Bridging Cultures through Verse: Shakespearean Sonnets’ Persian Translations Through the Lens of Vinay-Darbelnet’s Model

Abstract

Vinay and Darbelnet proposed a model comprising seven distinct procedures for evaluating translations, categorized into two general strategies: direct and oblique. This study analyzes different versions of the Persian translations of Shakespearean sonnets by Omid Tabibzadeh and Behnam Moghaddam to determine whether the translated sonnets align with direct or oblique strategies. To achieve this, the authors randomly selected seven Shakespearean sonnets translated into Persian by Omid Tabibzadeh and Behnam Moghad-dam. These translations were assessed on the basis of Vinay and Darbelnet’s theoretical model. The findings indicated a higher utilization of oblique strategies compared with direct strategies in both translations. In this paper, the micro-level outcomes of Vinay and Darbelnet’s model are integrated with the macro-level perspective of Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) to examine the systematic forces influencing translators’ decision-making processes. The authors initially analyzed the selected sonnets using Evan Zo-har’s polysystem theory to determine the position of the translations within the polysystem, identifying them as either primary or secondary. The analysis revealed that the translated sonnets occupy a secondary position in the polysystem, which is attributed to the predominance of domestication strategies. Subsequently, the collected data were examined through Toury’s law of growing standardization and law of interference, revealing a disruption of the source language (SL) pattern to accommodate the target language (TL). This highlighted the influence of the law of growing standardization in the translation process of the seven Shakespearean sonnets. Finally, a concise cultural shift analysis was conducted with the assistance of Iran’s translation history, which provided an explanation for both translators’ target text (TT)-oriented translations.