The Allure of Untranslatability

Shafiʿi-Kadkani and (Not) Translating Persian Poetry

Bibliographic Data

ID9978460
AuthorsAria Fani (0000-0003-0354-8429, University of Washington, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume54
Issue1-2
Pages95-125
Publication date2020-05-14
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueIranian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-0862 • E-ISSN: 1475-4819
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1080/00210862.2020.1748495
OpenAlexW3024344967
LanguageEN
References cited23

How could one translate into any European language a Persian poem as culturally and aesthetically embedded as this hemistich by Hāfez: beh may sajjādeh rangin kon garat pir-e moghān guyad . This is the central question Mohammad-Rezā Shafiʿi-Kadkani addresses in his essay titled “On Poetic Untranslatability.” For Shafiʿi, translation is primarily a function of cultural—and not linguistic—affinity. Therefore, he argues that Hāfez’s poem is all but untranslatable in European languages given their fundamental cultural difference from Persian. This article critically engages Shafiʿi’s essay by outlining and analyzing the set of problematic assumptions embedded in its rubric of untranslatability. It places Shafiʿi’s view on translation in conversation with theorists of untranslatability in comparative literature and translation studies. Ultimately, it outlines why untranslatability is not a useful conceptual framework for the analysis of linguistic and cultural difference

Art · Conversation · Linguistics · Literature · Persian · Poetry · Rubric · Sociology · History · Philosophy · Translation Studies and Practices

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