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Translator as Historical Re-Narrator: The Case of the Persian Translation of Clements Markham's History of Persia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2023

Somaye Delzendehrooy Open the ORCID record for Somaye Delzendehrooy [Opens in a new window]
Somaye Delzendehrooy*
Affiliation:
Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan, Department of Translation Studies, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Rafsanjan, IR 7718897111, +989171194132 Email: delzende.smy@gmail.com
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Abstract

This paper examines Mirza Rahim Khan's Persian translation (1885) of Clement Markham's A General Sketch of the History of Persia (1874) as a historical event. To this end, this article looks at two copies of the translation manuscripts: one written by the translator, which also includes revisions of his first draft, and the other an illuminated copy presented to Naser al-Din Shah, the fourth Qajar shah. A close comparative examination of the texts shows the translation reverberates three distinct voices: the writer, the translator, and his patron, the shah. The translator's shifts of meaning show that the changes, far from being slight and local, affect the whole text, resulting in a different narrative, mostly conforming to the ruling system. However, there are cases where Mirza Rahim expresses his dissident voice in the translation. Furthermore, this examination also reveals the socio-political condition under which the translation took place, shedding light on aspects of Qajar rule only revealed by analyzing translations of the time.

Keywords

Translation historyHistorical narratorQajarIranDār al-Tarjomeh-ye NaseriNaser al-Din ShahTranslator's voiceResistanceNarrative
Type
Article
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 56 , Issue 4 , October 2023 , pp. 773 - 791
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Iranian Studies

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