Domestication and

Foreignization in
Translation
Presenter
Muhammad Qasim
243976091
 Introduction

 Domestication and foreignization are strategies in translation.

 The best distinguished difference between these two main translation
strategies was made by Lawrence Venuti in his book “The Translator’s
Invisibility”
 These terms were coined by Friedrich Schleiermacher a German philosopher
in 19th century, he says that “you can bring the author back home” or just
“sending the reader abroad”.
 Domestication is target-culture-oriented translation while Foreignization is
source-culture-oriented translation
 Both the terms are mutually exclusive concepts.
 History
 Domestication started in Roman language for the first time while
Foreignization started in German language.
 In the 1950s and 1960s, translation was explored and considered both from
the linguistic and political point of view. However, the whole approach
changed when there was a big “cultural turn in translation”, initiated by Mary
Snell-Hornby in the 1970s. It set the focus of translation on cultural and
historical approaches. According to Eugene Nida:
 FOR TRULY A SUCCESSFUL TRANSLATION, BICULTURALISM IS EVEN MORE
IMPORTANT THAN BILINGUALISM, SINCE WORDS ONLY HAVE MEANINGS IN
TERMS OF CULTURES IN WHICH THEY FUNCTION
 These strategies have been debated for hundreds of years, but the first
person to formulate them in their modern sense was Lawrence Venuti, who
introduced them to the field of translation studies in 1995 with his book The
Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation
 Domestication
 Domestication is the strategy of making text closely conform to the culture of
the language being translated to, which may involve the loss of information
from the source text to focus on the target audience.
 This happens primarily when a certain situation does not exist in the target
culture or using it for a negative purpose like colonization.
 It sounds more natural. Easier to grasp meaning.
 Domestication focuses on minimizing the strangeness in the foreign text for
the target readers by introducing the common words used in the target
language instead of foreign terms.
 Example: (1) Roman Translation of Greek Poetry (2) Multiple Synonyms.
 (3) American translation.
 Foreignization
 Foreignization is the strategy of retaining information from the source text
and involves deliberately breaking the conventions of the target language to
preserve its meaning.
 Invisible style. Difficult and unfamiliar. It sounds little awkward.
Foreignization is realization to reader that it is not originally written in that
language.
 Foreignization is based on retaining the culture-specific items of the original,
like personal names, national cuisine, historical figures, streets or local
institutions.
 Simply, these are the translation strategies chosen for the conveyance of
cultural elements only. Domestication is target-culture-oriented translation
while Foreignization is source-culture-oriented translation .
 Examples: (1) Patty by Intezar Hussain. Bikhshus, Basant Panchami, Saree.
 (2) American Translation, bringing of foreign words, old words, colorful idioms
which do not exist.
Homer’s Odyssey Translation
 Foreignization by William Morris  Domestication by Emily Wilson 2017
1874

 Tell me O Muse, of the Shifty,

Tell me about a complicated man
The man who wandered afar,
Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost
After the holy Burg, Troy-town,
When he had wrecked the holy town of troy,
He had wasted with war;
And where he went, and who he met
He saw the towns of menfolk,
And the mind of men did he learn
 Terms and Procedure
Globalization. Cultural Clash.
Greek theory named “Skopos“, which aimed at establishing the purpose of the
translation.
No matter if you will follow foreignization or domestication rules, bear in mind
that something will always be lost in translation.
Common domesticating procedures: limited or absolute Universalization,
Naturalization.
Foreignization includes Adaptation(substitutes of Cultural elements) through-
translation, transference and pre-established translation.
So, in dealing with the best translation, you need to determine which one is
more important to your readers:
 Disadvantages

 Domestication makes translation political.

 Colonization.
 Ethnographic reduction of the Foreign text
 Loss of originality
 No Equivalence