Morality in the Translation of Armeno-Turkish Novels
Melek Kara, Lale ÖzcanThe novel genre was introduced to Turkish literature through translation. The authors and translators who introduced the novel genre to Turkish readers in the 19th century were cautious when translating this literary genre to the target culture. The selection of the text type and author was carried out within certain translation norms. Among these norms, the leading one was to have the translated work be done in accordance with Turkish and Islamic moral values. The same applies to novels translated into Turkish using the Armenian alphabet. This study believes that the Armenian translators and publishers living and operating in the Ottoman Empire did not adopt a different approach to translation than the one used by Turkish authors and translators. To verify this, the article examines prefaces as paratext within the framework of Gideon Toury’s preliminary norms. Based on this, the study identifies expressions in the prefaces of 10 Armeno-Turkish novels translated between 1850- 1900 that emphasize how the works conform to moral values, indicating how the translated novels not only entertain readers but also provide them benefits in terms of morality. Thus, the study attempts to highlight the importance of the concept of morality regarding the selection of text types in 19th-century Armeno-Turkish novel translations.
Ermeni Harfli Türkçe Roman Çevirilerinde Ahlak Kavramı
Melek Kara, Lale ÖzcanRoman türü Türk edebiyatına çeviri yoluyla taşınmıştır. 19. yüzyılda Türk okurunu ilk kez roman türüyle tanıştıran yazar ve çevirmenler bu edebi türün erek dile aktarılmasında ihtiyatlı davranmıştır. Çevrilecek metin türü ve yazar seçimi belirli çeviri normları çerçevesinde gerçekleşmiştir. Bu normlar arasında başta gelen norm, çevrilecek eserin Türk ve İslam ahlakı değerlerine uygun olmasıdır. Aynı durum 19. yüzyılda Ermeni harfleriyle Türkçeye çevrilen romanlar için de geçerlidir. Ermeni çevirmenler ve yayınevi sahipleri Batı’dan yaptıkları çevirilerde temkinli davranarak çevrilecek eser ve yazar seçimini titizlikle yapmışlardır. Bu çerçevede Osmanlıda yaşayan ve faaliyet gösteren Ermeni çevirmenler ve yayınevi sahiplerinin içinde bulundukları toplumun yani Türk yazar ve çevirmenlerin çeviri yaklaşımdan çok farklı bir yaklaşım benimsemediklerini düşünmekteyiz. Bu düşüncemizin doğruluğunu görebilmek amacıyla Gideon Toury’nin süreç öncesi çeviri normları kapsamında yan metinler olarak önsözler mercek altına alınmıştır. Buradan yola çıkarak 1850-1900 yılları arasında çevrilen Ermeni harfli Türkçe romanların bir dökümü yapılmıştır. Bu eserler arasından seçtiğimiz on romanın önsözünde eserin ahlaki değerlere uygunluğuna önem verildiğini gösteren, çevrilen romanın sadece okuru eğlendirmekle kalmayıp okurun ahlaki açıdan istifade edebileceği bir roman olduğunu belirten ifadeler tespit edilmiştir. Bu veriler ışığında 19. yüzyıl Ermeni harfli Türkçe roman çevirilerinde ahlak kavramının metin türü seçimindeki önemi ortaya konulmaya çalışılmıştır.
Turkish has been written in different alphabets throughout history, and the Armenian alphabet has been one of these (Tekin, 1997, p. 7). Some explanations are found as to why this alphabet was used; however, the common aspect among these explanations is that it was due to the presence of Armenians who either did not know or knew a little Armenian but spoke Turkish.
Turkish readers encountered the novel genre for the first time through translation. Being introduced to a new literary genre that was completely alien to the society brought along some restrictions regarding translation activities. The Turkish translators and/or the publishers of Tanzimat Period in the 19th century can be said to have been cautious when choosing the text type or authors to be translated. When selecting a text for translation, morality was one of the leading translation norms and played an important role in which works were translated from Western literature to Ottoman Turkish.
The relationship between novels and morality was observed being discussed in most 19th-century Ottoman newspapers and magazines. Novels were assigned a moral function under the condition that they are to conform to the society’s existing moral values (Andı, 2018, p. 53).
The same translation approach was observable in the translations from Western and European literature to Armeno Turkish. The Armenian translators and publishers acted no differently from their contemporaries while choosing texts for translation, as morality was also one of the leading norms for the Armenian translators and publishers.
This study has chosen for its research the prefaces as of 10 Armeno-Turkish novel translations between 1850-1900 as paratext in order to verify the correctness of the statement and analyzed these in terms of Gideon Toury’s (2012) preliminary norms. These novels are Don Kişot [Don Quixote], Hikaye-i Robenson [Robinson Crusoe], Etmekçi Ğatun [La Porteuse de pain/The Bread Peddler], Cinayet Mahsuli [Le Parricide], Paris Sevdaleri [Les amours de Paris], Bikes Yağod Familyadan Mahrumiyet [Sans Famille], Güzel Anjel Yağod Leona [Beautiful Angel or Leona], Seksen Günde Devr-i Alem [Around the World in 80 Days], Gençlere Hediye [A Gift to Young People], and Zevceyne Hediye [Letters to Young People, Single and Married]. The names of the titles are written as they appeared on the covers of the Armeno-Turkish translations. The translators and also publishers mentioned morality in the prefaces of these works, indicating how their selection of the text for translation had been influenced by the moral standards of the society in which they lived. To exemplify how the concept of morality was an important issue that had to be taken into account in novel translations, the article provides citations referencing morality, highlighting themes form these prefaces such as growing up with moral values, teaching morality through novels, preservation of one’s morality, and enhancement of morality.
Some conclusions that can be drawn from the research is that the translation strategies and approaches of the Armenian translators and publishers were quite similar to the understanding that occurred in Ottoman translation activities in terms of morality; the Armenian translators and publishers were not disconnected from the 19th-century Ottoman translation approaches and strategies but rather acted as agents adhering to the needs of the period in question. Thus, an interaction can be said to have existed between Armenian and Turkish translators in the context of this study, one which Saliha Paker also mentioned in her article “Translated European Literature in the Late Ottoman Polysystem” (1987).
This research has been performed within a limited context over prefaces as paratext. However, due to the scarce amount of research on Armeno-Turkish novel translations in the field of translation studies, this research believes that the field remains largely unexplored and that the amount of research should increase gradually. However, the study is also of the opinion that this limited article already demonstrates how Armeno-Turkish novel translations from European literature had contributed significantly to translation activities during the Tanzimat period, and this study is believed to be able to pave the way for further research on the textual dimension.
