Translators as Agents of Intertextual Change: Hekmat's Intertextual Appropriation and Domestication of Shakespeare for Iranian Nationalism

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant professor, Translation Studies, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran( Corresponding Author):

2 Assistant professor, Translation Studies, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran.

10.22075/jlrs.2024.33558.2442

Abstract

This article examines the intersection of translation, intertextuality, and identity construction through the lens of Ali Asghar Hekmat’s domesticating translations of Shakespeare during the nationalist Pahlavi era in Iran. Drawing on theorizations of intertextuality, the study analyzes how Hekmat strategically severed Shakespeare’s English textual connections and wove the plays into a new Persian intertextual fabric to advance ideological narratives of ancient Iranian identity. Contextualizing Hekmat’s works within the prevailing ancientist discourse reveals his radical efforts to thoroughly recast genre, rhetoric, and discourse to align Shakespeare with Iranian literary tradition. This instrumental domestication served to legitimize Pahlavi nationalism by appropriating foreign cultural capital. However, Hekmat’s extensive rewriting problematically erases Shakespeare’s essence to promote ideological motives, raising vital ethical questions about the limits of translation. The analysis illuminates the profound impact of sociocultural context on intertextual mediation in translation and its entanglement with identity construction.

Keywords

References

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Journal Of Linguistic and Rhetorical Studies
Volume 16, Issue 40
June 2025
Pages 271-298

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