Translating Metaphor: A Study of Four Translations of Hamlet

The function of metaphor is to communicate experience, images, or ideas. Rather than being ornamental, it re-describes reality. This paper explores the variety of translating metaphor into Arabic by investigating four different translations of Hamlet: mainly those of Khalil Mutran (1872-1949), Gabra Ibrahim Gabra(1920-1994), Abdel Qader AlQut (1916-2002) and Muhammed Enani(1939). Though living in the 20th century, the translators employ strategies that display the development of Arabic language and reflect the various attitudes towards translating plays. The paper shows how the translation of metaphors in Hamlet sheds light on the problems involved in the process of translation, the various strategies adopted by the translators to overcome them and the constraints affecting the translation process itself. It also shows that the translator’s interference is due to addressing the target audience/ reader and manipulating the resources of his culture/language to bridge the gap between the original text/ culture and his own and thus performing the function of a mediator. The translations also reflect the crucial role played by Mutran, for example, to develop the Arabic language and the emergence of modern Egyptian Theatre in the 1920s. Gabra's strict adherence to literal rendering of the ST is contrasted with the attempts of both AlQut and Enani to capture the Shakespearean tone. The translations of Hamlet at various times are also meant to reveal the self- image of culture , the poetics of the readers and the norms set for successful translation at varied periods in the 20th century.