Examining the Translation of Similar Verses Based on Antoine Berman’s Theory (Case Study: Translations by Khorramshahi, Garmaroudi, and Kousha)

The translation of the Qur’an adheres to specific principles, one of which is the consistency in rendering similar verses. The Qur’an comprises numerous similar or repetitive verses and sentences, and precision in translating them plays a key role in producing a version that closely reflects the source text. Antoine Berman, a contemporary translation theorist, has made a significant impact in the field of translation studies. He emphasizes preserving the authenticity of the source text and regards any alteration in the author’s style, linguistic structure, verbosity, and so forth as forms of textual distortion. In this study, adopting a descriptive–analytical method, ۴۵ similar verses and sentences—selected according to certain Bermanian distortion parameters most frequently observed in three contemporary translations (by Khorramshahi, Garmaroudi, and Kousha)—were evaluated in three sections: (۱) the rendering of ۱۱ similar sentences containing repetitive words, (۲) the rendering of ۲۴ similar verses repeated within a single surah, and (۳) the rendering of ۹ verses where two or more similar verses occur in different surahs. Each section was subdivided into three categories based on the degree of verse or sentence similarity, making a total of nine categories. Within each category, the consistency of their renderings was examined and compared, and the proposed translations were presented. The findings indicate that, in terms of rationalization, clarification, and expansion, the greatest degree of distortion was found in the translations of Kousha, Garmaroudi, and Khorramshahi, respectively. Regarding the destruction of textual structures, the order was Khorramshahi, Garmaroudi, and Kousha, and concerning quantitative impoverishment, Khorramshahi, Kousha, and Garmaroudi. Furthermore, despite the theoretical emphasis of all three translators on the uniform rendering of similar verses, their translations did not achieve full consistency in practice.

کلیدواژه ها:

Translation ، Translator ، Repetition ، Khorramshahi ، Garmaroudi ، Kousha