Translating Culture: An Analysis of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and Its Urdu and Punjabi Translations

Abstract

Translation is not only a linguistic activity; but also the process of re-writing and cultural re-significance. It attempts to mediate the differences between, values or cultures (Lefever, 1999). The present piece of research is an attempt to find out the discursive strategies used by once colonized minds for the representation of their lost cultural identities. The postcolonial theory Orientalism by Said provides the theoretical framework for data selection and analysis. In the present study ‘Translating Culture: An Analysis of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and Its’ Urdu and Punjabi Translations.  The Urdu (TT1) translator is Ikram Ullah while the Punjabi (TT2) translator is Afzal Ahsan Randhawa. The ST author and the TT’s translators have the experience of being colonized. So, by their experiences, they are trying to respond back to their ex-colonial masters. The data discussion reveals that the author has employed the appropriation strategy while the translators have employed domestication and foreignization for the cultural representation. The frequent use of native language by the author and the translators is not only a sign of resistance but also a response back strategy to reflect their colonial experience. The two translations enforce the stance taken by source text (ST) for the representation of processes of identity construction and cultural representation.