The Loss of Music and Meaning in the Translation of Poetry: A lierary Approach to Mahmoud Darwish's Unde Siege (Halat Hesar)

Abstract

The problem in the center of this research paper was to test translated poetry and whether it can be a match for the original work. The study aimed at examining the loss of music and meaning in the translation of poetry through a literary approach, applied to Mahmoud Darwish's poem, Under Siege (Halat Hesar) and its English translation done by Marjolijn De Jager. It applies Eugene Nida's Philological theories of translation as well as Susan Bassnett and Andre Le Fevere's cultural turn approach. The research uses a qualitative method of research that employs tools of content and comparison analysis. The data used is Mahmoud Darwish's Under Siege (Halat Hesar). The translation of poetry entails major differences to that of pros based on the fact that meaning is reflected, not only through the poet's choice of words, but also through the musical devices used. Through this study, it becomes apparent that poetry, in particular, can never be read the same after translation as the musical elements are lost, and with them so does the meaning. It also proves a lack of parallelism between English and Arabic in terms of musical devices employed because ultimately, the translator will always opt to focus on literal linguistic meaning