ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Persian translated poetry into English through a series of questions such as: why is a Persian text translated into English? Why do certain translations become more successful than others? What are the cultural, political, and literary incentives to translate a Persian text to another language? The idea of translation is to produce an equivalent text in another language, but how is it possible to translate medieval cultural and religious concepts, motifs, and themes from classical Persian into another language? The chapter examines the strategies a translator such as Coleman Barks applies to produce a literary text of such a quality that is acceptable to his readers. The chapter treats with several challenges a translator faces in making a literary translation from classical Persian.
