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The translator writes back
Author(s) -
Mahdipour Alireza
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
literature compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.158
H-Index - 4
ISSN - 1741-4113
DOI - 10.1111/lic3.12453
Subject(s) - literature , rhyme , narrative , poetry , meaning (existential) , natural (archaeology) , persian , christianity , source text , loyalty , art , linguistics , history , philosophy , theology , archaeology , epistemology
The translation of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales into Persian poetry required many innovations. Because Chaucer used rhyme to rhetorically enhance meaning—what Shklovsky called the resurrection in words—the translation was a challenging recreation. However, translating Chaucer is aided by several commonalities between his medieval English culture and modern Iranian culture: formal similarities between Chaucer's narrative verse and the form of masnavi ; common themes in their literatures; and important resonances between Christianity and Islam, especially contemporary Shi'ism and its emphasis on pilgrimages to sacred sites. For these reasons, the translated text appears so natural that despite translator's loyalty to his source text, the translation appears familiar to those otherwise unfamiliar with the Tales.