Translation strategies of philosophical concepts in Siddhartha

The research studies strategies employed by two Thai translators to translate
philosophical concepts expressed at the word level in Herman Hesse's Siddhartha.
The English version of Siddhartha translated from the original German by Hilda
Rosner constitutes the source text of the two Thai translations.
Twelve philosophical terms: awakening, bliss, circle, desire, disillusionment, knowledge,
meditation, perfection, reality, salvation, samsara, and wisdom have been selected for the study.
The findings reveal that the two translations differ in some important respects.
The first translator, Sodsai, translates according to the principle of formal equivalence,
emphasizing a close approximation of the text's grammatical forms. She tries to retain
linguistic forms and cultural peculiarities of the source text at
the expense of accuracy. In contrast, the second translator, Choon, translates according
to the principle of dynamic equivalence. His dynamic equivalence strategies and skillful
use of domestication technique help resolve the problem
of non-equivalent words and improve the accuracy in translation, while preserving the
original concepts and culture of the source text. As far as translating
of philosophical concepts is concerned, dynamic equivalence coupled with domestication
overall yields a more accurate translation than formal equivalence and foreignization.