A Proposed pedagogical-stylistic approach to literary translation : a model for poetic translation

Abstract EN

There is a general census among translation theorists that translating poetry is the stumbling block in rendering from one language into another.

This is attributed to the essential characteristics of rhyme and rhythm, which can hardly if ever, be translated without loss due to differences in metrical systems among languages.

Thus, the general tendency is towards prosaic translation.

However, recent findings in translation theory have revived hope for poetic translation in line with this trend.

This study attempts to verify that a poetic translation is possible depending on a proposed stylistic approach.

For this purpose, a number of 4th year students at Al-Ma'moon University College where asked to translate Shakespeare's Sonnet 29 based on a set of stylistic options given to them.

The study has shown that about 80% of the informant students were able to recreate a poetic translation (with rhyme and rhythm) as they exploited this proposed approach to translating poetry.

Accordingly, the study recommends that this approach is utilizable in teaching literary translation at the academic level.