Itamar Even-Zohar Research Articles

Analyzing Translated Research Methods Books in Social And Educational Sciences from English to Turkish: Exploring the Reasons for Translation Through Even-Zohar’s Poly-System Theory

In the last century, a paradigm shift in the scientific field has transformed our perspective on issues and events, our ability to discern cause-and-effect relationships, and our approach to them. This shift has led to radical changes in the scientific field and has accelerated the development of social and educational sciences, enabling such methods to become more prevalent than quantitative ones in the social and educational sciences. As a result, qualitative and mixed method approaches have increasingly replaced quantitative methods, giving rise to various new fields within the social sciences and providing diverse research opportunities. This evolution in research methods has also led to the proliferation of books on research methodologies in these fields. To reach a global audience, these books are predominantly written in English as the Lingua Franca and later translated into national languages if needed, or they are initially written in the native languages of the authors. The choice of translated books can be influenced by the preferences of researchers or translators, gaps in the national literature, the juvenile and unsettled nature of the national literature experiencing significant changes, or their unfamiliarity with current literary innovations. This article examines the justifications provided by translators and translation editors for translating books on research methods in social and educational sciences from English into Turkish within the framework of themes regarding the formation of poly-system theory, as coined by Itamar Even-Zohar as a functionalist pioneer in translation studies, newly emerging in social sciences in the last century. The content analysis, a qualitative research design for document analysis, was utilized in the research through using criterion sampling and maximum diversity, by selecting the prefaces of the translated versions of 20 research methods books by different authors and publishing houses between 2013 and 2022 and exclusively focusing on social sciences and educational sciences. Examining translators’ and editor’s statements deductively through the themes from the poly-system theory, we concluded that there are gaps and turning points in this field both in the national literature and in the world literature, that the relevant literature is not yet settled and trying to become primary and canonized via translated books, resulting in an increasing interest in the field.

Maria Edgeworth’s Arrival in Galician Literature: O castelo Rackrent (2022)

Since its publication in 1800, Castle Rackrent became Maria Edgeworth’s best and most cherished work. It inaugurated the Big House Novel and turned into a reference for many European authors that came later. Nevertheless, and despite being translated into several languages during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it was not until the 2020s that Edgeworth’s narratives were rendered into Galician. This paper analyzes the recent translation of Castle Rackrent as O castelo Rackrent using Itamar Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory and Gerard Genette’s approach to paratexts as the theoretical framework. After a brief contextualization of Edgeworth and Castle Rackrent, I examine the main features of the target text and its impact in Galician literature.

A Study on the Upsurge of Translated Detective Story from the Perspective of Polysystem Theory

From 1890s to 1930s, the detective novels carried a big weight in Chinese literary works, with the characteristics of mass audience, large quantity and deep influence. Since detective novels were originally imported and translated into Chinese by translator, they have attracted the attention of a large of scholars. Base on the polysystem theory proposed by Itamar Even-Zohar, an Israeli literary theorist, this paper will analyze the reason for the rise and the increasing popularity of translated detective novel in that period.

The First Chinese Rendition of the Prose Adaptation of Hamlet: Evidencing Change in Early Twentieth-Century China

This article focuses on the Chinese rendition of Lamb’s prose adaptation of Hamlet, examining the factors affecting the domesticating strategies employed by the anonymous translator of this work. Based on Itamar Even-Zohar’s polysystem hypothesis, it not only explores the influence of an intra-literary polysystem on this translation, but also investigates the constraints imposed on it by an extra-literary polysystem. Finally, by taking the market failure of this work as a signal that translation had begun to move from periphery to centre, this article seeks to provide an insight into how changes occurring in the Chinese literary polysystem affected the route to modernization at the turn of the twentieth century.

Translation as a method of learning and teaching English

This paper argues that translation can be an effective method of learning and teaching English. It explores various translation theories and methods to show how the act of translation may enhance the learning and teaching of English Walter Benjamin's essay "The Task of the Translator" is analyzed in reference to how translation recreates the values that accrue to a foreign text over time. Vladimir Nabokov's essay "Problems of Translation Onegin in English" is analyzed for its emphasis on the value of literal translation Eugene Nida's essay "Principles of Correspondence" is analyzed for the different types of equivalence it proposes. Itamar Even-Zohar and Gideon Toury's ideas of translation are analyzed and their argument that literary translations are facts of the target system is investigated George Steiner's essay "The Hermeneutic Motion" is analyzed for its view that translation is an interpretation of the foreign text that is profoundly sympathetic, exploitive, and ethically restorative. I analyze Steiner's argument that language is not instrumental in communicating meaning but is constitutive in reconstructing meaning Hans J Vermeer's essay "Skopos and Commission in Translational ction" is analyzed for its idea of the translators skopos or aim as a decisive factor in translation Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's essay "The Politics of Translation" is analyzed for its advocacy of literalism in postcolonial translation issues By exploring and understanding the various relevant translation theories and methods, I will show how the learning and teaching of English may be done through translation.

Translatio Studii as Literary Innovation: Marie de France’s Fresne and the Cultural Authority of Translation

ABSTRACT Medieval translations can be a shaping force in emerging vernacular literatures, as Marie de France’s Fresne and its Old Norse and Middle English translations demonstrate. While Sif Ríkharðsdóttir highlights that each version is adapted to its target literature, these texts also draw on the cultural authority of translatio studii to legitimize innovation. This article traces each text’s influence using Itamar Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory, having determined their position within the literary polysystem through textual and manuscript contexts. Each version constructs its own cultural authority to reshape the polysystem for different ideological purposes, thus producing texts that differ both from their source material and the norms of their target literatures. This is most apparent in their representations of courtliness: by invoking translatio studii, the Anglo-Norman Fresne establishes an exemplar of sincere interiority-based courtesy, whereas the Old Norse Eskia instrumentalizes French prestige to legitimize a performative ideal of courtliness in Norwegian literature. Conversely, the Middle English Lay le Freine uses translatio to reinvent its genre as the socially inclusive Middle English Breton lay, where courtliness is primarily a literary effect. Intervernacular translations therefore emerge as a key source of innovation in vernacular polysystems, pointing towards a new approach to comparative medieval literature.

Two translation approaches to sound orchestration in Wisława Szymborska’s poem “Hermitage”

AbstractThis paper explores two different translation strategies to the issue of sound (operetta) stylisation in the poem “Hermitage” [Pustelnia] by WisławaSzymborska (1981), winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The methodology borrows from Gideon Toury’sDescriptive Translation Studies(1995,2012), Itamar Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory (1978,1990). A comparative study of two different translations of the poem conducted by two teams of prominent translators is carried out. This method of exploration intends to reveal the underlying translation mode, the first one towards the text’s accuracy and the second one towards the text’s adequacy.It is argued that the translators’ domesticating procedures, preeminent in the second translation, succeed in recreating the invariant source sound stylisation and the poem’s discursiveness, though at the expense of the semantics of the original. Relying on polysystem theory, the author concludes with the correspondence between the target texts’ divergent positions in the polysystem and their translation modes, each adopted in a different historical and cultural context.

“Channels of Interference”: Maurice Blanchot and Emil Cioran

Drawing on the concept of “literary interference” developed by the pioneer of polysystem theory, Itamar Even-Zohar, and expanded by other scholars, as well as on various interpretations of intertextuality, this article compares two twentieth century thinkers: the French writer, philosopher, and literary theorist Maurice Blanchot and the Romanian-born French essayist and philosopher Emil (E. M.) Cioran. The article uses Even-Zohar’s notion of “channel of interference,” and presents three such “channels” and their results that shed light on the relationship between Blanchot’s and Cioran’s works. The first “channel of interference” that I have termed the “change of epoch,” borrowing a phrase from Blanchot, led to their choice of fragmentary writing. The second, existentialism, might be able to bring their works together, especially through the way they treat the subject of suicide, focussing on Blanchot’s The Space of Literature and Cioran’s On the Heights of Despair. Finally, through the third “channel of interference,” the two thinkers’ scepticism, the article explores their engagement with the concepts of passion/passivity/patience.

The investigation of Ahmed Saadavi's "Frankenstein in Bagdat" in the light of the "Plural String Theory" of Itamar Even-Zohar

20.yy’ın başlarında, çeviriye ilişkin görüşler ve çalışmalar aracılığıyla çeviri, dilbiliminden ayrılarak bağımsız bir bilim dalı haline gelmiş ve çeviri biliminin kuramsal temeli atılmaya başlanmıştır. Çeviri bilim odaklı yaklaşımların gündeme geldiği bu dönem çalışmalarında ekinsel dizge ve erek odaklı kuramların yoğun ilgi görmesiyle çeviri ediminde yeni çalışma alanları meydana gelmiştir. Çevirinin kaynak kültürün aksine erek kültürün bir gerçeği olduğunu kabul gören betimleyici çeviri bilim çalışmalarının ortaya çıkmasında erek odaklı yaklaşımlar etkili olmuştur. Betimleyici çeviri kuramı alanında çalışmalar yapan kuramcılar arasında; Itamar Even Zohar, James Holmes ve Gideon Toury bulunmaktadır. Bu çalışmada da 2018 Arap Kurgu ve Fransa Büyük Fantestik Kurgu Ödülüne layık görülen Ahmed Saadavi’nin Frankenstein Bağdat’ta adlı eseri’nin Türkçe çevirisinden seçilen kesitler, betimleyici çeviri kuramcılarından Itamar Even-Zohar’ın “çoğul dizge kuramı” ışığında incelenmiştir. Araştırma yorumlayıcı paradigmayı esas almakta ve nitel araştırma yöntemine dayanmaktadır. Çalışmada başvurulan Ahmed Saadavi’nin Frankenstein Bağdat’ta adlı eserinin araştırmanın odak noktasını oluşturan Itamar Even- Zohar’ın “Çoğul Dizge Kuramı” bağlamında incelenmesi ile nitel çalışma desenlerinden biri olan durum çalışması kullanılmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında elde edilen veriler doküman analizi tekniği ile toplanmış ve betimleyici analiz yöntemi ile incelenmiştir. Ulaşılan bulgular kuram kapsamında “kabul edilebilir” ve “yeterli” çeviri kavramları ile değerlendirilmiştir. Bu bağlamda çevirmenin her iki kültürde de kullanılan ifadeleri birebir çevirerek yeterli bir çeviri, kaynak kültürde bulunan fakat erek kültürde bulunmayan ifadeleri ise erek kültürde kullanılan yaygın ifade ve kullanışları ile aktararak kabul edilebilir çeviri yapmış olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Bu çerçevede çalışma yapmak isteyenlere kaynak eserin diğer dillere yapılmış çevirilerinin araştırılması ve çalışmada kullanılan kuramın ele alınmamış diğer kategorisinin incelenmesi önerilmiştir.

Translational Adventure of Mike Hammer Series in Turkish: A Historical Analysis

This paper aims to present a historical analysis of the Turkish versions of American author Frank Morrison (Mickey) Spillane’s Mike Hammer series by Kemal Tahir (F. M. İkinci) and Afif Yesari (Muzaffer Ulukaya). As private publishing houses gained impetus in the 1950s and there was a massive influx of translated works, especially in detective novel genre, hundreds of ‘fictitious’ Mike Hammer books were published in Turkey until the 1980s. For the purpose of presenting a new insight into the concept of ‘pseudotranslation,’ four books of Tahir and four books of Yesari are selected and analyzed descriptively by focusing on both textual and paratextual elements. In addition to the analysis, supporting materials such as memoirs, letters, interviews of the agents who partook in the production of the pseudotranslations are included to provide a historical background and understand under which circumstances the pseudotranslations were produced. Itamar Even-Zohar’s ‘polysystem theory’ provides the theoretical basis for the study. Even though the Turkish versions of Mike Hammer series have been scrutinized by various scholars, further research is still needed to cover all of the original works of detective fiction disguised as translations and thus to shed light on both the history of translational activity in a certain era and the development of original Turkish detective fiction.

TARZAN IN GUJARATI: APPROPRIATION OF THE ADVENTURE GENRE IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Tarzan of the Apes (1912) by Edgar Rice Burroughs is one of the popular novels of the twentieth century. The character of Tarzan has become one of the most recognized characters in popular fiction through a series initiated by novels and its adaptation in other media. Gujarati translation of this novel is simply titled Tarzan (1990) by Ramanlal Soni, which is presented as children’s fiction. This paper aims to analyze this text from the perspective of polysystem studies. It will also attempt to understand Gujarati literature as a polysystem. Polysystem theory by Itamar Even-Zohar describes a literature as polysystem. It theorizes how literary activities can be seen in relation to each other, as in a binding network from which one particular activity from those can be understood. This theory hypothesizes relations between such activities and aims to observe them from the perspective of that network. This model of looking at particular literature is beneficial for understanding how a literature works. Gujarati literature, for example, can be understood as a ‘polysystem’. However, Gujarati literary system would be unique from other literary systems as literary activities and their inter-relations are unique themselves. Such theorization requires inclusion and exclusion of what Even-Zohar has called ‘literary activities’. Defining and recognizing such activities is one of the primary aims of this paper. This paper will also attempt to analyze the genre of adventure and its connection with children’s fiction by examining Gujarati Children’s literature and will attempt to understand its formation.

Without you: Uma análise da transposição para o português do conto de Del James

Este artigo discorre sobre a transposição do conto Without You do autor norte-americano Del James, um autor à margem na esfera literária, sendo seus maiores trabalhos contos de terror e seu livro, A linguagem do medo. A transposição teve como língua de partida o Inglês e a língua alvo a língua portuguesa, em especial, o português brasileiro. A obra analisada foi proveniente de uma transposição realizada por um grupo de fãs da banda norte-americana Guns N’ Roses chamado GNR Devotion Fan Club e para tal, não tiveram um mecenas e nem realizaram a tradução com fins lucrativos. As análises foram realizadas a partir das teorias de autores dos estudos da tradução como Itamar Even-Zohar (2013), Andre Lefevere (2007) e Susan Bassnet (2003). Este artigo teve como objetivo verificar se a transposição preserva as características de estilo de Del James, se ela pode ser considerada uma tradução adequada e quais outras características é possível perceber na adaptação

Irlanda para lectores francoparlantes: "Les gants de Limerick", de María Edgeworth

As the founder of the Big House novel, Maria Edgeworth occupies a privileged place in Anglo-Irish studies. This article aims to analyze the translation of Edgeworth's tale "The Limerick Gloves" (Popular Tales 1804) from the viewpoint of Itamar Even-Zohar's polysystem theory and Gideon Toury's Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS). This story is one of Edgeworth's Rebellion narratives and is interestingly placed between Edgeworth's bestseller Castle Rackrent and her so-called Irish novels. Here we deal with the text published in Bibliothèque Britannique by the brothers Pictet, who had already versioned into French many stories penned by Edgeworth.

Problematic Translation of Shakespeare's Sonnets into Arabic: Intercultural Reciprocity and Translation Competence

Shakespeare’s sequenced set of 154 sonnets has become the interest of numerous translators in many parts of the world. Apart from the linguistic aspect, the translation of the sonnets has cultural, aesthetic and social aspects. This paper seeks to scrutinize the aesthetic value of the translated sonnets into Arabic in both prose and verse. It also attempts to examine what the recipient accepts and expects from the translator. To achieve the objectives of this study there will be a cross comparison between a selection of translated sonnets in light of polysystem theory (Itamar Even-Zohar), and translation as a norm-governed activity (Gideon Toury).Two aspects will underline such a comparison; the cultural aspect and the aesthetic aspect

Rosalía de Castro e influencias. Un diálogo entre o centro e a periferia

Rosalía de Castro (1837-1885) representa un papel canónico tanto na literatura castelá como na galega. Propomos unha visión da súa figura autoral á luz da Teoría dos Polisistemas Literarios formulada por Itamar Even-Zohar, a cal entende a tradución literaria como un factor fundamental do concepto de influencia. Acto seguido, presentaremos un exercicio de literatura comparada onde poremos en relación as obras de Rosalía coas doutros autores da sua época, o que nos dará una mellor idea do seu papel, tanto nas relacións centro-periferia literarias, como na configuración dunha literatura europea. Veremos como a autora bebe de fontes literarias insospeitadas. Por último, examinaremos a súa obra de para ver como Rosalía escapa de calquera clasificación tradicional posible, sendo o seu espazo de acción, precisamente, a fronteira.Rosalía de Castro (1837-1885) holds a canonic role in both Castilian and Galician literature. A vision of her authorial identity is proposed in terms of Itamar Even-Zohar’s Polysystem Theory, which understands literary translation as a fundamental factor in the concept of influence. Subsequently, an exercise in comparative literature will be presented in which de Castro’s Works are examined in relation to those of other authors of her time, which will shed light on the nature of her role, both in center-periphery relations and in the constitution of a European literature. De Castro’s unsuspected sources of literary inspiration will then be discussed. Lastly it will be considered how de Castro’s body of work has escaped from any traditional classification whatsoever, as its sphere of action is, for all intents and purposes, the border space.

Od Verne’a do Tulleta. Sto lat obecności francuskiej literatury dla dzieci i młodzieży na polskim rynku książki

W artykule recenzyjnym omówione zostały dwie książki Natalii Paprockiej (2018): Bibliografia polskich przekładów i adaptacji francuskiej literatury dla dzieci i młodzie­ży wydanych w latach 1918–2014 oraz Sto lat przekładów dla dzieci i młodzieży w Pol­sce. Francuska literatura dla młodych czytelników, jej polscy wydawcy i ich strategie (1918–2014), wpisujące się zarówno w kontekst translatoryki literatury dziecięcej, jak i bibliologii oraz socjologii sztuki. W artykule scharakteryzowano układ zestawionej przez Natalię Paprocką bibliografii polskich przekładów francuskiej literatury dla dzieci i młodzieży oraz streszczono najważniejsze założenia jej badań: wykorzystano w nich koncepcję pola literackiego Pierre’a Bourdieu, pojęcia importu/transferu i repertuaru kulturowego w rozumieniu Itamara Evena-Zohara oraz teorię aktora-sieci Brunona Latoura. Według badaczki w ciągu całego stulecia wśród polskich wydaw­ców dominowała polityka wznowień klasyki, co pociągnęło za sobą bardzo ograni­czony transfer zjawisk innowacyjnych we francuskiej kulturze dziecięcej.

Interaction of translatorial and authorial identites of Tomris Uyar

Çeviri metinlerin özgün metinlere kıyasla
 “ikincil” konumda gören genel kanının aksine, yazar-çevirmen Tomris Uyar,
 çevirilerinin öykülerini, öykülerinin ise çevirilerini bütünlemesini istediğini
 dile getirmiştir. Onun bu görüşünden yola çıkan bu çalışma, bu durumu görmeyi,
 dolayısıyla da Uyar’ın yazar ve çevirmen kimlikleri arasındaki etkileşimleri
 ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda, çalışmanın birinci
 bölümünde çevirinin kültürleri şekillendirme ve kültür planlamasındaki yeri göz
 önünde bulundurularak, Türk edebiyatının üç farklı döneminde yazar ve çevirmen
 kimlikleri arasındaki etkileşimler Itamar Even-Zohar ve Gideon Toury’nin
 araştırmaları ışığında incelenmiştir. İkinci bölümde Tomris Uyar’ın “yazar” ve
 “çevirmen” kimlikleri irdelenmiş ve bu iki kimlik arasında var olan çeşitli
 etkileşimler tartışılmıştır. Uyar’ın çeviri üzerine yazdığı yazılar ve
 söyleşilerde verdiği yanıtlardan yola çıkarak izlediği çeviri süreçleri ve
 aldığı çevirmen kararları Gideon Toury’nin çeviri normları bağlamında
 sorgulanmıştır. Uyar’ın “öncül norm” olarak “yeterli” çeviri yapmayı
 benimsediği görülmüştür. “Süreç öncesi normlar” bağlamında ise “ortak çeviri”
 ve “ara dilden çeviri” gibi farklı türlerde çeviriler yaptığı saptanmıştır.
 Üçüncü bölümde Amerikalı öykü yazarı Flannery O’Connor’ın dört öyküsünün
 yazar-çevirmen Tomris Uyar tarafından yapılan çevirileri erek ve kaynak
 metinler karşılaştırılarak, Uyar’ın çevirilerinde benimsediği dil kullanım
 tercihleri açısından incelenmiştir. Bu karşılaştırmalı incelemenin ardından
 Uyar’ın O’Connor çevirileriyle aynı döneme denk düşen kendi yazdığı dört öykü
 ele alınmış ve benzer dil kullanım tercihlerinin bu öykülerde de görülüp
 görülmediği sorgulanmıştır. Çevirilerinde gözlemlenen dil kullanım tercihlerine
 Uyar’ın kendi öykülerinde de rastlanmıştır.

Interview with Zohar Shavit

Zohar Shavit is a full professor in the School for Cultural Studies in Tel Aviv University, Israel. In 1978 she concluded her Ph.D under the supervision of Itamar Even-Zohar, with a dissertation on modernism in Hebrew poetry of the 1920s. Departing from the fundaments of Polysystems theory, the author has been presenting, since the 1980s, innovative reflexions in the field of children’s literature (CL), many of which regarding translation and international traffic of CL. Besides her best-known work, Poetics of Children's Literature (1986), Shavit has written an important group of academic articles and book chapters in which she deals with ambivalence in CL, with the need to formulate a poetics for its study, with the role of translations in the formation of Hebrew CL, with the phenomenon of cultural interference, with the canon.

A tragédia Macbeth reescrita para o público infantil por Charles Lamb

Este artigo tem como propósito refletir sobre algumas questões envolvidas na reescrita de peças de William Shakespeare para o público infantil, focalizando a narrativa Macbeth, publicada em Tales from Shakespear. Designed for the use of young persons (1807) pelos irmãos Charles e Mary Lamb. Para o embasamento teórico, são primordialmente utilizadas as teorias dos Estudos da Tradução, com as concepções de André Lefevere e a teoria dos polissistemas de Itamar Even-Zohar. Inicialmente, são feitas breves considerações sobre a biografia dos autores e sobre a contextualização da obra no sistema literário infantil. Na sequência, apresentamos as características da fonte textual que podem ser consideradas questões complexas em uma adaptação para crianças. Então, a análise comparativa demonstra as particularidades da narrativa de Charles Lamb que a transformam em um novo original, que acaba tornando-se a verdadeira história de Shakespeare para os leitores que não conhecem a tragédia Macbeth.

Towards an intertwined history of symbolism, modernism and the avant-garde in Portugal and Spain

Iberian literatures provide a particularly attractive setting for comparative study within the period internationally known as modernism. Such analyses highlight the numerous ideological and aesthetic flows that crossed the borders of national literatures in the Peninsula during the period. From a perspective that uses the tools of polysystems theory as formulated by Itamar Even-Zohar, in conjunction with the theory of Entangled History, crossed by the heterogeneous continuum formula inherent to the spirit of a ‘tradition of rupture’, as stated by Octavio Paz, I offer an interpretation of the relations established among symbolism, modernism and the avant-garde in the Peninsula, as illustrated in the cases of Eugénio de Castro and Teixeira de Pascoaes, and with reference to the footprint that they left in Spanish literature.