and ,at the same time, to renounce all its passive and destructive values.

It is believed that westernization is the main cause that participates in making the translation no more than a copy of the original instead of being a literary work that exists by itself and has its own position in the polysystem of the literary works.

For this reason, the translational behaviour of the translators in translating Rowling’s HP seven-book series into Arabic will be described in the light of G.

Toury’s Descriptive Approach and Norms of Translation.

Consequently, a decision will be made as regards the orientation of the translators’ performance whether it was to westernize or foreignize the ST since it represents the dominant culture or just localize or domesticate it to the target culture (henceforth TC) for it is directed to children who demand a special kind of manipulation ,i.e.

adaptation.