On the Untranslatability of Cultural Aspects:An Investigation of Irfāni Views in Rumi’s Mathnavi

This descriptive research aimed at comparing two different TL texts, and analyzed their characteristic from various aspects. In addition this study scrutinizes the culture related problems which have led to untranslatability in Irfāni poem translation. The parts being analyzed were extracted from the Rumi’s Masnavi-e-manavi and its two English translations by Edward Henry Whinfield (1898), and Reynold Alleyne Nicholson (1925-1940). This comparative analysis was done on the basis of characteristics of adequate Irfāni poem translation and strategies proposed by Venuti’s domestication and foreignization. The main attention here was paid to the problems which occur in the process of translating poetry, especially Irfāni poem in relation to cultural dimension of work. The result revealed that these strategies could convey the meaning of the original poem at textual level i.e. denotative meaning of these poems but for the specific features of these poems the connotative meaning of them made difficulty for translators. Also this study indicated that there have been some untranslatable aspects such as rhyme, rhythm, meter and cadence in translation of Irfāni poems. Finally findings of this paper pinpointed that translator’s cultural knowledge of the source language affect the adequacy of translation

کلیدواژه ها:

Translation ، Untranslatability ، Culture ، Irfan ، Poetry features