An Analysis of Forough Farrokhzad’s “Tavallod-i-Digar” Based on Catford’s Imaginative Translational Shifts Theory (a Comparative Case Study of Abdolmona-em and al-Attar Translations)

Vernacular translation of literary works invites inevitable semantic, syntactic, rhetorical, and ideological shifts within a text. This process of stabilizing originates mostly from the translator’s conscious intention and is reliant on the target language’s innate nature. Among the most notable theories in this regard, is J. C. Catford’s theory (1965), which analyzes semantic and syntactic shifts in two general categories and four sub-categories. This study attempts to compare and investigate Abdolmona-em’s and Al-Attar’s stabilizations in the Arabic translation of Forough Farrokhzad’s “Tavallod-i-Digar,” based on Catford’s theory. The results of this study suggest that in comparison with other transformation modes, transformations on a syntactic level are of high impact on the translations by both aforementioned translators. Maryam al-Attar’s translation includes fewer structural stabilizations because of reduced concern about the primary language’s structure and emphasis on literal translation, and this culminated in the complexity and unfamiliarity of the end product. On the contrary, Abdolmona-em’s translation appears more smooth and natural, as it suggests suitable equivalents and emphasizes the expression and stabilization of semantic and syntactic structures. Furthermore, the exclusions and redundant extensions in Al-Attar’s translation have often brought about interpretative and thematic transformations in the poem.