Translating Character Names in Fantasy Literature

Abstract

This study examines the challenges posed by translating the invented character names in Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy into Turkish. It investigates the methods used in the process and the factors that influence the translator’s methodological decisions. A total of 99 character names were collected from Peake’s novels. The list included full names, first names, surnames, surnames with titles, and nicknames. The Turkish equivalents of these names from the trilogy were then gathered from the two Turkish translations produced by the same translator. The study found that four main methods were used to translate the character names: (1) copying, (2) translation, (3) transcription, and (4) substitution. It investigates the ways in which the proper names in the trilogy are translated by the famous Turkish literary translator, Dost Körpe. Attention is paid to the translator’s onomastic choices in view of translational norms, which are, in turn, highly influenced by the position of translated literature in the literary polysystem of the target culture. The study concludes that the peripheral position of translated fantasy literature in the Turkish literary polysystem, as well as the desire to preserve the essence of the source text, were influential in shaping the translator’s onomastic decisions.