A Corpus-Based Study of Translation Strategies in Persian Versions of UN General Assembly Resolutions

Subject Areas : Journal of Teaching English Language Studies

Esmaeel Akbari ^{1 *}

1 - Department of English Language, Sirjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sirjan, Iran

Received: 2025-06-09 Accepted : 2025-06-12 Published : 2025-05-14

Keywords: Ideology, Persian Translation, Political Translation, Translation strategies, UN Resolutions,

Abstract :

This research analyzes the translation strategies employed in Persian translations of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions based on the political and ideological undertones of the resolutions. The research utilizes a corpus-based content analysis method and selects ten politically sensitive English-Persian resolution pairs based on Newmark’s (1988) typology: literal translation, modulation, adaptation, and transference. The findings indicate that literal translation is the most frequent option (41.2%), indicating a preference for formal equivalence and institutional objectivity. Modulation (30.2%) is then the major strategy for dealing with ideologically loaded lexis, but adaptation (18.9%) and transference (9.7%) also occur less often as a response from institutions against localization. The theoretical framework combines Descriptive Translation Studies and Critical Discourse Analysis for investigating the intersection of political power and linguistic practice. The findings support the notion that translation in this high-stakes sector is shaped by conservative institutional norms and ideological sensitivity, particularly within the Iranian sociopolitical context. The research contributes to translation theory and political linguistics through empirical knowledge of the frequently understudied Persian language domain. The research also highlights the importance of open and uniform institutional translation policy and training in advanced strategy implementation. Future research is invited to employ multilingual corpora and machine resources in conducting further study of ideological trends in diplomatic translation.

References:

Calzada Pérez, M. (2021). Political discourse, translation and media: Cross-linguistic and cross-cultural perspectives. Routledge.
Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. Longman.
Hatim, B., & Mason, I. (1997). The translator as communicator. Routledge.
House, J. (2015). Translation quality assessment: Past and present. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315733367
Loescher, G. (2020). Translation in diplomacy: A practical guide. Palgrave Macmillan.
Lommel, A., Burchardt, A., & Uszkoreit, H. (2014). Multidimensional quality metrics (MQM): A flexible framework for translation quality assessment. Translation Journal, 18(3).
Munday, J. (2017). Evaluation in translation: Critical points of translator decision-making. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315748828
Newmark, P. (1988). A textbook of translation. Prentice Hall.
Olohan, M. (2021). Introducing corpora in translation studies (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429319204
Schäffner, C., & Bassnett, S. (2019). Political discourse, media and translation. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Schreier, M. (2012). Qualitative content analysis in practice. SAGE Publications.
Toury, G. (2012). Descriptive translation studies–and beyond (Revised ed.). John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.100
Tymoczko, M. (2018). Translation and power. University of Massachusetts Press.
Venuti, L. (2017). The translator’s invisibility: A history of translation (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315098749
Yarmohammadi, L., & Shokrpour, N. (2022). Challenges in translating UN documents into Persian. Iranian Journal of Translation Studies, 14(2), 75–92.