Domestication and Foreignization in Translating Children's Literature: An Analysis of Alhaffar’s Arabic Translation of Grimm's Snow White

Abstract

This study examines the translation strategies used by Alhaffar (2016) in rendering Culture-Specific Items (CSIs) and ideological elements in the Brothers Grimm’s Snow White (2014) into Arabic. Drawing on Venuti’s (1995) domestication and foreignization framework and Aixelá’s (1996) taxonomy of translation procedures, the study analyzes nine selected excerpts. The findings reveal a systematic translation approach that domesticates cultural, religious, and material references to align with Arab social norms and Islamic values while retaining selected foreign elements, such as taboo food items and the loan translation بياض الثلج. The study concludes that translating for Arab children involves ideological filtering and cultural adaptation while preserving aspects of the source text’s cultural identity