The Turkish language reform and intralingual translation

Abstract

This article focuses on the Turkish Language Reform and the practice of intralingual translation in Turkey as the updating of archaic or older texts, an area that has been largely overlooked in previous theoretical discussions within translation studies. It examines the ways in which the “purification” movement gave rise to intralingual translations of Ottoman Turkish literary works and affected the language of these translations and Turkish literature after 1928. This study argues that intralingual translations in Turkey cannot be divorced from the nationalist agenda and that they reveal linguistic, translational and ideological norms of the period when these translations were produced. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the presentation of and discussions around intralingual translations also shed light on the practice and perception of interlingual translations and on Turkey’s relationship with her Ottoman past.