In:A World Atlas of Translation
Edited by Yves Gambier and Ubaldo Stecconi
[Benjamins Translation Library 145] 2019
► pp. 149–168
Chapter 7The Persian tradition
Published online: 5 February 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.145.07aza
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.145.07aza
Abstract
From ancient Persia to modern Iran, translation has been consistently significant, which may be due to the geographical location of the political territory – placing it at the crossroads of many different languages and cultures throughout history. Despite its importance, however, translation remains a contested field in a variety of ways, and coherent discourses and theories on translation, its assessment, and its socio-political or cultural roles are yet to appear. In this report, we present the Persian tradition of translation in the past century, during which the scope and extent of the act in all its forms have been most effective and noticeable. We address four pressing issues of the tradition, method and approach, copyright, the politics of culture, and multilingualism, and suggest that the Persian tradition is translator-oriented, socially prestigious, ethically subversive, politically bounded and composed of diverse languages.
Keywords: Iran, modernization, translation, politics, censorship, copyright, multilingualism
Article outline
- 1.Challenging issues
- 2.Method and approach
- 3.Copyright
- 4.The politics of culture
- 5.Multilingualism
- 6.Conclusion
Notes References
References (37)
‘Asr-e Iran. 1388/2010. “Ayatolla Larijani: Tarjomeh-ye ketab-ha-ye gharbi bayad mehar shavad [The translation of western works should be controlled].” [URL]. Accessed June 2016.
Amir-Entekhabi, Shahrud. ed. 1390/2011. Chalesh-ha va Masayel-e Tarjomeh dar Iran [The challenges and issues of translation in Iran]. The Center for Strategic Research of the Council for Expediency Discernment, Tehran. [URL]. Accessed August 2015.
Azadibougar, Omid. 2014. The Persian Novel: Ideology, Fiction and Form in the Periphery. Leiden/Boston: Brill/Rodopi.
Azadibougar, Omid, and Simon Patton. 2015. “Coleman Barks’ versions of Rumi in the US.” Translation and Literature 24: 172–89.
Afshar, Iradj. 2012. “(b) the 20th century.” In Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd Edition, ed. P. Bearman, et al. Brill Online 2015. [URL]. Accessed August 2015.
Bhabha, Homi. 1990. “The third space: Interview with Homi Bhabha.” In Identity: Community, Culture and Difference, ed. Jonathan Rutherford. London: Lawrence and Wishart.
De Blois, François. 2005. “3. Translations from Middle Persian (Pahlavī).” In Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd Edition, ed. P. Bearman, et al. Brill Online 2015. [URL]. Accessed June 2016.
. 2007. “Translation in the ancient Iranian world.” In An International Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, Volume 2, ed. Harald Kittel, et al. 1194–1206. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Emami, Karim. 1372/1993. Az Past va Boland-e Tarjomeh [The ups and downs of translation]. Tehran: Nilufar.
. 1993. “Copyright.” In Encyclopadia Iranica, Volume VI, ed. Ehsan Yarshater, 264–266. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda.
Ethnologue. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. [URL]. Accessed June 2016.
Gonzáles Núñez, Gabriel. 2013. “Translating for linguistic minorities in Northern Ireland: A look at translation policy in the judiciary, healthcare, and local government.” Current Issues in Language Planning 14 (3–4): 474–489.
Haddadian-Moghaddam, Esmaeil. 2014. Literary Translation in Modern Iran: A Sociological Study. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins.
Haddadian-Moghaddam, Esmaeil, and Reine Meylaerts. 2014. “Translation policy in the media: A study of television programs in the province of Kurdistan in Iran.” Translation Spaces 3: 71–98.
Heilbron, Johan. 1999. “Towards a sociology of translation: Book translations as a cultural world-system.” European Journal of Social Theory 2 (4): 429–444.
Jahanbegloo, Ramin, and Jamshid Bahram. 1382/2003. Tamaddon va Tajaddod: Goftegu [Civilization and modernization: A conversation]. Tehran: Nashr-e Markaz.
Kalbasi, Mohammad. 1382/2003. “Esfahani va sonnat-e tarjomeh-ye Irani [Esfahani and the Iranian translation tradition].” Zendeh Rud 27: 37–69.
Karimi-Hakkak, Ahmad. 1998. “Persian tradition.” In Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, ed. Mona Baker, 513–522. London/New York: Routledge.
. 1992. “Censorship.” In Encyclopadia Iranica, Volume V, ed. Ehsan Yarshater, 135–192. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda.
Khaneh-ye Ketab. 2015. [URL]. Accessed July 2015.
Khazaeefar, Ali. 1381/2002. “Ravan-shenasi-ye lafz-gerayi” [The psychology of literal translation]. Motarjem 11(36): 3–12.
Lambert, José. 1995. “Literature, translation and (de)colonization.” In Translation and Modernization, eds Theresa M. Hyun and José Lambert. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.
Lewis, P. E. 1985/2004. “Translation as a decision process.” In The Translation Studies Reader, ed. Lawrence Venuti, 2nd ed, 256–275. London/New York: Rutledge.
Macaulay, T. B. 1835. “Minute on Indian education.” [URL]. Accessed April 2015.
Matthee, Rudolph P. 1999. The Politics of Trade in Safavid Iran: Silk for Silver 1600–1730. New York: Syracuse University Press.
Mufti, Aamir. 2010. “Orientalism and the institution of world literature.” Critical Inquiry 36: 458–93.
Qudjani, Aslan. 1393/2014. “’Aks-e yadegari-ye dir-hengam ba marhum Picketti” [A late photo with the late Picketti]. Shargh, 24 Esfand, no. 2261.
Rajabzadeh, Ahmad. 1380/2001. Momayyezi-ye Ketab: Pazhuheshi dar 1400 Sanad-e Momayyezi-ye Ketab dar Sal-e 1375 [The censorship of books: A study of 1,400 censor files in 1996]. Tehran: Kavir.
Schwarz, Roberto. 1992. Misplaced Ideas: Essays on Brazilian Culture, trans. and ed. John Gledson. London: Verso.
Trivedi, Harish. 2007. “Translating culture vs. cultural translation.” In Translation: Reflections, Refractions, Transformation, eds. Paul St. Pierre and Prafulla C. Kar, 277–288. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins.
TED Talks. 2018. [URL]. Visited July 2018.
Zakeri, Mohsen. 2007. “Translation from Middle Persian (Pahlavi) into Arabic to the early Abbasid period.” In An International Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, Volume 2, eds Harald Kittel, et al., 1199–1206. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Zarafshan, Naser. 1393/2014. “’Aks-e yadegari ba Picketti [A photo with Picketti: Review of the Persian translation of Capital
].” Shargh, 10 Esfand, no. 2249.
WIPO. World Intellectual Property Organization. [URL]. Accessed June 2016.
Cited by (4)
Cited by four other publications
Laetitia, Nanquette
Azadibougar, Omid
Azadibougar, Omid
Gambier, Yves
2018. Concepts of translation. In A History of Modern Translation Knowledge [Benjamins Translation Library, 142], ► pp. 19 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 3 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
