Journal Article

The Strategies of Translating idioms from Romeo and Juliet

Twaisan, Saba Omar

2023

Overview

This research investigates strategies for translating idiomatic expressions in William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, focusing on the challenges translators face in conveying cultural and semantic meanings into the target language. The study begins with the premise that idioms are not merely linguistic units but cultural carriers embedded in specific social contexts, making their translation complex. The first section outlines the theoretical framework of idioms, describing their structural and semantic features and emphasizing the importance of context in decoding them. It also highlights the role of literary translation in preserving the aesthetic dimensions of texts. The second section discusses key translation strategies, including literal translation, cultural equivalence, explanatory translation, and omission when necessary. It provides examples from Romeo and Juliet illustrating the application of these strategies. The third section evaluates the impact of such translations on the audience, showing that successful translation is measured by its ability to transmit the spirit and aesthetics of the text, not only its direct meanings. The study concludes that translating idioms requires a blend of linguistic and cultural competence, along with creativity to develop context-appropriate solutions. Recommendations include training translators specialized in literature and developing bilingual idiom dictionaries to enhance the quality of literary translation. Abstract Written by Dar AlMandumh, 2025, Using AI

• Publisher: الجامعة العراقية - مركز البحوث والدراسات الإسلامية
• Subject: التعبيرات الثقافية / اللغة الإنجليزية / النصوص الأدبية / شكسبير، لوليام، ت. 1616 م