الفهرس 
Title : A Comparative Study between the French and English Versions by Beckett and selected Arabic Translations
AbstractOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
This study explores the initial norm of performability/acceptability in the translation of the self-translated absurd play, Waiting for Godot. The play was written by Samuel Beckett in French, and then he translated it into English. The study argues that third-language translators commit two types of shifts, namely; source-text shifts and semantic shifts, in order to avoid rendering unperformable absurd ideas and structures. Source-text shifts mean the third-language translator’s usage of both the English and French source-texts occasionally and momentarily. A translation shift, in that sense, is defined according to Matthijr Bakker et al.’s paradigm to assess the strategies that do or do not signal shifts. These shifts most of the time lead to changing the source-text themes. For this purpose the study compares two Arabic translations of Godot. The source-text for the Arabic target-text by Azher Saleh is the English self-translation, while that for the Arabic target-text by Paul Shaoul is the French original. Gideon Toury’s theory of norms is employed, as the overarching theory of the study, to identify the preliminary, initial and operational norms in the translations. Applying Corinne Scheiner’s dialogic theory of reading self-translation, the study attempts to devise a theory of producing third-language translations of Beckett’s self-translated work. Magdalena Winkler’s categorization of Beckett’s motives of self-translation is also used to determine the strategies used in committing source-text shifts and how these strategies affect the delivery of the source-text themes. In analyzing semantic shifts the study focuses on the rendering of four elements, namely; repetition, idioms, allusions and culture-specific references. Saeed Taki et al.’s “repetition translation taxonomy”, Mona Baker’s “idiom translation taxonomy” and, Ritva Leppihalme’s “allusions translation taxonomy” are utilized to determine the strategies used in committing the semantic shifts and their effects on the conveyance of the source-text themes.