Shifting Meaning in Translations of John Donne's Poetry: A Comparative Study of Literary Translation in Arabic and English

Abstract

The study attempts to see how the meaning changes when John Donne's poetry is translated from English into Arabic, analyzing selective John Donne’s poems and critical interpretation. The study examines the psychological, theological, and linguistic barriers that influence the metaphysical themes in Donne's work when presented in Arabic culture. In this research, the difficulties of literary translation are demonstrated, especially when we try to travel through different poetical conventions, religious concepts, and linguistic structures. The study hypothesizes that (1) Translating John Donne's metaphysical poetry from English into Arabic can lead to significant changes in religious and philosophical themes (2) Cultural differences between English and Arabic-speaking readers, particularly when it comes to religion, are problematic in translating such poems in Arabic (3) Venuti’s translational model of domestication and foreignization can be adopted in translating John Donne’s poems into Arabic. The current study presents a theoretical explanation of literary translation and meaning shifts. Then, some famous Donne's poems have been selected to be analyzed depending on specific criteria and a proposed rendering has been provided by the researchers. The study concludes that (1) Translating John Donne's metaphysical poetry from English into Arabic leads to significant changes in religious and philosophical themes (2) Cultural differences between English and Arabic-speaking readers, particularly when it comes to religion, are problematic and mean that the metaphysical significance of original poems must be altered by adaptations for local stylistic reasons (3) Venuti’s translational model of domestication and foreignization is adopted in translating John Donne’s poems into Arabic.