Foreignization and Domestication in Translating Culture-Specific Items: A Case Study of Yusuf Ali’s Surah Al-Baqarah

Translation of culture-specific items (CSIs) has always posed a challenge for translators, as these items are deeply rooted in the culture of the source language. To address this issue, scholars have proposed various translation strategies. This study aimed to achieve two objectives: (1) to explore the translation strategies employed by Yusuf Ali in his English translation of CSIs in Surah Al-Baqarah, based on Venuti’s (1995) theoretical framework of domestication and foreignization, and (2) to categorize the types of CSIs found in the text. The study adopted a qualitative approach, collecting data from the second chapter of the Noble Qur’an. The findings revealed that the translator employed both strategies. Domestication was the most frequently used strategy (67%), whereas foreignization was employed less often (33%). In terms of CSI categories, proper nouns were the most dominant (39.66%), followed by religious activities (25.86%) and material culture (20.69%). The ecology and miscellaneous categories were less common, comprising 3.45% and 10.34%, respectively. The results of this study could be beneficial for both translation students and practitioners in the field, helping them become familiar with the most influential strategies for rendering CSIs.