TRANSLATING DRAMA

‫ترجمة النص المسرحي‬

WEEK 4
 DRAMA

 Drama as a literary genre differs from fiction; it is written to be

performed on stage.
 Dialogue plays a considerable role in drama.
 Drama is not only a literary piece; it is a cultural one.
 The translator deals with both linguistic and meta-linguistic elements
that include body language and gesture.
 All linguistic aspects of the play have to be taken into consideration.
 DRAMA

 Special attention should also be paid to prosodic features, since ‘the dialogue
will be characterized by rhythm, intonation patterns, pitch and loudness, all
elements that may not be immediately apparent from a straightforward reading
of the written text in isolation’ (Bassnett 122).
 Adaptation and domestication are usually the most frequent techniques used in
translating drama
 Adaptation is sometimes regarded as a form of translation which is
characteristic of particular genre, most notably, drama (Bastin 4).
 Adaptation is also viewed as a ‘reterritorialization’ of the original work and an
‘annexation’ in the name of the audience of the new version (Brisset 10).
 DRAMA

These conditions cause two types of adaptation:

1. A local Adaptation applying to some parts of the
original texts and caused by internal factors without
affecting it as a whole,
2. A global Adaptation that is determined by factors
outside the text and which affects the text as a whole.
1. TRANSCRIPTION OF THE ORIGINAL OR WORD-FOR-WORD REPRODUCTION OF PART OF
THE TEXT IN THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE, USUALLY ACCOMPANIED BY LITERAL
TRANSLATION.

BASSANIO
( ‫بروتس‬ ( ‫ ابنة ( كاتوا) والتي بني بها‬.
To Cato's daughter, Brutus' Portia:
‫ال تجهل الدنيا العريضة ما لها من منزلة‬
Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth, ‫إذ تدفع الرياح من أركان أرضنا‬
For the four winds blow in from every coast ‫ومن سواحل المحيطات البعيدة كل يوم‬
Renowned suitors, and her sunny locks ‫من يريدها حليلة بين أهل المجد والثراء‬
Hang on her temples like a golden fleece; ‫وفوق خديها تدلت خصلتان كالذهب‬
Which makes her seat of Belmont Colchos' strand ‫هما الفراء العسجدي بل كأن قصر (بلمونت‬
Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice
‫ وكأن كل خاطٍب‬.. ‫هو شط ( كولشوس ) القديم‬
‫)جيسون ) قد شد الرحال‬
« … Il apercevait, à l’ouest, le clocher d’ardoise de
Braine-L’Alleud qui a la forme d’un vase renversé . » p
‫ تاجر البندقية‬.‫وليم شيكسبير‬
339, T 1.
‫لقد رأى في ناحية الغرب قبة كنيسة "برين اللو" المصنوعة من‬
In the west he perceived the slate-roofed tower of
‫ والتي يشبه شكلها شكل إناء مقلوب‬،‫حجر األردواز‬
Braine-l’Alleud, which has the form of a reversed vase.
‫البؤساء فكتور هوغو‬
V. HugoLes Miserables
 OMISSION: THE ELIMINATION OR IMPLICATION OF PART OF THE TEXT.

 In Act IV, scene I, when Othello finally falls prey to Iago’s insinuations that Desdemona committed adultery with
Cassio, his discourse changes into a series of questions and exclamations that he addresses to Iago:
OTHELLO: Lie with her? lie on her? We say lie on her
When they belie her! Lie with her, zounds, that’s
Fulsome! – Handkerchief! Confessions! Handkerchief!
In Mutran’s translation the three lines are rendered into the following line:
‫المنديل‬...‫اإلقرارات‬...‫ المنديل‬.‫خطٌب رائع‬...‫بقربها‬...‫ معها‬:‫عطيل‬.
‘UTAYL: With her ... close to her ... terrifying matter. The handkerchief ... the confessions ... the
handkerchief (115).
 Traces of questioning and exclamation are removed from his discourse
 Not only does the Arabised Othello maintain control over his discourse, but his language also remains ennobled,
poetic and distanced from the profanity suggested by such expressions as ‘lie with her’ and ‘lie on her’
 Note the pun here: Lie means: (of a place) be situated in a specified position or direction ‫َر َقَد \ اْس َتْلقى على َظْهِر ِه \ َبْطِنِه‬:
tell a lie or lies (to tell untruths) ‫َك َذ َب ِكْذ ب َك ِذ ب‬
‫‪EXPANSION: THE ADDITION OR EXPLICATION OF SOURCE INFORMATION EITHER‬‬
‫‪IN THE BODY OR IN FOOTNOTES OR A GLOSSARY‬‬
‫‪Extract from The Family Reunion by T. S. Eliot‬‬
‫‪Footnote:‬‬
‫‪Ivy: Not freeze, as I do, in Bayswater, by a gas-fire counting shillings.‬‬
‫آيفي‪ :‬بدال من أن أتجمد‪ ،‬كما هو الحال اآلن‪ ،‬في بيس ووتر‪ ،‬قرب موقد غاز يعمل بالشيلينغ‬ ‫❋‬

‫التدفئة في إنكلترا مركزية في معظم األبنية وفي كل شقة جهاز –عداد – يعمل بالشيلينغ تضع فيه النقود فيصلك الغاز إلى المدفئة ❋‬

‫‪Body:‬‬
‫آيفي‪ :‬بدال من أن أتجمد‪ ،‬كما هو الحال اآلن‪ ،‬في بيس ووتر‪ ،‬قرب موقد غاز يعمل بالشيلينغ (وحدة عملة قديمة كانت ُتستعمل في إنكلترا)‬
‫‪Glossary:‬‬
‫الجنيهات ‪ ،‬أستراليا‪ .‬شلن واحد يساوي واحد وعشرين منأيرلندا ‪ ،‬المملكة المتحدةشيلينغ ‪ :‬وحدة العملة القديمة في =‪Shilling‬‬
‫موقد غاز يعمل بالشيلينغ ‪ :‬التدفئة في إنكلترا مركزية في معظم األبنية وفي كل شقة جهاز –عداد – يعمل بالشيلينغ تضع فيه=‪Shillings’ gas-fire‬‬
‫النقود فيصلك الغاز إلى المدفئة‬
EXOTICISM: SUBSTITUTION OF STRETCHES OF SLANG, DIALECT, NONSENSE WORD,
ETC. IN THE ORIGINAL TEXT BY ROUGH EQUIVALENT IN THE TL.

ST: Pygmalion is a play by George Bernard Shaw

The Flower Girl: [picking up her scattered flowers and replacing them in the basket] Theres menners
f' yer! Te-oo banches ovoylets trod into the mad ... p.19-21
: ‫ترجمة جرجس الرشيدي‬
) !‫ تجمع زهورها المبعثرة وتضعها في السلة( مافيش حيلتك ذوق! حزمتين بنفسج يروحو كده في الطين‬:‫بائعة الزهور‬
 In this play, Bernard Shaw tells the story of a poor, uneducated, cockney speaking, socially low
class girl who is being transferred into a lady.
The language the characters speak in this play is used as a marker of their social status or identity
 The chooses to resort to the Egyptian dialect as the language of the flower girl during her first
stage and before her dialect is elevated
SITUATIONAL OR CULTURAL ADEQUACY: THE RECREATION OF A CONTEXT THAT
IS MORE FAMILIAR OR CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE FROM THE TARGET READER’S
PERSPECTIVE THAN THE ONE USED IN THE ORIGINAL

MARCIUS :‫ترجمة السباعي‬

Five tribunes to defend their vulgar wisdoms, ‫ُأقسم بالموت الزآم‬
Of their own choice: one's Junius Brutus, I swear by sudden death
Sicinius Velutus, and I know not--'Sdeath! ‫ترجمةعطية‬
The rabble should have first unroof'd the city,
‫قسما بالموت‬
Ere so prevail'd with me: it will in time
I swear by death
Win upon power and throw forth greater themes
:‫ترجمة جبرا‬
For insurrection's arguing.
(archaic) (God's death), expressing anger or ‫ياَل اللعنة‬
astonishment. O damnation
UPDATING: THE REPLACEMENT OF OUT-DATED OR OBSCURE
INFORMATION BY MODERN EQUIVALENTS.
ST: King Lear a play by Shakespeare
GLOUCESTER
But I have, sir, a son by order of law, some year
elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my account:
though this knave came something saucily into the
world before he was sent for, yet was his mother
fair; there was good sport at his making, and the
whoreson must be acknowledged.
 knave | neɪv | archaic a dishonest or unscrupulous
man.
 Gloucester playfully uses the word to refer to his
favorite son. Humorously, the word conveys the
atmosphere in which Edmond was born. Unexpectedly
he comes to this life as his father has a love affair for
the sake of fun rather than having children.
‫ترجمة جبرا‬:
‫ جاء هذا‬.‫ أعز إلي منه‬,‫ يكبر هذا بزهاء سنتان‬,‫ يا سيدي‬,‫ولكن لي ابنا شرعيا‬
‫ غير أن أمه كانت‬,‫الفتى إلى الدنيا مع بعض المجون قبل أن أرسل في طلبه‬
‫ َفَألعترف بابن الزانية‬,‫ وكان لنا في سنه لهو و متعة‬.‫جميلة‬
‫ترجمة محمود‬:
.‫ ولكنه ليس أعز عندي منه‬,‫أال أن لي ابنا آخر شرعيا يكبر هذا بسنتين تقريبا‬
‫ إال أن كانت‬,‫ولو أن هذا العفريت جاء إلى الدنيا بجسارة دون أن يطلبه أحد‬
‫ وال بد أن أعترف بابن الخليلة هذا إكراما لها‬,‫جميلة و وكانت أيامها ممتعة‬.
 All these associations are lost in Jabra‟s rendering
since it includes a lexical item “fata” (young man)
commonly used in formal discourse
 To capture the humor and associations of “knave,”
Mahmoud uses “‟ifreet” (demon), a supernatural
creature with extraordinary powers. This rendering
conveys some shades of “knave” like craftiness and
deception.
CREATION: A MORE GLOBAL REPLACEMENT OF THE ORIGINAL TEXT WITH A
TEXT THAT PRESERVES ONLY THE ESSENTIAL MESSAGE/IDEAS/FUNCTIONS
OF THE ORIGINAL.

• For example:

Othello by William Shakespeare underwent a general transformation when

adapted by the Moroccan play write Abdelkrim Berchid ‫ عبدالكريم بالرشيد‬in
his 1975 and 2019 plays:

• 1975: (Othello, Horses and Gun-powder)‫ و‬Click

‫ والخيل‬here
‫البارود عطيل‬

• 2019: (Othello 2019) ‫(عطيل دوميل دزناف‬click here)

GENRE SWITCHES: A CHANGE FROM ONE DISCOURSE
TYPE TO ANOTHER.

• Fiction: for instance, Mohamed Berrada’s (Woman of Forgetting) ‫امرأة‬

‫ النسيان‬is adapted by Abdelilah Benhadar ‫ عبداإلاله بنهدار‬to another discourse
type, drama, (Forgetting) 2018 ‫مسرحية نسيان‬click here

• Drama: for example, Federico Garcia Lorca’s play La casa de Bernarda

Alba is adapted into a televised series called (The daughters of Lalla
Mennana) ‫بنات اللة منانة‬, produced by the Moroccan channel 2M
SITUATIONAL OR CULTURAL INADEQUACY WHERE THE CONTEXT OR VIEWS
REFERRED TO IN THE ORIGINAL DO NOT EXIST OR APPLY IN THE TARGET
CULTURE ‫ عن الفرنسية‬:‫ترجمة مطران‬
Some men there are love not a gaping pig,
،‫من الناس من ال يطيق رؤية ِخ َّنْو ٍص واسع الشدقين ومنهم من يرتعد لرؤية ِس َّنور‬
Some that are mad if they behold a cat, ‫ ذلك ألن شعورنا هو السلطان‬،‫ومنهم من إذا سمع غنة المزمار لم يستطع حقن بوله‬
‫المطلق على موداتنا وموجداتنا وفي يده أزمة ما نحب وما ال نحب‬
And others when the bagpipe sings i’th’ nose
Cannot contain their urine; for affection, ‫ عن األصل األنجليزي‬:‫ترجمة عناني‬
‫ تنفر من رأس الخنزير المشوي‬..‫بعض الناس‬
Mistress of passion, sways it to the mood ‫والبعض يجن إذا أبصر قطة‬
Of what it likes or loathes. . . . ‫والبعض يبلل سرواله‬
‫إن سمع المزمار األخنف في موسيقى القرب العذبة‬
Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice ‫فميول اإلنسان الفطرية‬
‫تتحكم في أعماقه‬
MERCUTIO
‫وتوجه دفة إحساسه‬.
Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat to scratch a man to death! ‫ حًبا أو مقًتا‬..‫!وفًقا لهواها‬
A braggart, a rogue, a villain that fights by the book of
arithmetic! Why the devil came you between us? I was hurt
‫وليم شيكسبير تاجر البندقية‬
:‫ترجمة‬
under your arm.
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet O’Christ’s wounds ‫يا ُجروَح المسيح‬

Zounds: used as a mild oath. It is an euphemism for God’s ‫وليم شيكسبير روميو و جولييت‬
1. CROSS-CODE BREAKDOWN WHERE NO LEXICAL EQUIVALENTS EXIST
BETWEEN THE SL AND TL ESPECIALLY WHEN TRANSLATING META-
LANGUAGE.
MARCIUS :‫ترجمة السباعي‬
Five tribunes to defend their vulgar wisdoms, ‫ُأقسم بالموت الزآم‬
Of their own choice: one's Junius Brutus, I swear by sudden death
Sicinius Velutus, and I know not--'Sdeath! ‫ترجمةعطية‬
The rabble should have first unroof'd the city, ‫قسما بالموت‬
Ere so prevail'd with me: it will in time
I swear by death
Win upon power and throw forth greater themes
:‫ترجمة جبرا‬
For insurrection's arguing.
‫ياَل اللعنة‬
 (archaic) (God's death), expressing anger or astonishment.
O damnation

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet O’Christ’swounds ‫يا ُجروَح المسيح‬

Zounds: used as a mild oath. It is an euphemism for God’s wounds
(M. Webster Dictionary) ‫وليم شيكسبير روميو و جولييت‬
‫‪DISRUPTION OF THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS: A NEW EPOCH OR APPROACH OR‬‬
‫‪THE NEED TO ADDRESS DIFFERENT READERSHIP.‬‬

‫‪BASSANIO.‬‬ ‫‪.‬وليم شيكسبير « تاجر البندقية‪» .‬ترجمة محمد عناني‬

‫‪…How many cowards, whose hearts are all as false‬‬ ‫يرتعد القلب بهم َفَر ًقا كم من جبناء‬
‫‪As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins‬‬ ‫ويطير كحبات الرمل األهَيل‬
‫ولهم في الوجه ِلًح ًى مثل هرقل‬
‫;‪The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars‬‬
‫أو مثل إلاه الحرب األمثل‬
‫‪Servant‬‬
‫‪… So likely an ambassador of love:‬‬ ‫وأعذب منه حدًيا وزينة‬
‫‪A day in April never came so sweet,‬‬ ‫كأِّني به يوم ُحسٍن بديع‬
‫‪To show how costly summer was at hand,‬‬ ‫تبشر أنسامه بالربيع‬
‫‪: Example 1‬مثل مارس الَع ُبوس في األصل ُيَبِّر ُر محمد عناني اختياره" = ‪"frowning Mars‬‬
‫ومارس هو إله الحرب‪ ،‬وصورته المثلى هي العبوس الذي يلقي الرعب في قلوب األعداء ولهذا ترجمت المعنى دون الصورة الكالسيكية‬
‫‪ Example 2‬واألصل أن األنسام الربيعية تبشر بالصيف‪ .‬وتبرير استبدال الربيع بالصيف‪ ،‬ففصل الصيف عندنا ال يوازي فصل الصيف عندهم‬
‫وقصارى القول إنني راعيت الصور الفنية مراعاة خاصة‪ ،‬وحاولت قدر الطاقة بسطها مع إدخال بعض التحويالت الثقافية‪ ،‬منها مثًال حذف عدد غير‬
‫محدود من أسماء األعالم األسطورية إذ يصعب على القارئ العربي مثًال اإلحساس بلفظ (مارس) باعتباره إله الحرب‪ ،‬بل يصعب على الشاعر اإلحساس‬
‫به أصال‬