Tradition, Tension and Translation in Turkey: 118 (Benjamins Translation Library) - Hardcover

The articles in this volume examine historical, cultural, literary and political facets of translation in Turkey, a society in tortuous transformation since the 19th century from empire to nation-state. Some draw attention to tradition in Ottoman practices and agents of translation and interpreting, while others explore the republican period, starting in 1923, with the revolutionary change in script from Arabic to Roman coming in 1928, making a powerful impact on publication and translation practices. Areas covered include the German Jewish academic involvement in translation, traditional and current practices of translating from Kurdish into Turkish, censorship of translated literature, intralingual translations from Ottoman into modern Turkish, pseudotranslation, ideological manipulation and resistance in translation, imitativeness vs. originality and metonymics of literary reviewing.

The articles in this volume by leading scholars examine historical, cultural and political as well as certain literary facets of translation in Turkey. A country which has undergone major changes throughout the past two centuries, Turkey constitutes a fruitful ground for exploring the cultural and ideological workings of many kinds of translation and translators' agency in a society in transformation. Explicit or implicit struggles among various forces in the society have accompanied transformation as policies of modernization followed a tumultuous path. Research covered in the volume takes us on a journey along this winding path which always crossed with translation. Some articles draw attention to tradition and critically focus on Ottoman practices and agents of translation and interpreting, while others explore the early republican period, starting with 1923, full of insights into the interconnectedness of translation, culture and ideology. A milestone in this period was the change in script from Arabic to Roman in 1928, which not only made a powerful impact on the publication and translation practices, but had larger societal repercussions that manifest themselves in many of the articles. Research incorporated in this volume covers further aspects of translation in Turkey which have not found voice in previous publications in English, including, but not limited to, the traditional and current practices of translating from Kurdish into Turkish, various forms of censorship on translated literature, Islamist translations of children’s literature, the translator in Islamic mysticism, and Bilge Karasu, a master of modern Turkish narrative, in English translation. The articles also make important contributions to translation studies scholarship by shedding critical light on intralingual and pseudotranslation practices, translators' ideological resistance, imitativeness vs. originality, and metonymics in literary reviewing.