Cohesion and coherence shift in Jabra’s translation of Hamlet

Abstract

This research aims at studying the cohesion and coherence shifts in Jabra’s translation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet in Arabic. A translator is a mediator between the source text (ST) and the target readers who expect an adequate and a coherent translation of the ST. The shift of cohesion and coherence can disrupt the continuity of the target text (TT). The sample of the research consisted of 172 lines taken from different acts and scenes involving potential problems in cohesion and coherence from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, translated by Jabra Ibrahim Jabra. Blum-Kulka’s approach of cohesion and coherence shifts in translation was employed as a theoretical framework. The data analysis was based on meaning shift and explicitness shift in discourse and their effects on the continuity and understanding of the TT. The study concluded that the shift of cohesion and coherence in translation does not only affect the continuity of thoughts and events but disrupts the understanding of the target readers as well.