Arab World English Journal
AWEJ Volume. 3 Number. 1 March,2012 pp.190-200
Faithful Translation of Poetry: Abdul Wahid Lulua
Translating The Waste Land
Rima Eid Asi
English Department
Al-Zaytoonah Private University of Jordan
Abstract:
This study aims to show that a good translation of poetry provides the reader with a similar effect to that gained by reading the original text. It draws upon the importance of faithful translation as presented by Horst Frenze, in “The Art of Translation”. This paper attempts to introduce a case in point: Abdul Wahid Lulua’s translation of The Waste Land and its effect on the Arab reader. Although The Waste Land challenges any translator, Lulua’s gift enabled him to use his imaginative powers freely and produced a work of art which could stand on its own as an original work. His version thus created a standard work, which has captured the Arabic mind satisfyingly and thoroughly. It is this mastery of translation which gives the Arabic text its genuineness, making it look as if it were originally written in Arabic, despite confinement to the foreign original. Such a translation contributes to the development of literary works through professed cases of intellectuality, without distorting the original texts.
Keywords: Faithful Translation, poetry, genuineness, Abdul Wahid Lulua, The Waste Land.