A Critical Semiology of “the Scarlet Letter” and its Persian Version

Translating symbolic literary masterpieces into another language has long been a thorny bottleneck to those involved in translational endeavors. The aim of this study was to explore the translation strategies used for the transference of the Scarlet Letter (1850), written originally in English by Nathaniel Hawthorn, to Persian, namely Daghe Nang (1990) done by the well-known Persian writer and translator Simin Daneshvar. Investigation of the fundamental requirements for an effective transference of literary semiotics presupposes a thorough grasp of the source and target languages and their respective cultures. The findings of this study indicated that the translation strategies employed for such transference were: (cultural) adaptation, addition, assimilation, domestication, expansion and modulation. According to the authors, this study certifies that Daghe Nang constitutes an interlingual and intersemiotic version, as its translator transferred many different signs (linguistic, cultural, societal, religious and ideological) from English system of signs to Persian sign system.