Abstract:
Literary texts undergo generally many shifts and transformations during their
translation from one linguistic and cultural system to another. These shifts are required
for the understanding and appreciation of the text in the target culture. However, in
many cases, the translator makes some choices which might alter the aesthetic value
and the cultural specificity or both of the literary text, and especially if the translation
is made from a cultural and linguistic system which is considered weaker than the
receiving one.
The aim of this study is to examine the French translation of two novels of the
Algerian novelist Ahlam Mosteghanemi: “Mémoires de la Chair” (Memory in the
flesh) and “Le chaos des sens” (Chaos of senses). Special focus will be laid on
different linguistic deviations such as fronting, repetition and metaphor and on the
rendering of different cultural references such as religious terms, proverbs, linguistic
variations and allusions, which are characteristic of Ahlam Mosteghanemi’s writings.
The main objective of this study is to determine which strategy is adopted when
translating the two novels in French. In order to achieve this aim, cultural and
linguistic approaches within the translation studies discipline have been adopted.
Venuti’s model is proposed as a theoretical framework that helps in understanding and
explaining the strategies available when translating formal features and cultural
references.
The study concludes that the translator is subjected to cultural, ideological and
poetic influences in particular when translating from Arabic to French. The analysis
shows that the Arabic translator Mohamed Mokaddem (who translates ""Mémoires de
la chair"") adopted the strategy of foreignization, which is reflected in the preservation
of the foreign cultural terms in the target text and the respect of the formal features of
the original text. The French translator France Meyer (who translates “Le chaos des
sens”) adopted a domesticating strategy, which is obvious in her choices. There is a
tendency of recreating the stylistic features of the source text according to the target
(French) poetics and generalizing the cultural terms
