Substitution Strategies for Cultural Phenomena based on the Newmark Model (Arabic Translation of the novel "Safar" by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi as Case Study)

Translation is the process of transferring linguistic data in many literary texts, especially fictional works, due to the existence of various specific cultural elements of the source culture, it acts as a bridge for cultural interactions and their ability to select the correct or more correct equivalent in the target text can be considered as a factor in assessing the success or failure of the translator. Newmark, more than other theorists, was aware of the importance of this issue and, in addition to categorizing concepts, provided solutions for replacing cultural elements. The novel "Safar" by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, with its internal content and narrative movement within the framework of traditional Iranian culture, encompasses all the cultural elements that Newmark considers, and the translator of this work into Arabic has faced multiple challenges in this regard. This article, using a descriptive-analytical method and relying on Newmark's theory, attempts to analyze and criticize the translator's selection of cultural elements and to evaluate and even perform a stylistic analysis of the translator's performance in using Newmark's solutions. The results show that the most frequent cultural elements were related to material culture and proverbs, and the translator used a combination of more strategies than other methods in translating cultural elements. It can be said that the reason for the translator's frequent use of this method is the large number of some cultural concepts, including material culture and proverbs, and also to eliminate ambiguity and provide explanations in footnotes for better familiarity of Arabic-speaking audiences.