The paper titled "Stylistic and Cultural Problems Encountered in Translating Quranic Arabic Pun tawriya التورية into English: A Linguistic Contrastive Study" investigates the challenges faced in translating the specific Arabic rhetorical device known as tawriya (a form of pun) from Quranic Arabic into English. The study focuses on the stylistic and cultural difficulties that arise in this process, particularly how these challenges impact the translation’s effectiveness in maintaining the dual meanings inherent in tawriya.
The researchers examined the translations of the Quran by Mohammed A.S. Abdel-Haleem, Mohammed M. Pickthall, and Mohammed Khan and Mohammed Taj Al-Din Al-Hilali to assess how well these translations preserved the tawriya's connotative meaning. The study used qualitative methods, including a comparison of the selected translations with traditional exegeses (such as those by Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari) and Arabic monolingual dictionaries.
The findings revealed that the literal translation, zero translation, and pun-to-non-pun strategies often used by the translators failed to maintain the dual meanings of the Quranic tawriya in the English translations. This led to a loss of the stylistic and cultural richness of the original text. For instance, in the translation of specific verses, the translators struggled to convey both the obvious and the obscure references inherent in the tawriya, resulting in translations with weak connotations.
The study concludes that a more effective translation of Quranic tawriya into English requires strategies that go beyond literal translation, focusing on maintaining the cultural and stylistic impact of the original Arabic. The research suggests that a combination of transliteration, contextual explanation, and adaptation might be necessary to achieve a more faithful translation that resonates with the target audience.
The paper highlights the complexities involved in translating culturally and stylistically rich texts like the Quran and emphasizes the need for translators to carefully consider the rhetorical devices in the source text to preserve their full meaning and impact in the target language.