The novel Mütercim as a site of transfiction: A case of translation in life and the translation of life in the transformational republican era in Turkey (original) (raw)
Related papers
Translation Studies, 2010
This paper addresses a relatively little explored area of Turkish literary translation history and sets out to contextualize a series of alternative translation practices previously expressed as ''marginal'' forms of translation. These practices are instances of textual production that can be classified neither as translation proper nor as indigenous creation: they are mainly concealed translation and pseudotranslations. The study argues that marginal forms of translation offer information regarding the literary habitus of readers in Turkey, and suggests that the second half of the twentieth century saw a transformation in this habitus which can be traced through the shifts in the use and presentation of concealed translations and pseudotranslations. After providing a historical overview of the use of such translations as a cultural and commercial tool by Turkish writers and publishers, the paper discusses two recent cases which defy established perceptions about pseudotranslations.
Divided Identities and Divided Selves: Fictional Translators in Turkish Literature
Nesir, 2024
The article focuses on the representations of translator and interpreter characters in Ottoman and contemporary Turkish literature. It specifically highlights the depiction of these characters as individuals suffering from identity issues, including mental instability. We argue that this recurring theme is not merely a coincidence, but a reflection of the complexities of translation and the anxieties surrounding cultural transformation. We explore the origins of this trend in early Ottoman novels, which responded to the process of Westernization and its effects on Ottoman society. We thenturn to contemporary works, where translators continue grappling with identity issues and are increasingly prone to forms of psychosis. Our goal is to offer a nuanced understanding of the translator’s role, both as a figure caught between worlds and as a potential source of cultural and linguistic insight.
From the ‘Real’ Author to the ‘Real’ Reader: Manipulation in Translation
transLogos Translation Studies Journal, 2019
The aim of this article is to examine an edition of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's Nutuk (The great speech) from the perspective of translation studies. The research subject is Mustafa Kemal Atatürk'ün Anlatımıyla Çocuklar için Nutuk (The great speech for children with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's narration), intralingually translated by Hakan Atalay (2018). This edition has been selected for examination among many others, because on the copyright page of the edition Atalay has been presented as the 'author' of the book and children as its target reader on the cover. In the present article, both claims will be questioned from the perspective of translation studies with an interdisciplinary approach where the narratological framework will be used in the analysis of the book which I consider not only as an example of intralingual translation but also a translation between genres. For this purpose, the present article will take O'Sullivan's (2003) article as its reference point in which the scholar elaborates the narrative diagram put forward by Chatman (1978) by adding a translational dimension to it. Based on the analysis, the article will conclude with some questions about manipulation in translation with the hope that they will lead the way to new discussions in translation studies.
ESNBU, 2023
This research aims to elucidate the underlying forces that propelled the first translators to reprocess their texts within the framework of modernist literature, and to reveal the nature of these reprocessed texts as retranslations or revisions. The corpus of this study is composed of modernist novels To The Lighthouse (1927), Lolita (1955), Heart of Darkness (1899), and Nightwood (1936). The first translators of these novels into Turkish felt the need to reprocess texts over long periods. The second versions could be classified as retranslations according to the characteristics outlined by the retranslation hypothesis. However, considering the limitations of this hypothesis, particularly regarding retranslations from the 2000s onward, it seems insufficient to explain current dynamics. To establish a clear differentiation between revision and retranslation, it is essential to conduct a comprehensive comparative analysis of the first and subsequent versions. Based on the analysis, it has been determined that there are limited but significant changes in the revised texts. While the number of alterations may not reach statistical significance to label them as "retranslations", they can be categorized as "revisions." It has been concluded that the triggering factors behind the revisions are related to the changing sociocultural factors, patronage and the habitus of the translators.
Literatures in Translation: Literary Translation and Comparative Literature in the Turkish Context
KARE, 2021
As the latest American Comparative Literature Association reports (the ACLA state of the discipline reports) suggest, following the "translational turn" in comparative literature, novel intersections between translation studies and comparative literature have paved the way for further negotiations between these two subjects in a promising way. The aim of this article is to discuss the changing roles of translation and comparative studies of (translated) literature to reconsider the supposedly close relationship between the two adjacent fields in the Turkish context. We agree with Gürsel Aytaç that the intersection between translation and comparative literature occurs in literary translation. Literary translations are interventions of source texts into the receiving polysystem, meaningfully affecting the host culture and its literary system. Therefore, we argue that literary translations as rewritings should serve more as an object of investigation in the field of translation studies as well as comparative literature. We also argue that unorthodox approaches in comparative studies of translated literature can make these disciplines come together in more fruitful ways. The present study therefore encourages bordercrossings in comparative literature and translation studies to open a space for new-fangled approaches in comparative studies of translated literature.
Studies from a Retranslation Culture, 2019
This chapter examines the editing, circulation, and reception processes of two English translations of an influential twentieth century Turkish novel with special attention to the ways in which the work was presented to the English- speaking audiences. The case study centers on Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar’s masterpiece titled Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü, translated twice into English as The Time Regulation Institute. It analyses the dissimilarities between the receptions of these two versions with special focus on the determining role of agents, especially the publishers, translators, critics, and reviewers in the process of legitimating translated works, together with the unequal distribution of “symbolic capital” among these agents. Examining paratextual elements together with reader responses published in online media, the chapter explores (i) the different editorial approaches of large publishing houses and small publishers specializing in translations from peripheral languages and (ii) the functions of paratexts in recontextualizing and legitimating literary products. It is argued that the retranslation of Tanpınar’s work was published with the motive of achieving canonicity though the inscription of a new interpretation, and that the retranslation and its paratexts were shaped under the influence of Orhan Pamuk’s writings about Tanpınar which also reflected the recent images of Turkey. The chapter also points to the importance of reader responses and blog posts shared on the Internet as sources offering new interpretations beyond the confines of the frame set by paratext writers, exploring the book from a variety of perspectives.
Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 2020
The aim of this article is to examine the first two books in Jason Goodwin’s detective Yashim series and their Turkish translations in terms of “back translation”. Research subjects are The Janissary Tree (2006) and its Turkish translations by Çiğdem Öztekin dated 2006 and by Fethi Aytuna dated 2016 as well as The Snake Stone (2007) and its Turkish translations by Ali Cevat Akkoyunlu dated 2007 and by Fethi Aytuna dated 2017. The theoretical framework is based on the concepts of “foreign language creation”, a text describing a specific culture in a foreign language, and “textless back translation”, translation of a “foreign language creation” back into the language of that specific culture. Describing the Ottoman culture in English, Goodwin’s books can be considered as “foreign language creation” while their Turkish translations, which bring the culture back into its own land, can be considered as “textless back translation”. Depicting a foreign culture in his own language, thereby ...
Review of Literatures of the European Union, 2006
Turkey has a very rich tradition of translations from various languages. We know that translations from Persian and Arabic into Turkish go back to the pre-Ottoman period in Anatolia in the thirteenth century and continued in the Ottoman period up to the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the early twentieth century (Paker 2002: p. viii). Technical translations from Western languages, mainly from French, started during the eighteenth century when the Turks felt the superior progress of Europe, especially in military equipment and organisation. All these translations played an important role in the transformation of Turkish culture. However, it is generally accepted that (literary) translations from the Western languages played an important role and function in the Turkish modernisation process, as manifested in the form of Westernisation starting in the mid-nineteenth century. This paper seeks to describe the history of translation in Turkey from the mid-nineteenth to the late twentieth century, with the aim of seeking out patterns which can shed light on the meanings and implications of translation policies and contribute to a fuller depiction of the socio-cultural context of translation. It is an attempt to recover and analyse the discourses surrounding and constructing historical data in Turkey, especially within the framework of its Westernisation movement 1. My main assumption is that translations from Western literatures were used as the main tool in the modernisation of the Turkish society and that the cultural policies played an important role in this process. The analysis of the major political, social and cultural conditions during 1 Parts of this paper are based on my book Translation and Westernisation in Turkey, Istanbul: Ege, 2004.
This Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of Turkish literature within both a local and global context. Across eight thematic sections a collection of subject experts use close readings of literature materials to provide a critical survey of the main issues and topics within the literature. The chapters provide analysis on a wide range of genres and text types, including novels, poetry, religious texts, and drama, with works studied ranging from the fourteenth century right up to the present day. Using such a historic scope allows the volume to be read across cultures and time, while simultaneously contextualizing and investigating how modern Turkish literature interacts with world literature, and finds its place within it. Collectively, the authors challenge the national literary historiography by replacing the Ottoman Turkish literature in the Anatolian civilizations with its plurality of cultures. They also seek to overcome the institutional and theoretical shortcomings within current study of such works, suggesting new approaches and methods for the study of Turkish literature. The Routledge Handbook on Turkish Literature marks a new departure in the reading and studying of Turkish literature. It will be a vital resource for those studying literature, Middle East studies, Turkish and Ottoman history, social sciences, and political science. Didem Havlioğlu is a literary historian working on women and gender in the Ottoman intellectual culture. She has published several articles both in Turkish and English. Her book Mihrî Hatun: Performance, Gender-Bending, and Subversion in Early Modern Ottoman Intellectual History (2017) introduces Mihrî Hatun (ca. 1460-1515), the first woman writer in Ottoman history whose work survived in manuscript copies, and contextualizes her work in the early modern intellectual culture. She is currently an associate professor of the practice, teaching in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University. Zeynep Uysal is an associate professor of modern Turkish literature at Boğaziçi University. As a visiting scholar, she taught modern Turkish literature and gave public lectures in the Oriental Institute at the University of Oxford between 2001 and 2003. She published a book titled Olağanüstü Masaldan Çağdaş Anlatıya: Muhayyelât-ı Aziz Efendi [From Marvelous Tales to Modern Narratives: Aziz Efendi's Imaginations] in 2006. She edited a book, titled Edebiyatın Omzundaki Melek: Edebiyatın Tarihle İlişkisi Üzerine Yazılar, about the relationship between history and literature in 2011. Her recent book, Metruk Ev, on the leading modern Turkish writer Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil, was published in 2014. She has also written extensively on various issues in modern Turkish literature, including the relationship between literature and space, literature and history, and literature and nationalism in leading academic journals.