Ideological encounters
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Esra Birkan Baydan
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to highlight a case in which translation becomes the battleground of two conflicting ideologies within the same society. The case presented here concerns repercussions of “Islamist” retranslations of the Western classics. These translations were criticized for being “ideologically manipulated” and “unethical”. Reactions to the Islamist translations found extensive coverage in the press, thereby making translation and the role of ideology in translation highly visible in Turkish society. The findings presented in this paper are supported by (1) reactions to Islamist translations as covered by the press, for an understanding of the public discourse on translation, (2) the comparison of the “Islamist” translations with their source texts, and for a wider picture, (3) an overview of the current political and social environment in Turkey characterized by the secularist-Islamist struggle.
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to highlight a case in which translation becomes the battleground of two conflicting ideologies within the same society. The case presented here concerns repercussions of “Islamist” retranslations of the Western classics. These translations were criticized for being “ideologically manipulated” and “unethical”. Reactions to the Islamist translations found extensive coverage in the press, thereby making translation and the role of ideology in translation highly visible in Turkish society. The findings presented in this paper are supported by (1) reactions to Islamist translations as covered by the press, for an understanding of the public discourse on translation, (2) the comparison of the “Islamist” translations with their source texts, and for a wider picture, (3) an overview of the current political and social environment in Turkey characterized by the secularist-Islamist struggle.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- In memoriam Elif Daldeniz Baysan xi
- Acknowledgements xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Ottoman conceptions and practices of translation
- On the poetic practices of a “singularly uninventive people” and the anxiety of imitation 27
- Exploring Tercüman as a culture-bound concept in Islamic mysticism 53
- Ahmet Midhat’s Hulâsa-i Hümâyunnâme 73
-
Transition and transformation
- On the evolution of the interpreting profession in Turkey 89
- Saved by translation 107
- The “official” view on translation in Turkey 125
- Translation, imported western legal frameworks and insights from the Turkish world of patents 145
-
The republican revolutionary turn
- The Turkish language reform and intralingual translation 165
- John Dewey’s 1924 report on Turkish education 181
- Pseudotranslations of pseudo-scientific sex manuals in Turkey 199
- Censorship of “obscene” literary translations 219
- Ideological encounters 233
- An overview of Kurdish literature in Turkish 253
- The identity metonymics of translated Turkish fiction in English 273
- Notes on contributors 297
- Index 303
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- In memoriam Elif Daldeniz Baysan xi
- Acknowledgements xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Ottoman conceptions and practices of translation
- On the poetic practices of a “singularly uninventive people” and the anxiety of imitation 27
- Exploring Tercüman as a culture-bound concept in Islamic mysticism 53
- Ahmet Midhat’s Hulâsa-i Hümâyunnâme 73
-
Transition and transformation
- On the evolution of the interpreting profession in Turkey 89
- Saved by translation 107
- The “official” view on translation in Turkey 125
- Translation, imported western legal frameworks and insights from the Turkish world of patents 145
-
The republican revolutionary turn
- The Turkish language reform and intralingual translation 165
- John Dewey’s 1924 report on Turkish education 181
- Pseudotranslations of pseudo-scientific sex manuals in Turkey 199
- Censorship of “obscene” literary translations 219
- Ideological encounters 233
- An overview of Kurdish literature in Turkish 253
- The identity metonymics of translated Turkish fiction in English 273
- Notes on contributors 297
- Index 303
