Translating Horror: Quality Assessment of Gothic Elements in Edgar Allan Poe’s Short Stories Translated into Persian
Keywords:
Acceptability, Accuracy, Gothic, Horror, Readability, Translation Quality AssessmentAbstract
Translating gothic literature poses challenges, particularly in conveying emotions such as fear and anxiety while preserving the atmospheric intensity of the original. This study examines the quality of Persian translations of gothic elements in five short stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Gothic features were identified using frameworks from Harris (2020) and Nodalo (2023), and their translations were evaluated through Nababan’s (2012) assessment model, focusing on accuracy, acceptability, and readability. The analysis revealed a clear imbalance: while the translations achieved high levels of acceptability and readability, they demonstrated notably lower accuracy due to shifts, adaptations, and omissions. This suggests that translators prioritized preserving the immersive gothic effect over strict fidelity to the source text. The study highlights the importance of cultural awareness, linguistic skill, and genre sensitivity in translating gothic fiction into Persian and offers implications for translators, critics, and publishers.
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