The Role of Coleman Barks’ Translation in the Reception of Rumi’s poems in America

Emerson was the first American poet who introduced Rumi to American literary circles in the early 19th-century. After Emerson other American Transcendentalists e.g. Thoreau, Longfellow, Whitman began to study Persian mystical poetry especialy Rumi's poems. in 20th-century translators and poets like Martin, Duncan, Mervin, and Bly tried to re-intriduce Rumi to Amerian people. later, at the the early of 1980s Barks with the aid of Moyne, and based on Arberry and Nicholson scholarly translations tried his hand at re-translations of Rumi's poems. witout doubt, Barks renderings or re-translations made Rumi a very popular poet in America. In the present study the researcher tries to, on the basis of interdisciplinary studies, e. Cl and TS, investigate the reception of Rumi's poems, esp. Barks translations in America. Clearly, reception does not happen in a vaccume. liteary, cultural, social postions play a majoe rule. Rumi's reception in America revolvols on two sets of factors. The first series are related to the source text and the authour and the second series are concerned with the target text, transaltor, and the zeitgeist. One can refer to to the Rumi's universal and elegant themes and subjects, uncommom and bizare images and pictures on the one hand and factors like suitable room for eastern mysticisms, the selection of free verse for re-translation, and defamiliarizing Islam on the other hand.