Critique of Contemporary Translations of Jules Verne's Works Inspired by Harris's Distributional Analysis

Document Type : پژوهش های زبان و ترجمه فرانسه

Authors

• Farnaz Sassani ¹
• Sedigheh Sherkat Moghadam ²
• Sepideh Navabzadeh Shafiei ³
• Mohammad Hossein Fathyan ⁴

¹ Assistant Professor of French Department - Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages - Allameh Tabataba'i University - Tehran - Iran

² Associate Professor, French Department, Allameh Tabataba’i University

³ Assistant Professor, French Department, Allameh Tabataba’i University

⁴ Master of French Translation Studies, Allameh Tabataba’i University

10.22067/rltf.2024.88381.1117

Abstract

Today, according to UNESCO's published list, Jules Verne holds a prestigious position as one of the world's five most translated authors and he has been translated into Persian more than any other French writer. His works have captured the attention of many translators in different periods, thanks to his unique writing style. Notably, Enayatullah Shakibapour has made a major contribution by translating many of Verne's works into Persian. The most important feature of Shakibapour's translations of this author's works is that, compared to the old translations, readers encounter a coherent translation of the world's first science fiction works through his contemporary translations.
This study aims to explore Jules Verne's translated works through the lens of structural linguistics, utilizing the distributional analysis approach pioneered by Zellig Harris. The analysis is grounded in Harris’s theoretical framework, providing a comprehensive understanding of the distributional patterns and structures within the translated texts. Undoubtedly, the relationships between words and the connection of a linguistic element with other constituent elements of language play a significant role in meaning-making. 
In this context, this research focuses on the semantics in Persian translations, aiming to elucidate the translation process by examining the interplay of linguistic structures. The findings highlight the influence of these elements on the translator's functional priorities, both quantitatively and qualitatively impacting the linguistic output—the ultimate target text.

Keywords

• "؛ translation studies"؛ structural linguistics"؛ distributional analysis"؛ semantic unit"؛ Jules Verne"؛
• "؛ Enayatullah Shakibapour"

Main Subjects

• french translation

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