The translation of medical terms in two Arabic versions of Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote de la Mancha

Abstract

Medical terminology is a prominent feature of Don Quixote. Our objective is to analyze the difficulties that its translation would pose, as well as the quality of the results obtained in two Arabic versions of the novel: Badawī (1965) and al-‘Aṭṭār (2002). We will study the transmission of denotative and connotative content separately. The translation of the former is less complex than the latter, despite the fact that phenomena such as false friends, homonyms, and so on can condition its translation. Since Don Quixote is a novel, and not a medical treatise, the connotative content becomes more relevant, since the terminology is implicated in certain literary figures and devices, thus influencing the translation process. Al-‘Aṭṭār manages to introduce improvements in the translation, especially regarding the referential content. He also presents a version with a style more accessible to the contemporary Arabic reader.