Translation Strategies used for Translation of Idioms in George Orwell’s Animal Farm

Abstract

The present study is about the translation of idioms from Orwell's Animal Farm into its Urdu translated version “?????????," focusing on the application of translation strategies proposed by (Baker,2011). Animal Farm, a politically charged allegorical novella, is rich with idiomatic expressions that convey deeper meanings beyond their literal interpretations, reflecting the socio-political nuances of the original text. The present research deals with exploring the strategies employed by the Urdu translator to render these idioms and evaluate their effectiveness in preserving the semantic and stylistic integrity of the original text. The study identifies that the strategy, translation by paraphrase was most frequently employed as paraphrasing involved explaining the idiom's meaning using non-idiomatic language effectively conveying the intended message when English had no equivalent idiom that matched Urdu in both meaning and form. However, the study identifies that the second most frequently employed strategy was using an idiom with similar meaning and form. This strategy was used particularly when SL had an equivalent idiom that matched TT in both meaning and form. This strategy was successful in maintaining the original's idiomatic and cultural essence. Moreover, other strategies like translation by using similar meaning but dissimilar form and translation by omission were employed lastly by the translator due to lack of equivalence in TT. while translation by compensation was a strategy that was not at all adopted by translator as there was no such idiom found where the meaning in TT can be compensated. The findings suggest that the translators of "Animal Farm" into Urdu employed a combination of strategies to navigate the complexities of idiomatic translation. Overall, this study highlights the intricate challenges of translating idioms across languages and the importance of carefully selecting strategies to retain the original text's cultural and expressive depth.