APPROACHES TO THE TRANSLATION OF ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE TERMINOLOGY

Abstract

This study examines the translation strategies employed to render the terms of Islamic architecture from Arabic into English. Two English books on Islamic architecture are investigated, in addition to many texts and academic articles on Islamic architecture. The translation strategies frequently used are explained to reflect how the source language term is circulated in the target culture and to uncover the difficulties encountered while translating these terms. Mostly, these terms are religious architectural ones which reflect social roles and functional design and ones which carry connotations of gendered spaces. Depending on the cultural specificity of these terms, they are categorized as functional, universal and culture specific terms. Terms which are commonly used in both source and target languages are translated via literal translation. Some terms are translated using formal equivalent to draw a similar image of the SL term in the target culture to facilitate the understanding of its conceptual meaning. However, the resulted equivalent /TL term lacks the cultural and Islamic values inherited in the SL term. There is no direct translation of culture-specific terms since there is no equivalent of the original term in the target culture; thus, the term is transliterated first and supplemented by a gloss or a footnote. This translation technique is predominantly used in translating gendered spaces. A specific section of the study is dedicated to the translation of terms related to gendered spaces as a unique and private part of Islamic architecture. This study indicates that translators should preserve the original Arabic term of Islamic architectural terms using the appropriate and feasible translation strategy as they are part of the Islamic identity.