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Title
DIFFICULTIES AND PRINCIPLES OF DRAMA TRANSLATION: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
JABRAAND NIAZI’S TRANSLATIONS OF MACBETH’S SOLILOQUIES
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Ferhat Mameri
Defense Date
23 November 2016
Abstract
Drama is one of the most significant literary genres. The primary characteristic that sets drama apart from any
other literary form is ‘performance on stage’. Other elements contribute to its impact such as speakability and
performability and the extra linguistic features drama possesses. Translating drama and assessing the quality if its
translation should therefore consider such elements. Al-Qinai’s seven parameters of translation quality assessment
(TQA) are employed in assessing two Arabic translations of Shakespeare’s Macbeth produced by Jabra Ibrahim Jabra
(1980) and Salah Niazi (2000). Mismatches between the source text (ST) and the target texts, (TT1 and TT2) are
highlighted. Attempts are made to solve some of the pragmatic and semantic problems pertaining to translating
dramatic texts by means of employing a cognitive approach to translation. By addressing elements of speakability
and performability as well as nonverbal characteristics, it is believed that drama translation may overcome some of
its obstacles in the TT. Consequently, TQAs should be modified in a manner that caters to drama as an exclusive
literary form. Comparing contextual and pragmatic equivalences rather than focusing on the formal and linguistic
aspects of drama is considered key in a successful TQA.
Dissertation
WISSAL ALI JAFAR AL ALLAQ
Department of Translation Studies
College of Humanities and Social Sciences