The Contribution of Publisher and Translator Strategies to the Symbolic Capital: A Case Study on Three Turkish Translations of The Turn of the Screw

Abstract

Henry James (1843-1916), one of the leading figures of the Modernist movement and one of the most important authors of American literature, quickly gained great fame with his works published in the early 20th century. Using the stream of consciousness technique, the continuous flow of thoughts and feelings through words, the author enables his readers to make a deep journey into the inner worlds of the characters in his works. James also used this technique, generally characterized by monologues and thick descriptions, in The Turn of the Screw (1898). The aim of this study, examining the three Turkish translations of James’ work by Necla Aytür, Tamer Çetin and Ezgi Uslu published with the title Yürek Burgusu, is to demonstrate to what extent the strategies of the publishing houses, Türkiye İş Bankası Cultural Publications, Cem Publishing House and Ren Books, respectively, have contributed to the symbolic capital of the source text in the target culture. The strategies of the relevant publishing houses will be examined through the analysis of paratextual elements proposed by Gérard Genette (1997). In the study, the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus (1977, 1990) and capital (1986, 1998) will also be used to discuss the policies and strategies of the publishers as well as the academic and professional trajectories of the translators and their translational dispositions and strategies. Within this framework, it can be argued that compared to the other two publishers, Türkiye İş Bankası Cultural Publications, which has stronger economic and symbolic capital and has made significant contributions to the target language, culture and history, has reinforced the position and symbolic capital of the work in the target culture and in the eyes of Turkish readers to a greater extent through its publishing and translation policy.