Abstract

While much ink has been spilled over the various issues involved in poetry translation by both Western and Eastern translation theorists, it seems no attention has been given to the unknown obstacles a translator may encounter in rendering Arabic literary texts in general and Omani poems in particular. To this end, the current paper sheds light on unknown and unfamiliar problems translators face in translating Omani poetry and maintains that—in addition to the linguistic, cultural, and aesthetic problems of poetry translation—literary translators also encounter difficulties in the translation of unnoticeable religious and cultural meanings and aspects in poems. For this purpose, an interview with an Omani translator and a questionnaire to 35 students with a Translation major (10 males and 25 females) at Sultan Qaboos University served as research instruments to identify unknown problems in translating Omani poetry. Given the results, the paper concludes with a recommendation that poetry translators provide footnotes to translate religious terms and explain unclear or unfamiliar religious phrases.

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