Translation as a restoration: Turkish translations of the Venice Charter

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Venice Charter, translated into at least 28 different languages, has been a significant reference at both national and international levels in the historic preservation field. It was born as a multilingual text written in English, French, Italian and Russian as the final declaration of an international congress; the original form of the Charter owes its presence to the practice of translation. Cevat Erder, the translator of the Venice Charter into Turkish, proposed that ‘the Venice Charter should be preserved as an historic monument’. Accordingly, this study interrogates both the monumentality of the Charter and its method of conservation through analyses of the Turkish translations of the Venice Charter. Two practices, translation and restoration, are explored together to inquire into the challenges of transmitting authenticity. The role of translator and restorer in the afterlife of monuments is inquired by examining the creative agency of translation practice regarding conservation of the literary text.