An overview of Kurdish literature in Turkish
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Selim Temo Ergül
Abstract
Kurdish literature has recently taken a major leap forward. Texts which had been obscured for years, repressed and kept hidden, are now being published, finally seeing the light of day. Written Kurdish literature, with a history of over a millennium, may be duly known and appreciated on a universal scale through translations. The aim of this preliminary survey of translations from Kurdish literature into Turkish is to observe certain characteristic phenomena ranging from the selection of texts for translation and target language usage to the translators’ dilemma regarding (self-)censorship, and the tensions in their relationship to both languages. This paper attempts to make a fresh approach to challenge established notions and prejudices regarding Kurdish literature, offering analyses on attitudes to Kurdish and to Kurdish literature and interpretations of the literary history of Kurdish. It focuses on translations into Turkish, on the Kurdish translators’ basic arguments, and their ‘mission’ which go beyond their profession as translators.
Abstract
Kurdish literature has recently taken a major leap forward. Texts which had been obscured for years, repressed and kept hidden, are now being published, finally seeing the light of day. Written Kurdish literature, with a history of over a millennium, may be duly known and appreciated on a universal scale through translations. The aim of this preliminary survey of translations from Kurdish literature into Turkish is to observe certain characteristic phenomena ranging from the selection of texts for translation and target language usage to the translators’ dilemma regarding (self-)censorship, and the tensions in their relationship to both languages. This paper attempts to make a fresh approach to challenge established notions and prejudices regarding Kurdish literature, offering analyses on attitudes to Kurdish and to Kurdish literature and interpretations of the literary history of Kurdish. It focuses on translations into Turkish, on the Kurdish translators’ basic arguments, and their ‘mission’ which go beyond their profession as translators.
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
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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
