Zahra ARSALANI
Being granted a Bachelor degree in English Translator Training, a Master degree in Translation Studie, and TESOL Canada certificate (to teach English), has provided me with such variable job opportunities for years as teaching English, legal translation, simultaneous interpreting, and foreign trade in Iran. Currently as a third-year PhD candidate in Interpretation Sciences, I am currently carrying out my research project at University of Catania, Italy, under the supervision of Prof. Francesca Vigo.
Adaptation, as a form of intersemiotic translation, might be analyzed through applying translation-related analysis models to achieve a better understanding of the whole process. However, there has not been a comprehensive research on studying the shifts occurred in the adaptation process of literary works from the point of view of translation. Therefore my doctoral research project is planned to approach it applying Leuven Zwart’s two-level model of translation shifts.
The research project, being of empirical type, seeks to identify the translation shifts of literary elements in three individual works, and how these shifts influenced their reception among the target audience and critics. It will be decided what is changed with regard to plot, characterization, theme, etc. of the original work and how these shifts resulted in a particular reaction. The works are as follows: ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare (in English) and its adapted movie under the name of ‘The Throne of Blood’ by the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, ‘The Glass Menagerie’ by Tennessee Williams (in English) adapted into Here without Me (in Persian) by Bahram Tavakkoli, and lastly, Wladyslaw Szpilman’s Polish true story ‘The Pianist’ and its adaptation under the same title by Roman Polanski
The results of the present research may have multiple benefits. It can offer perspectives that lead to extending the realms of translation studies more than before, because translation is such a vast area that can still be entered from not-much-taken roads. It needs to be investigated from almost brand new and variable points of views. Additionally, with regard to ‘reception’ of the literary adapted works, the results of the present research could help future film-makers to be informed of what makes their work more successful and what doesn’t. It will be absolutely useful for them to know where any shifts on every one of the literary elements lead to.
(Conference) Papers:
- A Comparative Study on the Cinematic Adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Tragedy of Macbeth’into Kurosawa’s ‘Throne of Blood’
- ‘A Study on How Translation Affects and is Affected by Capitalism’
- ‘A Study on How Critical Discourse Analysis Improves Simultaneous Interpreting Quality’
- ‘A Study on How Women Can Be Better Interpreters’
Publications:
An English to Persian translation of ‘Comparative Literature: A Critical Introduction’, written by Susan Bassnett, published by Birjand University Publications