Translating Rhetorical Images of the Resemblance Word "Kaan" In a selection of Persian and English Translations of the Holy Quran

Document Type : Rhetoric

Author

Assistant Professor of the Department of English Language and Literature, Arak University, Arak, Iran

10.22091/jls.2023.9100.1472

Abstract

This article demonstrates how Persian and English translators have recreated the simile marker "k'ann", as one of the most prevalent words of resemblance, in a total of 25 verses of the Quran. Simile markers are considered one of the four componants of simile, and simile is one of the literary techniques that falls under the science of meanings in Islamic rhetoric. Recent studies have used figurative images instead of simile itself, which include sensory and imaginary elements. These two types of images are among the building blocks of rhetorical images that mainly serve the Quran's religious goals. This article aims to provide a descriptive and comparative analysis of selected translations, focusing on similes using "as if" as the most common form of comparison. Persian and English translators have mostly equated these images with textual images, and therefore, have translated them into a similar image in the target language. Translators have translated this simile marker as "گویی" in Persian and "as if/though" in English at the word level. Persian translators have used present or future tense verbs after this phrase, and English translators have used past tense verbs. However, it is necessary to pay attention to the textual features of similes in translating images. Overall, Persian and English translators have translated similes into similar but sometimes more explicit similes in accordance with Yarmohammadi's classification taken from Newnark. The acceptability of the translations by the readers on the one hand and the time, and the chronological order of translation, especially regarding the English ones, on the other hand have been the basis for selecting translations. On the whole, all translators have translated this simile marker literally.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Rhetoric and Grammar Studies
Volume 13, Issue 23
December 2023
Pages 82-99

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