Literatures in Translation: Literary Translation and Comparative Literature in the Turkish Context

Abstract

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 border-crossings in comparative literature and translation studies to open a space for new-fangled approaches in comparative studies of translated literature.