SOCIO-CULTURAL VARIANCE IN TRANSLATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF BULLEH SHAH’S MYSTICAL POETRY

Abstract

Poetry in general, and mystic poetry in particular, poses a multitude of problems for the translator. This study aims to do a comparative analysis of two English translations of five poems by Bulleh Shah, done by two different translators who have vastly different socio-cultural backgrounds. The English translations of Kartar Singh Duggal a post-colonial native Punjabi speaker and Reynold A. Nicholson a colonial non-native speaker, are compared through translation theories of Eugene Nida (1975) and Christian Nord (2018). The formal as well dynamic equivalence revealed that Duggal has done sense-for-sense translation, whereas Nicholson translated word-for-word by keeping in mind the target audience. Though it has fiddled the original mystic meaning of the poems, both translators have adapted the translation according to their socio-cultural settings. Nicholson’s loyalty to ST as well as to TT is clearer than Duggal. Findings of this study hold implications for new translators and researchers attempting to evaluate translations of mystic poetry.