The Translatability of Brand Names in Cosmetic Advertisements

Abstract

This paper shows that brand names feature a serious problem in English-Arabic translation. In order to highlight the problem under discussion, the study explores the translation of some brand names in their original context of use. 20 audio-visual advertisements, 10 English advertisement and their 10 Arabic translations that are directed towards Palestinian audience, are used for data collection. This comparative/ contrastive study focuses on the different translation strategies (domestication or foreignization) that are followed in rendering brand names in audio-visual advertisements (Venuti, 2012). The researcher employed an empirical, descriptive and analytical approach where advertisements were selected, categorized according to the different translation strategies that were adopted in rendering them. The findings of this study reveal that brand names are rendered through domestication of English advertisements into Arabic. The aim is to create a similar impact on the target language audience to efficiently promote the advertised products for optimal benefits.