فهرست مطالب امیر داوود حیدر پور

 Nation-states employ different tools for establishing international and geopolitical relations. Public Diplomacy (PD), as an important tool, plays a decisive role in creating an appropriate national image and correcting misunderstandings and/or negative images of a nation in the minds of “others”. Moreover, it can help advance the cultural and political goals of a nation-state in different parts of the globe, counter international threats, and provide national security. Functioning as a cultural action and an efficient tool, translation can play a significant role in achieving public diplomacy goals. The study presented in this paper defines and elaborates the concept of Translation Diplomacy (TD) as a very influential sub-category of public diplomacy. It evaluates not only the performance of Iranian state organizations and actors involved in developing, dictating, enforcing and implementing the policies of the Iranian TD abroad from 1997 to 2013 but also the consequences of the activities employing mixed-method research. To this end, a questionnaire was developed based on the theoretical concepts derived from the current literature in translation studies and PD and the propositions derived from exclusive interviews done with relevant figures in the field. The questionnaire was validated and then administered among some 50 Iranian cultural diplomats to have their opinion regarding the topic of the study, providing a basis for elaborating the concept of TD thereof. The results of the study indicate that TD can be very helpful in correcting negative perceptions of foreign publics and creating positive images of TD practitioners and their culture.

The Baghdad translation school (Baker 2009) is considered as a turning point in the history of translation. The school is mainly characterized by adopting a scientific approach to and utilizing various strategies in translation practice, and by the variety of subjects translated. On the other hand, skopos theory which was first introduced by Hans Vermeer in the late 1970s is among the most important functional approaches to translation studies in which the skopos or the purpose of translation is the main criterion that determines the final product in the target text. Paying special attention to the readership in the strategies used by the translator and considering the demands of the ‘order’ placed by the translation agent as part of the process of a professional translation for the first time in the history of translation are some other distinct characteristics of skopos theory in the field of translation studies. The present research sought to study the Baghdad translation movement according to the aforementioned features of the skopos theory. The findings indicate clear manifestations of the basic characteristics of skopos theory in the Baghdad school.

Translation historiography is a research area that has attracted the attention of translation scholars in recent years. As a significant research area of translation historiography, exploring the national history of translation criticism can contribute to the delineation of how translation theory and practice correlate in a specific culture. Moreover, it can show the extent of development of translation practice in the given culture. Although translation criticism has always played a central role in Persian, it has been under-researched independently. The present study was set out to explore the lexicological criteria dealt with in the history of translation criticism in Iran. The results of the study indicated that many concepts dealt with in the lexicological analyses of translations have been employed by Iranian critics in their translation criticisms.

Translation historiography is a research area that has attracted the attention of translation scholars in recent years. As a significant research area of translation historiography، exploring the national history of translation criticism can contribute to the delineation of how translation theory and practice correlate in a specific culture. Moreover، it can indicate the extent of development of translation practice in the given culture. Although translation criticism has always played a central role in Persian translation culture، it has been under-researched independently. The present study sets out to explore the stylistic criteria dealt with in the history of translation criticism in Iran. The results of the study indicate that many concepts dealt with in the stylistic analyses of translations have been employed by Iranian critics in their translation criticisms.