Original scientific paper

Translating Nineteen Eighty-Four into Arabic

Ayman Almomani

Abstract

Translation is an extremely important concept regarding the Orwellian text because it proves that if any subversion happens to the language, it will ultimately distort the meaning. Orwell focused on political language because he saw how it was being used on a daily basis to alter reality. The idea of total power was another major concern for Orwell and his ideas about it were conveyed within a large (meta)linguistic framework in Nineteen Eighty-Four through the use of Newspeak and doublethink.  With these considerations in my mind, this paper examines two Arabic translations of Nineteen Eighty-Four to demonstrate a subversion informed by (mis)translation. Although a slight change in meaning is inevitable in all translations, this examination of the two translations will show that because of a conventional focus on language in dystopian narratives, the translation of such narratives is a unique form of textual transmission where the stakes are unusually high. Wrong choices, in the two examined translations mostly originating from the exaggerated use of euphemism in Arabic, might lead to texts reproducing some of the problematic cases of language use represented in the dystopian narratives themselves.

Keywords

dystopia; euphemism; mistranslation; reception; Middle East

Hrčak ID:

318967

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/318967

Publication date:

15.7.2023.

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