AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies, Volume 10. Number 2. May 2026 Pp.180-192
Department of English
Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences Dhar El Mahraz
Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco
Department of English
Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences Dhar El Mahraz
Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco
This study examines how the English translation of Moroccan Malhun poetry, an oral tradition, expresses pragmatic meaning, performativity, and cultural symbolism, focusing on excerpts from Qasidat al-Warda by Mohamed Ben Slimane. The main question is how translation can preserve the pragmatic and cultural aspects of this oral poetry tradition while remaining accessible to non-Arabic audiences. The study seeks to examine translation methods that reconstruct meaning beyond words and to demonstrate their importance for discussing and understanding cultural heritage within oral contexts. Using a qualitative case study approach, the analysis combines discourse analysis and translation pragmatics, following the analytical model of Dastjerdi et al. (2008). This model includes micro-level features such as metaphor and syntax, along with macro-level dimensions such as implicature, evaluative stance, and performativity. The findings indicate that meaning in Malhun Poetry primarily arises from implicature, rhetorical structure, and performative address. Strategies that keep metaphorical density, questioning forms, and symbolic images help retain the pragmatic and impactful nature of the target text. The study concludes that translating oral poetry should focus on interpretive conditions rather than strict word-for-word translation and suggests that future research should combine pragmatics, orality, and cultural translation.
Gdader, H.,& Sandy, K. (2026). Translating Oral Heritage: Pragmatic and Cultural Dimensions in the English Translation of Moroccan Malhun Poetry. Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies 10 (2):180-192
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Hajar Gdader is an accredited translator and PhD scholar with a background in conference interpreting. She is a Doctoral Teaching Associate at Dhar El Mahraz Faculty, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco. Her research focuses on transcultural and translation studies, examining the transmission of Moroccan Malhun poetry into Algerian Chaâbi music and its translation into English.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3927-4766
Kebir Sandy is a senior professor of English and Coordinator of the MA Program in Translation and Cross-Cultural Communication. He is the Director of the Laboratory for Sociological, Cultural, and Philosophical Studies at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Dhar El Mahraz, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5321-1114