Sharahil, Fatma Ahmed Abdallah Omar Ba
(2022)
English Translations Of Quranic Verses Regarding Women
An In-depth Analysis Of Loss And Gain In Meaning Based On Baker’s Taxonomy.
PhD thesis, Pusat Pengajian Bahasa Literasi dan Terjemahan.
Abstract
Studies have demonstrated that no translation of the Holy Quran is devoid of
shortcomings; the point of interest is not whether there are shortcomings, but lies instead
in the extent of the shortcomings, since translating the Holy Quran into a foreign
language with perfect accuracy is an impossible task. Referring to several Quranic
verses, claims have been made that Islam oppresses women and deprives them of their
rights. This general perception that women are looked down upon, discriminated and
insulted based on verses of the Holy Quran is common in the West, where translations of
the Holy Quran are relied on. This thesis comprises an in-depth analysis of four English
renditions of Quranic verses regarding women from the renditions by Pickthall, Arberry,
Sarwar and Abdel Haleem. The selected verses are analysed with the aim of identifying
the strategies used and determining the extent of loss or gain in meaning. Also,
identification of the most dominant and least used strategies, and determining the themes
demonstrating the most loss or gain in meaning. To this end, the verses regarding
women were identified and categorised into five major themes based on their subject
matter, then analysed using Baker’s taxonomy. Ibn Kathir’s and As-Sa’di’s exegeses
were utilised for the purpose of determining the meaning of the verses, while back
translations served to justify any loss or gain in meaning. Based on the nature of the
research problem and the research questions, the qualitative approach was used. Out of the 17 strategies proposed by Baker, 14 were employed in varying degrees. The findings
indicate that all themes suffered loss in meaning, whereas gain was observed in three
themes only. Overall, the findings reveal that using superordinate words is the most
dominant strategy used, while using idiom of similar meaning but different form is the
least used. With specific regard to each theme, voice change was most dominant in the
matrimony theme, addition dominated the theme of rights and duties, paraphrasing was
most dominant in the chastity theme, while in the equity theme, application of
superordinate words was dominant. Regarding the least used strategies, paraphrasing
using unrelated words was applied minimally in the matrimony theme, compensation in
the rights theme, nominalisation in the theme of duties. Using idiom of similar meaning
but different form is least used in chastity theme while in the theme of equity,
extraposition and nominalisation were used twice each. Furthermore, it was found that
the theme of rights demonstrated the most loss in meaning compared to the other
themes, whereas the theme of matrimony demonstrated the most gain in meaning. The
findings of this study contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of translation
studies, and are relevant to scholars working with religious texts, gender discrimination
and Islamic studies. Besides, claims and misconceptions about Islam could be justified
and the reasons behind them clarified with further research.
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