Foreignizing Translation as a Strategy to Universalize Literary Texts

Abstract

All literary works hold the traces of their authors at various levels. With this idea in mind, all literary translations should enable the target reader to have an insight into the kind of thinking patterns, tastes and choices that guide the daily life of people in foreign cultures. On this basis, it is of paramount importance to preserve the local flavour of the translated text so that the target reader knows him/herself better through contacting the cultural Other. To this end, I deem it crucial to opt for a translation method that is likely to preserve the local flavor of the home culture and trigger the target reader’s enthusiasm to discover the Other along with his/her writings. Foreignization can be adopted as a translation strategy in this regard to facilitate an adequate encounter with the cultural Other via his/her literary production. It is worth noting that any investigation of the source text, including its cultural environment, gives a place for a deep and satisfactory understanding of it. Relatedly, when the home culture is sufficiently studied and comprehended, the target reader gets to know more about it and learns to be tolerant of differences.