Loss and Compensation in Translation of Idioms

Translating prose fiction requires special considerations in terms of style. Preserving text style and features contributing to its uniqueness is elemental in prose fiction translation. This study addresses the use of idioms as a stylistic feature and the way they are translated in prose fiction. Idioms symbolize the dissimilarities among various languages and different cultures. They are usually exclusive to a particular language and specific to a single culture. This peculiarity makes them a thorny issue for translators. The present research is an attempt to investigate English translation of Persian idioms in a novel, Symphony of the Dead. It examines the procedures utilized for translation of idioms, probable losses and compensation of them. There exists adequate amount of research on translation of idioms, yet there hardly exists any research which has included loss and compensation in translation of idioms in its analysis. The findings may be useful for translators who are interested in translating literary texts especially fiction. It may also have something to offer for those scholars who are interested in literature and culture and those who choose to work on linguistics.