The Use of Domestication and Foreignization in the Translation of Edward Said’s Orientalism: An Analytical Study

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of the strategies used in translating the lexical items of Edward Said’s Orientalism. The present study is important because it focuses on the importance of choosing the best strategy in translation and because of the significance of the book selected as a case study in this paper. This study attempts to answer two questions: First, what are the strategies used by Mohamed Asfour in translating Edward Said’s Orientalism? Second, which translation strategy is considered the most effective based on analyzing the translation of some lexical items? The analytical part of this study showed that Mohamed Asfour used both foreignization and domestication in his translation. The study highlighted the importance of choosing the proper strategy for translation, which depends on several factors, including the purpose of translation, the nature of the source text, and the target readers. The result of the data analysis revealed that the domestication approach of translation provided a communicative and fluent translation. On the other hand, the foreignization approach of translation constituted an obstacle that would prevent the target readers from understanding the intended meaning of the original text. Finally, the study recommended doing more analytical studies as they can effectively contribute to reducing translation errors.