Abstract
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 acting as a translator, the writer’s decisions are discussed within the choice of translation method in “foreign language creation”. Translating a “foreign language creation” back into Turkish, the translators’ decisions are discussed within the choice of translation method in “textless back translation”. In this respect, Ting Guo’s (2017) article entitled “On Foreign Language Creation and Rootless Back Translation–A Case Study of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” is taken as the reference point and the categories of translation methods are expanded with regard to textual findings. It is concluded that individual translation decisions of the Turkish translators support the idea that translators from the domestic culture might take the initiative to rearrange the source text information in their target text.
Highlights
A text can have its roots in a language and culture different from the ones it is produced in
While Goodwin can be said to expose the readers of these Ottoman-themed English books to a foreign culture and the language of this culture through an act of “foreign language creation”, the adoption of different translation methods for different textual units can be explained in terms of translators’ individual decisions
Considering “foreign language creation”, while narrating a historical period and various scenes rooted in the Ottoman culture, Goodwin is observed to act as a kind of translator who depicts a foreign culture in his own language
Summary
A text can have its roots in a language and culture different from the ones it is produced in It is written in a certain language and presented to the native or non-native speakers of the same language as target readers, it can be composed of many miscellaneous words, cultural items, prominent figures, famous places, historical events and so on, belonging to another language and culture. In such cases, what the readers might take as an original work the author produced in his or her own language within the literary system it belongs to can be considered as the representation, the translation or the translated representation of the specific culture it narrates. Out of the five books in the series, The Janissary Tree (2006) and The Snake Stone (2007) are the ones which were translated into Turkish
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