A Comparative Analysis of Culture-Specific Items in the English Translations of Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar’s Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü

Abstract

Translation involves not only two different languages but also two different cultures. It acts as a means of mediation bridging linguistic and cultural differences. Translation, therefore, cannot be thought in isolation from culture.

Literary works are often loaded with certain elements that are specific to a culture, which pose great challenges to the translator, especially in the case of translation activity between two distant cultures. Because these elements are widely unknown to the target culture, their transfer to the target language most often comes with problems arising from the differences between the source and receiving culture. They can be transferred into the receiving culture using source-text- or target-text-oriented translation strategies. Strategies predominantly used in transferring CSIs can help build a macro-level understanding of the translation in question as a whole. This study aims to analyze culture-specific items in English translations of Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar’s Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü translated by Ender Gürol (2001) and by Maureen Freely & Alexander Dawe (2013). All CSIs found in the novel will be identified and how they are transferred into the target language in both translations will be examined. Axielá’s model for the translation of CSIs will be used to analyze the extracted CSIs. A random selection of the extractions will be discussed in detail. In light of the data found, Venuti’s model will be used to reveal which strategy (foreignization vs. domestication) is predominantly used and to what extent the translators are visible in each translation.