Recontextualization of sustainable development discourse: a critical discourse analysis of the English-Arabic translation

Established by the United Nations (UN) in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed to constitute a universal framework to guide all nations and communities. In an effort to make the goals more accessible, they were translated into five other languages. This study examined the translation of the UN’s SDGs discourse from English into Arabic. It employs a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach as the primary analytical framework. It explores how the sustainable development discourse was constructed in the translation of the SDGs into Arabic. For this purpose, the study employed Wodak’s Discourse-Historical Analysis (DHA) approach to conduct an in-depth macroanalysis and microanalysis of the English discourses and their corresponding Arabic translations of the first two SDGs. The study found that both English SDGs discourse and its Arabic translation has utilized the five discursive strategies introduced by the approach to frame the related discourse of poverty and hunger as global phenomena while constructing an ideological stance that emphasizes the need for equality and urgent action. The results highlight how Arabic translation serves as a means of recontextualization of the global development discourse to align with local cultures and ideological perspectives.