Study of Sajjadieh's translations based on Wolfgang Iser's theory of aesthetic equivalence

Abstract The term aesthetic equivalence means creating a logical balance in the translation of the source text and the target text, which is one of the basic concepts in translation studies. Wolfgang Iser, a German thinker and linguist, is one of the most prominent theorists in the field of aesthetic equivalence. He believes that the lack of equivalence in translation causes different reactions of the audience to the text and the reader fails to understand the aesthetic points of the translated text and the original text. The goal of aesthetic equivalence is to strike a balance between two literary texts so that the degree of interpretability of the two texts is the same. Sahifa Sajjadiyya is one of the most important Shiite prayers in which Imam Sajjad (AS) has included his prayers. In the meantime, the forty-seventh prayer has a special importance and place in the subject of the day of Arafa. The aim of this study was to identify the aesthetic equivalence of the original text and the translated text and the extent to which translators pay attention to the translation equivalence and has purposefully selected four phrases from the divine translation of Ghomshei, Mousavi Garmaroodi, Ansarian and a verse from the forty-seventh prayer. Relying on content analysis method and with a critical approach has examined the performance of translators. An analysis of the four-translator translation showed that concepts such as the interpretability of the translated text, metaphor, and the dynamics of meaning were considered by all four translators. The concept of interpretability of the text in the divine translations of Ghomshei and Ansarian is accompanied by a clarification approach, and in their translations more than the original text, the gaps in the source text are filled. In contrast, metaphors are more dynamic in Ayati and Garmarudi translations.