A Quantitative-Analytical Examination of Dystopian Literature Translated from English to Persian Between 1978 and 1988 in Iran: A Case Study of Novels

Subject Areas : Journal of Teaching English Language Studies

Maryam Sadat Khayam Nekouie ¹ , leila Alinouri ²

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Received: 2025-07-05 Accepted : 2025-09-07 Published : 2025-07-05

Keywords: Dystopian Novels, Translation History, Archeology of Translation, Historical Criticism, Explanation. ,

Abstract :

It seems Translation studies and Persian Literature have been intertwined together, but few numbers of studies have been done on the Persian translation of dystopian literature. The research examined the Persian translations of English dystopian novels in the politically pivotal decade of 1978 to 1988 in Iran, the decade that included the Islamic Revolution (1979) and the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). Adopting Pym's (2014) historiographic model, the research followed a quantitative-analytical method to investigate the quantity of Persian-translated dystopian novels, the role of the translators, and the ideological reasons for choosing dystopian books. Based on the paradigms of translation archaeology, historical criticism, and explanation, this research investigated the sociopolitical processes embedded in translational decision-making. The results indicated that, despite rigorous censorship and ideological supervision, translators employed dystopian literature as a means of resistance and political critique deliberately. Translations of texts such as 1984, Animal Farm, Darkness at Noon, The Iron Heel, and This Perfect Day are not merely linguistic conversions, but profound contextualized actions that testify to the involvement of the translators with the political realities of the era in Iran. This study made a contribution to translation history in demonstrating how literary translation, especially in repressive or transitional settings, is a locale of ideological negotiation and intellectual activism.

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