Assessing the Translation of Parvin Etesami's Selected Poems Using Vinay and Darbelnet’s Model

Translators always seek to find the best equivalents for each word, sentence or phrase in the target language (TL) in order to have the most accurate and meaningful translation of the text. Generally, a translator’s main concern is whether to prefer the form over the content or vice versa. In translation studies, literal translation prioritizes the form while free translation concentrates on the content. Literal and free translations are roughly categorized by Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) as direct and oblique translations respectively, overall covering seven concrete procedures. This study aimed to look at the works of Parvin Etesami, a 20th century Persian poetess, with the intention of analyzing a selection of her poems translated by Alaeddin Pazargadi, professor at the University of Tehran, according to Vinay and Darbelnet's model in order to identify the strategies and procedures most frequently used by the translator. Every Persian line and its English translation from nine poems of Parvin were analyzed and classified under the relevant taxonomy proposed by Vinay and Darbelnet. By calculating the number of cases of each procedure, it was found that the translator mostly utilized the direct strategy which resembles word for word translation. Finally, some improvements were suggested for some defective cases. This study benefits research on translating literary works.