Translating Culture-Specific Items in Malay Comic into Arabic Through the Lens of Venuti: Lat’s Budak Kampung

Culture-specific items (CSIs) in literary translation are obstacles translators may face during the translation process because of the absence of systematic equivalence between the source language (SL) and the target language (TL). The problems with their translation may increase if languages and cultures are diverse, such as Malay and Arabic, particularly within the context of literary text as comic. The objective of this study is to identify the translation of the culture-specific items (CSIs) in Malay comic text to Arabic and to investigate the occurrence of the micro-level procedures and macro-level translation strategies utilized by the translator to transfer source text (ST) cultural aspects. Thus, this study explores the application of domestication and foreignization strategies in the Arabic rendition of Budak Kampung, a culturally rich Malaysian comic by Lat translated as Tiflu al-Qaryah (2010) by the Arabic Language Unit of UiTM under the commission of ITBM. Drawing on a triangulated framework that integrates Aixela’s (1996) taxonomy of CSIs, Norhazlina’s (2015) adaptation of Newmark’s (1988) procedures, and Venuti’s (1995) ideological model of translation strategies, this research employs a qualitative content analysis approach, including frequency-based evaluation. The findings show that although translators used a variety of strategies, there was a clear preference for foreignization. The study concludes that despite a significant tendency towards domestication in some instances, foreignization remains the main strategy in the Arabic translation of Budak Kampung. By analysing the Arabic translation of Budak Kampung, the study highlights how Lat’s linguistic style and cultural aspects change in translation, providing a new way to understand how Malay comic is represented internationally. Furthermore, the translators’ decisions appear to be in line with the translation norms that re-present Malay culture and literature on the global Arabic-speaking stage. This study offers valuable insights into the practical application of Venuti’s framework in Southeast Asian literary translation, particularly in Malay-Arabic, and highlights the complexities of cross-cultural translation practice.   Keywords: ; ; ; ;