Long Annotated Translation of A Cold Wind from Moscow

Abstract

This project presents a long annotated translation of selected chapters from A Cold Wind from Moscow, a historical espionage thriller by Rory Clements. The translation aims to recreate the novel’s expressive style, Cold War atmosphere and ideological tone for an Arabic-speaking readership. The introduction outlines the source text’s genre, register and historical context, drawing on frameworks such as Skopos theory, Reiss’s text types and Halliday & Hasan’s register model.

The translation applies a balanced strategy of domestication and selective foreignization, particularly for political terminology and culture-specific references. The commentary examines key challenges at the lexical, syntactic, textual, stylistic and contextual levels, addressing issues such as romanisation, figurative language, sentence rhythm and ideological discourse. The project demonstrates the application of translation theory to practical decision-making while producing an accessible Arabic version of a contemporary historical thriller.