Translating formulas of linguistic politeness from Arabic into Spanish and English

Abstract

Translating politeness formulas in literary texts is a challenge for any professional translator, since the forms and application of such formulas vary considerably from one culture to another. This paper proposes an approach to the treatment of certain politeness formulas in the comparative study of the Spanish translation El despertar de un pueblo by Federico Corriente and the English translation Return of the Spirit by M. Hutchins of Ṭawfīq al-Ḥakīm‟s novel ‘Awdat al-Rūḥ. The study describes and illustrates the positions and solutions adopted by professional translators from the perspective of domestication and foreingnization as translation strategies. In particular, the paper investigates the treatment of some politeness formulas, namely: compliment, greeting, and thanking utilized by the aforementioned translators. Furthermore, it investigates the accessibility of the translated formulas to the target reader, and assesses to what extent they have been transparent and accessible.