Abstract

This study explores the construction and translation of the paradoxical identity in Sahar Khalifeh’s novel “The End of Spring” and its English translation. Adopting a Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) framework, the paper applies Gideon Toury’s (1995) norm-based model to analyze how the inherent contradictions of Palestinian life under occupation are negotiated during translation. The analysis is conducted in two distinct phases: a micro-linguistic level focusing on operational norms, such as dialectal dissonance, semantic oxymorons, and lexical paradoxes, and a macro-conceptual level addressing preliminary and initial norms related to socio-political contradictions and religious ambivalence. Findings show a tension between Adequacy and Acceptability. Since the translator often employs Standardization to handle dialectal dissonance and uses titular oxymorons to improve target-culture fluency, the translation largely maintains the intense, authentic essence of internal stereotypes and metaphysical despair. According to Polysystem Theory, the study concludes that the English translation occupies a peripheral but innovative position within the Anglophone polysystem. By preserving the sharpest edges of Khalifeh’s internal critiques and religious ambivalence, the text resists binary simplification and functions as a Primary Model of Paradox, presenting a multilayered, contradictory Palestinian identity within the Anglophone literary system, bridging the gap between the “humanity” experience and the “labels” imposed by conflict.

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