Preserving Cultural Difference in the Translation of Proverbs: A Cultural Linguistics Approach

Abstract

Emirati proverbs are deeply rooted in Emirati culture and social customs and make heavy use of devices typical of classical poetry. The translation of these proverbs is thus particularly challenging, especially that research on the translation of proverbs from the Arabian Peninsula is still scarce. To fill this gap, this article analysed the English translation of Emirati proverbs, using analytical tools from Cultural Linguistics and drawing on Venuti’s ethics of difference. The analysis revealed that while the translation appears to be foreignizing, it replaced Emirati cultural conceptualizations with ones that are more familiar to the English reader. The result is an exoticizing target text that reduces the Emirati culture to a series of clichéd stereotypes.

Keywords: Cultural Conceptualizations, Cultural Linguistics, Foreignizing Translation, Proverbs

Highlights:

1. The article studies how Emirati difference as indexed in Emirati proverbs is translated into English.
2. Cultural Linguistics (cultural schemas, metaphors, categories) and Venuti’s ethics of difference constitute an appropriate framework for such a study.
3. The analysis focuses on proverb discourse features, including rhyme and two-hemistich structure, and key cultural concepts, such as face, eye, camel, and dates.
4. Despite a seemingly “foreignizing” presentation, including through transliteration, the actual translations erase many Emirati cultural conceptualizations.
5. The paper argues that such translation risks exoticizing Emirati culture, and calls for culturally sensitive strategies that preserve cultural difference in proverb translation.