Abstract:
This study investigates the application of the domestication and foreignization strategies applied
by Ashley Halpe in the English translation of Madol Duwa (1947), originally written in the Sinhala
language by Martin Wickramasinghe, based on the theory “The Experience of the Foreign”
emphasized by Antoine Berman in 1984, with the support of Lawrence Venuti’s domestication
and foreignization strategy. This study employs a qualitative textual analysis to examine the
rendition of the socio-cultural elements of Sinhalese in the English translation. The Sinhala
text ‘Madol Duwa (1947)’ by Martin Wickramasinghe and the Target text ‘ Madol Doova
(1976) by Ashley Halpe have been selected as the primary data of this study, while the first
chapters of both primary sources have been chosen to evaluate. The study found that while
the translator preserved some socio-cultural elements in the translated text, the absence of
explanatory notes, footnotes, and a glossary limits deeper understanding for target readers. In
conclusion, the translator achieved a partial balance between cultural specificity and readability,
and recommended that translators employ footnotes or glossaries to enhance cross-cultural
accessibility without compromising the source text’s cultural identity.
