Transferring Ironic Folk Proverbs in Fiction from Arabic to French: Translation Procedures in Focus

The ironic folk proverb is characterized by stylistic and semantic features. It is marked by shortness, eloquence, and ironic style, using colloquial and metaphors to impact the addressee. These characteristics pose a challenge to the translator when translating an ironic folk proverb from Arabic to any other foreign language, given the culture's differences. The ironic folk proverb is a social product. It discusses the society's issues, referring to its cultural codes. The study aims to identify the mechanisms of translating an ironic folk proverb, using comparative stylistic techniques, by analyzing selected models from the translation of two satirical fiction. The analysis revealed that many translation procedures preserve both the meaning and the form of the Arabic ironic folk proverb when transferred into French.