Domestication and Foreignization in Translating Culture-Specific References of an English Text into Arabic

This study aimed to apply strategies of domestication and foreignization in translating culture-specific references of an English text into Arabic, where the translator has to make his\her decision on the basis of specific factors such as the background of the readership, the goal of the target text, the message of the source text and the client’s purpose in translating the source text. As “The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling”, which has enjoyed translation into a wide range of international languages, has not been translated into Arabic, the topic’s choice was intentional. The question- whether the foreignization and domestication strategies are applicable in translating English literary work, and if so, which one is the most appropriate in this context motivated the study. The examples provided and the points of discussion have examined this issue in the context of a specific translation brief. It is hard, as I conclude from this study, to adhere to one strategy and follow it blindly, as our wish in translating such a piece is to inform, amuse and preserve our culture and norms.