Abstract:

        This study investigated the translation strategies used in rendering 33 cultural items and expressions in Mourid Barghouty's autobiography "I Was Born There, I Was Born Here". The researcher depended, in particular, on two models as main frameworks to build her analysis and discussion on. These two theoretical models are domestication and foreignization and Ivir’s procedures for the translation of cultural references. This study also attempted to find out to what extent the translator has succeeded in choosing the translation strategies he used to maintain the meaning of the original cultural bound expressions. The researcher adopted a qualitative research to conduct this study since the data analysis is based on analytical and descriptive approaches.

After examining the selected data taken from the original book, the researcher found out that the domestication strategy has been the most frequently-used strategy in dealing with culture-bound expressions in translating Barghouty’s  autobiography I Was Born There, I Was Born Here from Arabic into English; especially  the procedure of defining the elements of culture which accounts for (27%) of the total strategies used by the translator. It also showed that the translator has succeeded in capturing the intended meaning sought by the original author in most extracts.