Eco-translation in Science Fiction Literature: Dune by Frank Herbert

Abstract

Nowadays, any kind of contribution to raise awareness towards environment is deemed to be necessary as our planet is fighting against the problems of "global warming", "water scarcity" and "climate crisis". In eco-translation, the translator can play a crucial role for this aim in a society by being ecologically sensitive during the process of translation. In this regard, this study aims to investigate the strategies adopted for the translation of ecological items in Science Fiction works, to reveal some of the challenges that the translator might have encountered during the act of translation and to give insight into the roles of the translator to raise ecological awareness in a society by trying to determine whether the translator has been ecologically sensitive or not during this process. To this aim, in this study, 173 ecological terms in Frank Herbert's Dune and their Turkish translations by Dost Körpe have been comparatively analyzed in compliance with the translation strategies of Kansu-Yetkiner et. al (2018) adapted from Venuti, Newmark and Aixelà (literal translation, domestication, foreignization). It has been found out that the literal translation and the (domesticating) couplets/triplets are the most preferred translation strategies. In conclusion, it has been revealed that the translator has been ecologically sensitive during the act of translation.