Translation In Turkey Research Articles

The novel Mütercim as a site of transfiction: A case of translation in life and the translation of life in the transformational republican era in Turkey

Translation has a rich history in Ottoman and Turkish literature, and a study of transmesis in a transfiction has great potentials for analyzing the praxis and pragmatics of translation in Turkey. This study focuses on the translational action in the mirror of fiction with a case study on the Turkish novel Mütercim (2013) [Translator] by Alper Gürkan. Investigating translation both as a performance (i.e., text) and an experience (i.e., agency), the analysis is constructed upon four categories: 1) actual translation in its technical sense; (2) the agency of the translator as a subject and object of the translation; (3) figurative/metaphoric use of translation; and (4) the potentials of mistranslation vis-a-vis pseudotranslation. The multi-layered translational baggage of the novel serves as a site par excellence to delimit the definition of translation, which begins as a faithful translation and ends up as an almost genuine writing, a mistranslation in the novel. Skillfully imposed attributions to change, transformation, fragmentation, and dislocation under a translational context determine the fate of both the text and the agent in Mütercim: corrupted and originally lost. This elegy for origins resonates in the discourse of the author as neo- Ottoman fantasy where we witness the emergence of translation as the lieu of historical criticism under the guise of a transfiction.

Migrant Sexualities, Queer Travelers: Iranian Bears and the Asylum of Translation in Turkey

Since the early 2000s, an increasing number of lgbt+ and queer Iranians have sought asylum through the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Turkey. As recent queer and feminist scholarship has demonstrated, a “gay enough” litmus test often determines whether asylum seekers will be recognized as having a credible fear of persecution. To unhcr officers conducting asylum interviews, a claimant’s gender nonconformity functions as a proxy for credibility. Self-identified bears, with their masculine gender expression, cannot pass this litmus test and thus are expected to confess an indifference to religion, or areligiosity. Arguing that expectations of gender nonconformity and areligiosity make the application process an asylum of translation for self-identified bear claimants from Iran, this article examines the discursive labyrinth asylum seekers must navigate to become legible and advances a novel conception of the twinned process of confession and translocation that asylum-seeking has become in countries of transit like Turkey.

The constraints in the field of institutional translation in Turkey

Abstract This paper aims to examine the constraints in the institutional field within the framework of the sociology of translation. In the paper, the term “constraint” refers to the problems that cannot be solved due to many factors and negatively affect the translation process, translators, and therefore translation product. The paper will reveal all the constraints with an analysis of the position of the field within the field of power, the structure of the field, and the habitus of agents (here exclusively referring to translators), based on Pierre Bourdieu’s model of field analysis. The study draws on the case studies of four institutions to analyze all the dynamics of the institutional field and their impact on the translation process and translation product. The institutions are the European Union Translation Coordination Presidency (EUTCP) and the Prime Ministry Directorate General of Press and Information (PDGPI) as a national institution, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) as an international institution, and the Association of Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Immigrants (ASAM) as a non-governmental organization. Face-to-face interviews with these four institutions, which carry out different translation activities for different purposes, will reveal the big picture of the field. However, more empirical work is needed to generalize about the constraints of this field.

An in-depth analysis of the professionalization process of the translation profession in Turkey from the perspective of the sociology of professions

Professionalization of translation has emerged as a recent field of research in the sociological approach in the relevant literature in translation studies. Professionalization can simply be described as a process covering several occupational attributes at the end of which an occupation upgrades its status. Studies investigating the translation profession and the status of translators in different countries are not high in number in translation studies literature. The present study aims at analyzing the current status of the translation profession in Turkey, drawing on the the professionalization process in the sociology of professions which aims to describe certain factors (traits, criteria) for an occupation to be accepted as a profession in this process. Translation is currently not a full-fledged profession in Turkey, like in most other countries around the world. However, the existence of translator education programs in universities, various translator associations and other developments related to legal procedures, particularly recent attempts of the Vocational Qualifications Institution suggest that the profession of translation in Turkey is a promising example on the way to professionalization. Especially recent developments linked to the release of a National Professional Standard for Translators/Interpreters established in 2013 and national qualifications in six different fields of translation (draft versions released in 2019) indicate the establishment of a well-founded translator certification system in Turkey soon.

The Historical Journey of Opera Translation in Turkey and its Perception by Contemporary Turkish Opera Performers

Opera, evolving on the foundation of two art forms, theatre and music, is a multidisciplinary genre that has affected many countries and cultures profoundly over the centuries. Even though opera emerged and blossomed in Western societies in the early sixteenth century, it took four more centuries to pass so that opera could meet the Turkish audience. Translation from Western sources has been a substantial medium to Westernize and Europeanize the Ottoman Empire and Republican Turkey. The proclamation of Tanzimat was the beginning of transformation in the multicultural and multilingual Ottoman Empire to form a nation-state, and therefore the Westernization process started in all fields including literature and music. Opera was one of the new art forms that came into prominence apart from theatre and prose. Since the Republic gave much importance to polyphonic music and attempted to carry Turkish music into universal standards, works of art in the most paramount genre of music, the opera, were translated. Translations of operas were carried out by the Turkish composers of the time in order to achieve a singable and coherent translation in terms of prosody. In this context, this study aims to present both the historical journey of opera translation in Turkey and to introduce the remarks of some contemporary opera performers of Ankara State Opera and Ballet, who were interviewed so as to grasp their perception of translated opera.

History of Children’s Literature Translation in Turkey

The history of children’s literature is a reflection of sociologic evolutions and developments linked with the evolution in the understanding children and childhood. The following article draws a historical trajectory of children’s literature published in Turkey focusing on translated children’s literature within the sociological evolutions of the time periods in question. Discussions include the effects of the way society views the child, state policies as regards education and translation, the prevalence of audio-visual media and the evolutions in children’s literature in both the West and Turkey. Starting from the Reformation period of the Ottoman era, continuing with the new developments after the proclamation of the Republic and drawing a trajectory concentrating especially on the last half century, it aims to provide an understanding of the centrality of translation in the repertoire of a children’s literature.

Anlaşılırlık için kullanılan bir araç olarak DİLİÇİ

This article aims to discuss intralingual translation based on the concept of comprehensibility. The framework of the study will be drawn by three articles: “Optimising comprehensibility in interlingual translation: The need for intralingual translation” by Matilde Nisbeth Jensen (2015), “Retranslation (re)visited” by Isabelle Desmidt (2009) and “Intralingual translation: An attempt at description” by Karen Korning Zethsen (2009) which will serve as the reference point. The idea of intralingual translation as a tool that optimizes comprehensibility in interlingual translation put forward by Matilde Nisbeth Jensen will be used as the starting point, whereas Isabelle Desmidt’s study, which questions the retranslation hypothesis developed by Antoine Berman (1990), will serve as the point of departure for the discussion in this paper. This article which argues that each intralingual translation following the very first translation is a retranslation, just like in the case of interlingual translation, is based on the view that comprehensibility, which is considered mainly within the framework of functional texts, can be said to be also one of the main factors driving intralingual translation of old Turkish classics. The paper that selects Gulyabani by Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpınar (1912) as its object of study discusses the intralingual translation in Turkey from the perspective of retranslation hypothesis, taking comprehensibility as the benchmark to evaluate the ‘distance’ between a literary source text and its retranslations.

From translation market to translation curriculum: psychosocial and physical ergonomics in Turkey

ABSTRACT The present study aims to address the lack of nation-wide exploration of ergonomics of translation in Turkey and to build psychosocial and physical ergonomics awareness among translation students. Our research design encapsulated two projects. An initial project, a nation-wide survey, provided an overview of the situation in Turkey in relation to ergonomics of translation. The second project, conducted within the framework of a course designed to build ergonomic awareness, was a multi-method action research project involving interviews, direct observations and project-based learning. In the first phase of the project, the 20 senior students enrolled in the course administered a survey to 250 translators as part of a field research project, also involving semi-structured interviews during workplace visits. In the second phase, students completed a translation project, simulating a real market situation and exposing them to the challenges of organisational ergonomics. Our study highlights a lack of common standards and awareness in the field of ergonomics in Turkey. It revealed that students’ reports reflected clear benefits from direct interactions with the market actors and the observation of ergonomic conditions in the field. The insights from such a course can equip students with the knowledge and skills required for professional life.

Certified translations: A general overview on sworn translation in Turkey and sworn/ certified translation procedures around the world

Çevirisi yapılan bir belgenin doğruluğunun, gerçekliğinin ve güvenilirliğinin tasdik edilmesinin gerekli olduğu durumlarda, çeviriye resmiyet kazandırılması gerekir. Çevirilerin resmi olarak onaylanması, “yeminli/tasdikli çeviri” olarak adlandırılan çeviri alanını oluşturur. “Yeminli/tasdikli çeviri” iki temel kavramı barındırır: Bir evrakı doğru, gerçek ve güvenilir bir biçimde çevirebilecek olan çevirmenlerin belirlenmesi ve bu çevirmenleri belirlemek üzere yetkilendirilen mercii. Dünyanın farklı ülkelerinde, ülkelerin adalet sistemlerindeki işleyiş ve düzenlemelere bağlı olarak, çevirilere resmiyet kazandırılmasına yönelik çeşitli uygulamalar yer alır. Genellikle yeminli/tasdikli çeviri yapacak çevirmenler bir devlet kurumu veya bir çevirmen meslek örgütü tarafından belirlenir ve temel değerlendirme ölçütü yaygın olarak adayın çeviri ve dil becerisini ölçen bir sınavdır. Ülkemizde ise yeminli çevirmenler Noterlik Kanunu Yönetmeliği’nin ilgili maddesi uyarınca noterlerin yemin zaptı düzenlemesi ile yetkilendirilir. Ancak çevirinin resmiyet kazanması için yeminli çevirmenin tasdiki yeterli olmayabilir, genellikle evrakın noter tarafından da onaylanması gerekmektedir. Yeminli çevirmenlerin noterlik dairelerinde çalıştığı 1970’li yıllardaki çeviri faaliyetlerine göre düzenlenen bu yönetmeliğin bugünün değişen koşullarında halen uygulanıyor olması hem yeminli çeviri alanında çalışan çevirmenler hem de çevirmenlik mesleği açısından olumsuz bir tablo oluşturmaktadır. Bu çalışma, ülkemizdeki noter-yeminli çeviri/çevirmen ilişkisine tarihsel bir perspektiften bakarak günümüzde noterlerin yeminli çeviri alanında yetkilendirme mekanizması olmasının neden uygun olmadığını ve bu uygulamanın olumsuz taraflarını farklı ülkelerdeki yeminli/tasdikli çeviri uygulamaları ile karşılaştırarak ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır. Ayrıca çalışmada, yeminli çeviri konusunda yaşanan olumsuzlukların düzeltilebilmesi ve çevirmenlik mesleği açısından daha doğru bir yetkilendirme sistemi oluşturulabilmesi için yapılabileceklere de yer verilmiştir.

Censorship and literary translation in Turkey: translating obscenity after The Soft Machine and Snuff court cases

In 2011, the Turkish publishers (Irfan Sanci and Hasan Basri Ciplak) and translators (Suha Sertabiboglu and Funda Uncu) of the books The Soft Machine and Snuff were taken to court on the grounds of obscenity. This article investigates the effects of these court cases on Turkish publishers’ and translators’ subsequent publication/translation behaviours regarding their choice of books to publish/translate and strategies for publishing/translating obscenity. The study is informed by corpus methods and the results are discussed in the light of interviews conducted with Sanci, Sertabiboglu and Uncu. The study concludes that although the publishers and translators under investigation continued publishing/translating books containing obscenity, their publication/translation behaviours changed to some degree after the court cases.

Creating Reading Habits Through Translation in Turkey (1840–1940)

Although translated books and readers are visibly and inextricably linked, readers, readers’ expectations, attitudes and habits have only been partially analysed in translation research. In a similar vein, the relationship between translation and reader was rather left undiscovered by scholars studying translation/book/reading history. The aim of this paper is to present the findings of my comprehensive doctoral research on the pioneering role translation played in the history of reading and readers in Turkey between 1840 and 1940 by problematizing the relationship between translation, readers and their reading habits. This hundred year period is characterized by an apparent transformation in the literary production (especially in the number of translated works) and the publishing industry, which created an expansion in the number of readers and the development of new forms to suit the needs and tastes of this new readership. Data from a variety of sources including readers’ letters and auto/biographical accounts will be used in this article to investigate readers, their reading habits and the transformative process they experienced through this reading (r)evolution. In the absence of library records and marginalia due to the inherent characteristics of the period under study, these letters and auto/biographical accounts are of primary importance in providing evidence of what and how the readers were actually reading. Their active involvement in the process (of selection and consumption of translated and/or indigeneous works) is also reflected through the views, experiences and perceptions that are present in these letters and accounts.

Acceptability and Practicality of the Turkish Translation of Pediatric Gait Arm Legs and Spine in Turkish Children.

The pediatric Gait, Arms, Leg, and Spine (pGALS) is a practical questionnaire for musculoskeletal (MSK) system evaluation in school-age children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acceptability/practicality of pGALS Turkish translation in Turkey (cross-sectional study). The Turkish translation of pGALS was administered to children (4-18 years) who attended to the Pediatric Emergency Department of Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, and the outpatient clinic of the Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Department of Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey, during 1 month in 2016. The demographics, complaints, final diagnoses, and pGALS parameters were noted. The acceptability of pGALS was evaluated using visual analog scale. Ninety-five patients (median age, 108 months; male/female, 1.1) were enrolled. Sixteen patients (16.8%) had MSK diagnosis, whereas 79 (83.2%) had non-MSK diagnoses. Musculoskeletal diagnoses were as follows: scoliosis (n = 4), metatarsus adductus (n = 4), soft tissue injury (n = 3), lumber disk herniation (n = 2), muscle spasm (n = 1), Achilles tendinitis (n = 1), and tibia torsion (n = 1). The sensitivity was 64.7%, and specificity was 89.7% for positive response to 1 or more pGALS screening questions to detect abnormal pGALS. The most sensitive question was pain question. The most common abnormal pGALS components were spine and posture. The sensitivity and specificity of pGALS for detecting MSK diagnosis were 93.7% and 97.4%, respectively. The median duration of pGALS examination was 4 minutes. Most patients/parents found the duration acceptable (94.7%/97.9%, respectively) and reported that pGALS caused little/no discomfort (97.9%/96.8%, respectively). This is the first study showing the Turkish version of pGALS as a valid, acceptable, and practical screening test in Turkey.

Courses On Specialized Field in Undergraduate Programs of Translation & Interpretation Departments in Turkey: The Importance of Courses on Specialized Field in the Specialization Process of Translator Candidates

The objective of this study is to reveal to what extent the structure of Translation Studies Undergraduate Programs in Turkey, whose numbers have been increasing in recent years contributes to specialization processes of translator candidates in the light of some cases. To this end, the structure of all the undergraduate programs teaching translation in Turkey is studied and a comparative research is conducted on whether courses on specialized fields are available in curricula, if available, are sufficient for specialization in a specific field. In the study, we first discuss expected qualities of translators and to what extent these are reflected for the translation teaching. The translator, as well as having a vast cultural and world knowledge, is required to be specialized at a specific field. The translation teaching primarily aims to create a translator profile equipped with such a world and specialized knowledge. In order to train translators with these skills, courses on different fields of specialization must be taken from relevant departments, which thus make translation teaching realistic and concrete. We observe that translation departments are insufficient in this respect and hence it is clear that graduate students face practical difficulties. The curricula followed by translation departments as to specialized courses vary from each other; as a result there is not a comprised model of a scientific translation teaching. A mutual method must therefore be sought. This study attempts to be the first step in this regard. To confront with universal dimension of a translation teaching, our study puts forward what kind of examinations related to different fields of specialization are designed to recruit translators by governmental institutions. With regard to this, the study also tries to show that course on specialized field has an important position in translation teaching by taking into account both its theoretical dimension and reflection on practice.

Review: Architecture in Translation: Germany, Turkey, and the Modern House, by Esra Akcan

Esra Akcan Architecture in Translation: Germany, Turkey, and the Modern House Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2012, 408 pp., 143 b/w illus. $24.95 (paper), ISBN 9780822353089; $89.95 (cloth), ISBN 9780822352945 Esra Akcan’s Architecture in Translation is a study in the remarkable migrations of modern architecture from Central Europe’s German-speaking lands to Turkey. Extrapolating from a linguistic metaphor, Akcan calls what transpired from the mid-1920s to the mid-1940s “architecture in translation.” The author’s insight that the modern house and housing are two of the most contested constructs of German and Turkish architecture, and the way she locates architecture within the linguistic debates concerning translation in Turkey at the time, are brilliant. The historical material presented in this book, the extensive archival work, and the author’s ambition to devise a theory of translation, make it indispensable reading for anyone interested in the international experience of the modern movement. The first phase of “translations” traced in this book began when Hermann Jansen, a professor of architecture in Berlin, won the competition for the master plan of Turkey’s new capital. Jansen’s plan for Ankara amounted to a German reincarnation of the English garden city. Ankara’s modern layout, functional infrastructure, and hygienic green spaces were meant to highlight the Turkish Republic’s project for radical modernization and “Westernization.” In providing a new history of this episode, Akcan is attentive to the discrepancy in the perceptions of the garden city in Germany and in Turkey. Although it may have appeared outlandish to a Turkish audience in 1929, Jansen’s garden city offered a politically conservative alternative to Weimar Germany’s modernist social housing projects ( Siedlungen ). The German professor had an inclination to design suburban communities, inspired by the local vernacular, even when his Turkish clients demanded a “cubic” architecture to showcase their own modernity. A clear pattern emerges in these years: The Turkish bureaucrats recruited figures of professional authority in Germany, Austria, and France. Many of the new capital’s most representative buildings were commissioned to the Austrian professor Clemens …

Translator: Expert of ‘What’? Translator Training and the Changing/Changeful Identity of the Translator

The aim of this paper is to trace the contemporary perceptions/definitions of the translator and translation in Turkey where the translation profession is not a legally regulated profession. (In)visibility of the translator and the scope of his/her expertise are widely debated issues among both the scholars/students of translation and the various players in the world of translation. Although translation is no longer being defined as a mere linguistic activity, reductionist views of translation that equate translation to 'know’ing a foreign language still continues to prevail. What accompanies the said reductionist view is the claim that a translator can not translate 'all the texts’ in different fields of expertise, at least not as successfully as the 'real’ experts of the field who also know a foreign language such as engineer-translators or lawyer-translators who know English. However, recent developments concerning legal translation in plurilingual settings evidence a completely different understanding of translation and the identity/expertise of the translator. In such settings, translators work together with the drafters of the legal texts and are responsible for the source legal texts as well as the target ones, broadening the scope of the 'expertise’ of the translator in an unprecedented way. In the light of the implications of the said transformation of the identity of the legal translator, this paper argues that the identity/definition of the translator/translation needs to be reconsidered and the results should be reflected onto the translator training programs with the aim of helping students of translation (re)define their identity as real 'experts’ of the translation field and contributing to the transformation of the perception of translation and the translator.

Initiating a terminology policy, the case of Turkey: TermTurk project

Summary Translation activities have long been on the rise since Turkey committed itself to join the European Union. The majority of the translation activities fall into the category of technical translation in Turkey, which is an indicator of the significance of terminology. Problems encountered in translating technical texts can be solved with the help of terminology databases. Unfortunately, the importance of such databases has not been recognized in Turkey yet. Furthermore, the lack of consistency in terms used in translations stands out as a problem. The lack of established terminology networks for specific fields is also a major problem for the public organizations which are in close contacts with EU bodies. Consistency in the use of terms in translations produced by various departments or institutions is a must for sound translations. Such an inconsistency leads to economic losses due to different interpretations of the same translated texts. In this regard, launching an EU-funded project on terminology called TermTurk became a must in order to attract the attention of private and public bodies to the importance of terminology. Accordingly, this paper presents the TermTurk project as a terminology policy case in Turkey.

Şehnaz Tahir Gürçağlar: The Politics and Poetics of Translation in Turkey, 1923–1960.

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Gürçağlar, Şehnaz Tahir. 2008. The Politics and Poetics of Translation in Turkey, 1923–1960

Gürçağlar, Şehnaz Tahir. 2008. The Politics and Poetics of Translation in Turkey, 1923–1960

Translation, Presumed Innocent

In late Ottoman society, in the 19th century, translation was instrumental in the emergence of new literary genres such as the novel and western-style drama. It maintained its significance and influence in the early Republican period, starting in 1923. Apart from its literary significance, an interesting aspect of the trajectory followed by translation in Turkey concerns the way it has conspicuously allied itself with political and ideological agendas, such as westernization, Marxism and Islamism, to mention a few. This paper explores the ideological entanglements of translation in Turkey in the 20th century. It examines the discourse that emerged around translation at certain moments during that period and argues that translation served as a mirror, reflecting the literary and cultural ‘lacks’ of the target system, as much as it was meant to import new forms and ideas which would eventually help Turkish society overcome its perceived deficiencies. The study also problematizes the ways in which the translator’s subject position has been suppressed, especially in the discourse of translators reflecting upon their own work, and concludes that this self-effacing attitude seems to have become part of the professional identity of the Turkish translator.

Translator training in turkey

This article deals with the evolution of translator training in Turkey. It describes how theoretical knowledge transferred from the West and the East has united with translational activity in the past to lay the foundations for academic studies of translation in Turkey. The article is divided into five primary sections. The first discusses the history of translational activity and the state‐run institutions in the Ottoman Empire, when they served both as centres of translation and in‐service training institutions. The second part explores how translational experience in the past is reflected in the newly‐born Turkish Republic, and plays an active role in the formation of a new cultural identity. The third part examines the development of translation pedagogics as a result of the import of linguistic knowledge during the transitional period from c. 1960 to the mid‐1980s. The fourth part presents the course of translation pedagogics after the introduction of contemporary translation theory. The last part focuses on how modern theories have been substantiated in academic curricula in Turkey to illustrate the evolution of Translation Studies in Turkey after the internalisation of contemporary theoretical knowledge.