| The major aim in this research is to compare/contrast directive speech act sequences in selected Shakespearean plays (King Lear, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and King John) with their translated parallels in Arabic to determine if the social function of indirectness in the source texts changes when translation takes place into Arabic.; The method of analysis is based on the investigation of both the pragmalinguistic form and the sociopragmatic function of the redressive linguistic elements and the exact speech act within the directive sequence. The degree of indirectness has been analyzed in connection to the following variables: social power of interlocutors, social distance between them, degree of imposition of the directive, gender of interlocutors, and form (whether the directive is in verse or prose).; It has been found that the degree of indirectness increases when the addressee is socially superior and vice versa; however, speeches become more direct when the speaker wants to show intimacy; and, the increase in imposition normally obliges the speaker to include redress in speech. Gender and form have not been found as determining factors as regards indirectness.; Three levels of indirectness have been distinguished: imperatives, conventional indirectness, and hints. Directness principally depends on the presence of redressive elements and the degree of opacity of the speech act. Variations in directive potential occurred mainly in the translation of conventionally indirect directives.; Variations in both form and social function have been found to be caused mainly by two factors: first, linguistic and sociolinguistic differences between Shakespearean English and Standard Arabic; second, the translators, unawareness of the sociopragmatic value of some redressive elements in Shakespearean English.; The study covers grounds essential to good pedagogical practice in teaching Shakespeare to Arabic speakers. It also highlights two principles of importance to translation: first, it is important to know the strategies employed to manifest indirectness in the source language; second, it is also essential to know whether the same linguistic forms exist in the target language, whether they have the same function, and whether their pragmatic value can be expressed by other means if their equivalents are not found in the target language. |
