Discourse analysis of texts on Iraq-Iran War: A case study of Persian to English narrations

Abstract

While critical discourse analysis has gained solid ground in war literature and narratives, few studies have used this analytical tool to scrutinize the translation of ideology in the literature relating to war. This study aimed to analyze how ideology was (re)produced and translated in the Iraq-Iran War narrations. To this end, a sample from a corpus of such narrations was selected and analyzed based on Farahzad’s (2012) CDA model. The results showed that ideologies produced in the proto-texts were rendered in the meta-texts with a few alterations at the textual level and with no change at the semiotic level. The findings indicated the role of ideology in shaping the translated text and revealed how language can be manipulated as a social practice to support ideologies, maintain power, and serve the interests of powerful groups in society. Such materials could also shape the reader’s mind about war. Parallel studies would shed more light on the function of ideology in war literature, narratives and translation processes. This research has implications for professional translators, translation educators, translation teachers and students as well as policymakers for publications of translated texts loaded with ideologies, raising their awareness regarding the importance of critical discourse analysis in translation studies to trace hidden ideologies in texts and meta-texts.