FROM ELIZABETHAN STAGE TO URDU PAGE: ANALYZING TRANSLATION STRATEGIES IN MUNSHI IMTIYAZ ALI’S URDU RENDITION OF SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET

Abstract

The process of converting any literary text from one language to another is onerous. It presents challenges for the translator in the form of finding suitable equivalents for literary or poetic devices, cultural references, and idioms in the source text that are relevant to the target text. The present study investigates the role of domestication, amplification, and untranslatability in Ali’s Urdu translation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This study adopts a qualitative approach, and the method of Textual Analysis is used to analyze the source text in relation to the target text. Nida’s concept of Functional Equivalence serves as a theoretical framework for the study. The findings reveal that the Urdu translation of Hamlet by Ali contains multiple challenges of translating Hamlet from English, like cultural differences between English and Urdu readers, linguistic dissimilarities between the source text (ST) and the target text (TT), and the issue of translating Shakespeare's innovative language. The translator has used a number of strategies to cope with these obstacles. The three most significant translation strategies that are present in this Urdu translation of Hamlet are domestication, amplification, and untranslatability (omission). By employing these strategies, the translator tried to make the Target Text (TT) comprehensible and culturally appropriate for the target audience. The naturalness of the target text serves the functional purposes of the Urdu translation of Hamlet.