Intrinsic managing and the English-Arabic translation of fictional registers

Abstract

The translation process involves several changes made to the source text. Some of these changes, referred to as intrinsic managing , are necessary to overcome linguistic differences and create a cohesive, coherent, and natural text without altering the meaning and content. While intrinsic managing is often used for naturalization, this approach may lead to translation losses. For instance, in many fictional works, characters are given unique registers and idiolects, with some creators involving linguistic and morphological processes. This paper examines the application of intrinsic management strategies on fictional registers and whether the resulting renditions reflected the style of the source text that included unique language use. The data included literary works in the form of novels and audiovisual media, including films and series such as A Clockwork Orange (novel and film), 1984 (Novel), Smurfs, The Amazing World of Gumball, and Young Justice. The source and target text are compared based on how they fall under the conveniences and the rules of their respective languages. The results showed an overt tendency to naturalize rather than adapt, which reflects a misuse of intrinsic managing strategies. The study concludes that many translators resort to naturalization to increase target audience readability and understanding. This may be favorable in most cases; however, it could result in the loss of stylistic features.

Keywords

• Intrinsic managing
• fiction
• translation
• Arabic
• English
• novels