Possibility and Necessity in Translating Dynamic Elements in the Arabic Novel “Al-Shahwan” into English

This paper aims at investigating the problem of translating dynamic elements in the Arabic novel “Al-Shahwan” into English. It proposes criteria of translation in which the concepts of possibility and necessity are employed to select the most appropriate method of translation. It is hypothesized that when there is a case of possibility, a source oriented strategy can be followed in translation and when there is a case of necessity a target oriented strategy must be used. Practically, in order to test these hypotheses, some dynamic elements in the Arabic novel “Al-Shahwan” with their English renditions have been analysed according to the proposed model. The results proved that the proposed model is applicable and the rule suggested in this paper can be followed in the selection of a translation method.