Utilizing Cultural Conceptualizations as a Literary Translation Strategy and Framework in Rendering Arabic Culture-Specific Puns in the Poetry of Ghazi Al-Gosaibi

Translating pun discourse comparatively across languages and cultures is an arduous and challenging task that involves a more than competent level of language proficiency and dexterity. It demands advanced knowledge and apprehension of the cultural origin, social setting, and sociocultural context of the source language and translated language. This study explores cultural conceptualizations as a literary translation strategy in Arabic culture-specific pun discourse found in the poetry of the Saudi poet Ghazi Al-Gosaibi, translated into English. The study uses a descriptive qualitative approach to investigate the selected Arabic pun discourse in two poems, “Love… and the Black Ports” and “Song in a Tropical Night.” The study also suggests a literary translation strategy for rendering culture-specific puns into English cultural conceptualizations. The utmost significance of this study is how cultural conceptualizations, such as patterns, types, and social allegory, play a pivotal role in translating culture-specific puns. Results show that the translators, Sargon Boulus and Joon-Stubbs, are accurate and faithful to the original wording of the Arabic culture-specific puns in the two poems. The study found that the translators use several different translation strategies, such as literal translations and faithful translations. The study reveals that utilizing cultural conceptualizations as a literary translation strategy plays a central role in rendering Arabic culture-specific puns that lead to bridging communication gaps and minimizing the cultural gap. Such utilization helps translators adequately render puns among various cultural and language boundaries. Some significant implications and recommendations are offered.