Designing Theory- Driven Criteria to Examine the Acceptability of Borrowing in Facilitating in Poetry Translation

Borrowing plays a key role in poetry, preserving the source element’s identity while accommodating the intended reader. Despite its overarching importance in facilitating culture transfer, the acceptability of borrowing remains to be an under-explored area in research. The present conceptual study carries the main objective of designing theory-driven criteria to examine the acceptability of borrowing in poetry translation. Due to their pertinence in addressing borrowing’s cultural, linguistic, functional, aesthetic and reader-oriented perspectives, Nababan’s Translation Quality Assessment Model (2012), Robert’s Reception Theory (1970), Nida’s Functional Equivalence (1964), Venuti’s Domestication and Foreignisation (1995) and Vermeer’s Skopos Theory (1978) were reviewed to design the criteria to examine the acceptability of borrowing. By using a qualitative and conceptual design, the present study was conducted aligning with the interpretivist’s philosophy. The study’s findings unveiled five (5) theory-based criteria which were subdivided for their operationalisation. Linguistic Accuracy is designed to examine how well the borrowed element respects the linguistic conventions of the recipient language and is divided into four sub criteria as phonological, morphological, semantic and contextual accuracy following the linguistic hierarchy. Cultural Relevance refers to how well the borrowed element is made culturally appropriate in the target language and is divided into context, sensitivity and adaptation. Audience Reception evaluates how well the borrowed element is accepted by the target audience and was divided into comprehensibility, familiarity and engagement. Functional Equivalence examines the extent to which the borrowed element creates the same impact as the original and carries the sub criteria of preservation of function, message clarity and context fit. Aesthetic Coherence, with the sub criteria of rhythm, style and consistency, examines the aesthetic rendition of the borrowed element. The study concludes that although the five (5) criteria and sixteen (16) sub criteria are initially adequate to examine the acceptability of borrowing in poetry, the credibility of the criteria can be improved if such criteria are validated through multi-perspective informants in future research.