Postmodern Features

The present study aimed to analyze the postmodern features of Slaughterhouse-Five , authored by Kurt Vonnegut, and its two Persian translations by Bahrami and Abbasi. To this end, Lewis’s classification of postmodern features (2011) and Parham’s model (2015) were employed. The features investigated in this study were temporal disorder, fragmentation, vicious circles, paranoia, reader involvement, polyvocality, pastiche, and intertextuality. The results indicated that most postmodern features were preserved in both translations. However, the absence of several fragmentations and intertextuality features in Persian translations can imply the translators' unawareness of the significance of translating these features. To translate these features into the target text, translators should be aware of their impacts on the text, content, and audience. To translate postmodern features more precisely, it is suggested that postmodern features be taken into consideration by literary translators and translator trainers. The findings of this research can have implications for literary translators, and literary translation classrooms.

Postmodern literature possesses distinct characteristics that are evident in both its content and form. This research first attempts to identify the postmodern features in a corpus of English postmodern literature and examines their possible translatability across linguistic and cultural barriers. To this end, a corpus of ten English postmodern short stories by Donald Barthelme along with their corresponding translations into Persian was developed. Drawing on the integrative model of analysis developed for this study, the postmodern features in English stories were identified and their corresponding translations were analyzed at various levels. The results of the study indicate a high degree of translatability for postmodern features, as they experienced minimal transformation during the translation process. In fact, the translated stories remained remarkably postmodern, with the preservation of these features to a significant extent. However, it is important to exercise caution when interpreting this high degree of translatability. While translators may consciously strive to maintain these features, it is also possible that postmodern elements, which are predominantly manifested beyond sentence-level structures, may go unnoticed or remain untouched by translators. Additionally, the preservation of postmodern features in translation could be a result of translators' reluctance to intrude upon the creative process.