Constructing a National Identity through Translation in the First Turkish Popular Novels / İlk Türk Popüler Edebiyat Eserlerinde Çeviri Yoluyla Milli Kimlik İnşası
This study aimed to investigate the writing technique applied to produce the first local popular novels in the Turkish literary system, and the roles of these novels in the specific time period. The research materials of this study were Türklerin Sherlock Holmes’ü Amanvermez Avni (1913-1914), Kaz...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cyprus International University
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Folklor/Edebiyat |
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| Online Access: | https://www.folkloredebiyat.org/Makaleler/1767386268_folk.edb.107-10.pdf |
| Summary: | This study aimed to investigate the writing technique applied to produce the first local
popular novels in the Turkish literary system, and the roles of these novels in the specific
time period. The research materials of this study were Türklerin Sherlock Holmes’ü
Amanvermez Avni (1913-1914), Kazıklı Voyvoda (1928), and Baytekin (1935-1936),
respectively the first examples of the crime fiction, horror fiction and graphic novels
in the Turkish literary system. These first local examples of popular literature are also
labelled adaptation or imitation because of their resemblance to popular Western fiction.
Since the contemporary translation theories are based on the idea that every translation
is a rewriting and represents a particular ideology, I analysed the aforementioned works
as “translated texts” in relation to the social conditions of the period of publication. The
study showed that popular literature is a functional tool to construct national identity,
aiming to spread the tenets of the adopted ideology to every segment of society, and that
the first examples of Turkish popular literature were produced through translation for
this particular purpose. In this study, I used the Turkish term “telif” not as the synonym
of original, but to describe a writing technique which means “creative mediation”.
Therefore, I discussed the findings of the analysis within the framework of “telif”
(“creative mediation”), which in this case means writing/creating through translation
in the Ottoman period and early years of the Turkish Republic. As a result, this study
uncovered that the aforementioned works as the first examples of Turkish popular
literature genres were produced through translation technique called “telif” (“creative
mediation”). |
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| ISSN: | 1300-7491 1300-7491 |