Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences 

Department of Translation and Interpreting 

 

 

 

 

 

A BERMANIAN STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF ALICE 

WALKER’S THE COLOR PURPLE AND ITS TURKISH 

TRANSLATION 

 

 

 

 

Büşra UL 

 

 

 

 

Master’s Thesis 

 

 

Ankara, 2015 



     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



     

A BERMANIAN STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF ALICE WALKER’S THE COLOR 

PURPLE AND ITS TURKISH TRANSLATION 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Büşra UL 

 

 

 

 

Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences 

Department of Translation and Interpreting 

 

 

 

 

Master’s Thesis 

 

 

Ankara, 2015 



     

KABUL VE ONAY 

Büşra UL tarafından hazırlanan “A Bermanian Stylistic Analysis of Alice Walker’s The Color 

Purple and Its Turkish Translation” başlıklı bu çalışma, 22.06.2015 tarihinde yapılan savunma 

sınavı sonucunda başarılı bulunarak jürimiz tarafından Yüksek Lisans tezi olarak kabul 

edilmiştir. 

 

 

 

Yukarıdaki imzaların adı geçen öğretim üyelerine ait olduğunu onaylarım. 

 

 

Prof. Dr. Yusuf Çelik 

Enstitü Müdürü 

 



     

BİLDİRİM 

 

Hazırladığım tezin/raporun tamamen kendi çalışmam olduğunu ve her alıntıya kaynak 

gösterdiğimi taahhüt eder, tezimin/raporumun kağıt ve elektronik kopyalarının 

Hacettepe Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü arşivlerinde aşağıda belirttiğim 

koşullarda saklanmasına izin verdiğimi onaylarım: 

 

 

 

Tezimin/Raporumun tamamı her yerden erişime açılabilir.  

 Tezim/Raporum sadece Hacettepe Üniversitesi yerleşkelerinden erişime açılabilir. 

 Tezimin/Raporumun …… yıl süreyle erişime açılmasını istemiyorum. Bu sürenin 

sonunda uzatma için başvuruda bulunmadığım takdirde, tezimin/raporumun 

tamamı her yerden erişime açılabilir. 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 



iii 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To my wonderful father… I still feel your presence with me… 

And I know you’ve been watching over me… 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



iv 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

I believe it is Ernest Hemingway who once said “It is good to have an end to journey 

toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” I am glad the journey is over. It is 

the most beneficial and instructive journey I have ever yet experienced however 

challenging it may be. I would like to thank the people who have guided me through 

this journey. 

First of all, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Ayfer ALTAY for her 

invaluable and enlightening guidance, encouragement and support. I couldn’t have 

accomplished this study without her immense academic knowledge and meticulous 

feedbacks. 

I would also like to express my gratitude to Prof. Dr. Asalet ERTEN for her extremely 

helpful contributions both academically and spiritually since my first day at this 

department.  

I would like to offer my special thanks to Prof. Dr. Aymil DOĞAN for always 

motivating me with her positive attitude and sunshine-like smile.   

I would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Orhun Yakın for his never-ending positive 

energy, Asst. Prof. Dr. Elif Ersözlü for her fruitful master courses and Assist. Prof. Dr. 

Hilal Erkazancı Durmuş for her academic contributions both in and outside of the 

courses. 

I would like to give my special thanks to my very dear colleagues and friends Mehmet 

ERGUVAN and Umut Can GÖKDUMAN for always cheering me up and being 

supportive. 

I am deeply grateful for my fiancée and my best friend Tuncay TEZCAN who has 

always been there for me, supported me and stood by me through the good and bad 

times with his unconditional love. 

Finally, I am extremely thankful for my extraordinary mother Nilgün UL, as she is the 

one who makes me the person I am today. She is my inspiration and my hero.  

Last but not least, I am sincerely grateful for my kind-hearted brother Ensar UL. You 

always make me smile at the end of the day, because you are the reason of my smile.  

 



v 

 

ÖZET 

 

UL Büşra. Alice Walker’ın The Color Purple Eseri ve Türkçe Çevirisinin Berman 

Metodolojisine Göre Biçemsel Analizi, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Ankara, 2015. 

 

Biçem, metinlere tutarlı bir anlam kazandıran; onların ayrılmaz bir parçası olması 

münasebetiyle edebi eserlerin özünü oluşturur. Edebi metinlerdeki biçem çeşitli 

dilbilimsel değişkenlerin kullanımı ile oluşturulur. Bu dilbilimsel değişkenlerin erek 

dile aktarımı kolay olmadığı için, edebi eserlerin biçeminin çeviri metinlerinde 

yansıtılması çevirmen açısından zorlayıcı bir süreçtir. Bu çalışma edebi eserlerdeki 

biçemsel kullanımların başka bir dilde ne derecede yansıtabileceği konusuna 

odaklanmaktadır ve bu amaçla, Alice Walker’ın en bilinen romanı The Color Purple ve 

onun Armağan İkin tarafından yapılan Türkçe çevirisi Renklerden Moru bir vaka 

çalışması olarak seçilip analiz edilmiştir. İki metin üzerinde Antoine Berman tarafından 

önerilen çeviri analitiği kapsamında karşılaştırmalı biçemsel bir analiz yürütülmüştür. 

Bu analitik çerçevesinde Berman tarafından önerilen on iki deforme edici eğilim bu 

tezin ana metodolojik ve kuramsal çerçevesi olarak benimsenmiştir. Bu eğilimlerin her 

biri, çeviri sürecinde sıklıkla deformasyona uğrayan farklı biçemsel öğelere odaklanır. 

Bu bilgiler ışığında, The Color Purple ve Renklerden Moru, on iki deforme edici eğilim 

tarafından belirlenen biçemsel öğeler doğrultusunda değerlendirilmiştir. Buna paralel 

olarak, kaynak metnin biçeminin korunup korunamadığı sorusuna cevap aranmıştır. 

Çalışmanın sonunda, kaynak metnin biçeminin erek metinde tamamen korunamadığı ve 

belirli bir ölçüde deforme olduğu görülmüştür. 

 

Anahtar Sözcükler  

Biçem, Antoine Berman, deforme edici eğilimler, Alice Walker, The Color Purple 



vi 

 

ABSTRACT 

 

UL Büşra. A Bermanian Stylistic Analysis of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Its 

Turkish Translation, Master’s Thesis, Ankara, 2015. 

 

Style composes the gist of literary works, as it is an inseparable element that forms a 

coherent meaning in texts. The style in the literary texts is mainly achieved with the 

usage of various linguistic variants. The representation of the literary style in the 

translation poses a significant challenge for the translator, as these linguistic variants are 

hard to be rendered in the target language. This study focuses on to what extent the 

stylistic features in the literary works can be reflected to another language and, to that 

end, it analyses Alice Walker’s well-known novel The Color Purple and its Turkish 

translation Renklerden Moru by Armağan İlkin as a case study. A comparative stylistic 

analysis is carried out between the two texts within the framework of Antoine Berman’s 

analytic of translation. The twelve deforming tendencies suggested by Berman in this 

analytic are adopted as the focal methodological and theoretical framework of this 

present thesis. Each of these tendencies handles different stylistic aspects which are 

often deformed during the translation process. Within this mindset, The Color Purple 

and Renklerden Moru are evaluated in accordance with twelve deforming tendencies 

and, by extension, the stylistic aspects represented by these tendencies. In line with this 

thought, the question of whether the style of the source text is deformed or preserved in 

the target text has been explored. At the end of this study, it is concluded that the style 

of the source text cannot be fully retained in the target text and it is deformed to a 

certain extent. 

 

Key Words 

style, Antoine Berman, deforming tendencies, Alice Walker, The Color Purple   

 

 



vii 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

KABUL VE ONAY .......................................................................................................... i 

BİLDİRİM ....................................................................................................................... ii 

DEDICATION ................................................................................................................ iii 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... iv 

ÖZET ................................................................................................................................ v 

ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... vi 

TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................. vii 

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS  ...................................................................................... ix 

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 

1. PROBLEM STATEMENT ............................................................................... 2 

2. PURPOSE OF STUDY ..................................................................................... 2 

3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................... 3 

4. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK .................... 3 

5. LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................. 4 

CHAPTER 1 – THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................... 5 

1. STYLE, STYLISTICS AND TRANSLATION .......................................... 5 

1.1. Style ......................................................................................................... 5 

1.2. Stylistics ................................................................................................... 6 

1.3. Stylistics and Translation ......................................................................... 7 

2. ANALYTIC OF TRANSLATION AND ANTOINE BERMAN .................. 8 

2.1. Rationalization ....................................................................................... 10 

2.2. Clarification............................................................................................ 10 

2.3. Expansion ............................................................................................... 10 

2.4. Ennoblement and Popularization ........................................................... 11 

2.5. Qualitative Impoverishment ................................................................... 11 

2.6. Quantitative Impoverishment ................................................................. 11 

2.7. The Destruction of Rhythms .................................................................. 12 

2.8. The Destruction of Underlying Networks of Signification .................... 12 

2.9. The Destruction of Linguistic Patterning ............................................... 12 

2.10. The Destruction of Vernacular Networks or Their Exoticization ........ 13 

2.11. The Destruction of Expressions and Idioms ........................................ 13 



viii 

 

2.12. The Effacement of The Superimposition of Languages ....................... 13 

CHAPTER 2 – THE AUTHOR AND THE NOVEL ................................................. 15 

1. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ALICE WALKER .......................................... 15 

2. THE SUMMARY OF THE COLOR PURPLE ......................................... 17 

3. THE STYLE OF THE COLOR PURPLE  ................................................ 22 

CHAPTER 3 – CASE STUDY: THE COLOR PURPLE ........................................... 24 

1. A COMPARATIVE STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE COLOR PURPLE 

AND ITS TURKISH TRANSLATON RENKLERDEN MORU ................... 24 

1.1. Rationalization ....................................................................................... 24 

1.2. Clarification............................................................................................ 29 

1.3. Expansion ............................................................................................... 33 

1.4. Ennoblement and Popularization ........................................................... 37 

1.5. Qualitative Impoverishment ................................................................... 40 

1.6. Quantitative Impoverishment ................................................................. 45 

1.7. The Destruction of Rhythms .................................................................. 49 

1.8. The Destruction of Underlying Networks of Signification .................... 54 

1.9. The Destruction of Linguistic Patternings ............................................. 61 

1.10. The Destruction of Vernacular Networks or Their Exoticization ........ 72 

1.11. The Destruction of Expressions and Idioms ........................................ 78 

1.12. The Effacement of The Superimposition of Languages ....................... 81 

CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 88 

BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................... 94 

APPENDIX 1: ETİK KURUL İZİN MUAFİYETİ FORMU ................................. 102 

APPENDIX 2: ORJİNALLİK RAPORU ................................................................. 104 

 

 

 

 



ix 

 

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 

 

SOURCE TEXT:         ST 

TARGET TEXT:        TT 

AFRICAN AMERICAN VERNACULAR ENGLISH:   AAVE 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



1 

 

INTRODUCTION 

Style can be simply defined as a specific use of language. Each and every text has a 

certain style and this style is an inseparable and crucial part of that particular text. The 

style of literary text is the most commonly studied subject in the stylistic studies and it 

will be the focal point of this study as well. The style of a literary text consists of 

various linguistic choices. These linguistic choices, in other words stylistic features 

render the style of that particular text unique and distinctive. These features should be 

coherent and they should be regularly repeated in a certain pattern in order to be 

identified as a component of the style (Malmkjær & Carter, 2002, p. 510). These 

components may entail various linguistic structures, different vernacular features, 

culture-specific items as well as figures of speech. These stylistic features undeniably 

contribute to the overall meaning of the text. Even though there is an ambiguity of 

whether these components are selected consciously or unconsciously by the author, the 

use of certain components leaves no room for doubt that the selection of them serves a 

certain purpose. For instance, the use of culture-specific items is for the purpose of 

signifying that specific culture.   

The question of how the style should be reflected in the translation is always a debatable 

issue in the field of Translation Studies. This issue has been discussed by many 

translation studies scholars although this discussion has been named rather differently 

such as the form or the meaning, word-for-word or sense-for-sense and finally, formal 

equivalence or dynamic equivalence, the concepts suggested by Eugene Nida (2000).  

One of the scholars who is concerned about the transfer of stylistic features in 

translation is Antoine Berman. Although Berman never claims that his methodology is a 

stylistic approach, the content of his analytic immensely deals with the translation of 

stylistic features which create “the foreignness” of the text. Berman’s major concern is 

to preserve the “foreignness” of an original text in the translated text (2000). He 

suggests the categorization of twelve deforming tendencies and each of these tendencies 

handles different stylistic aspects of the text. 

In this regard, Alice Walker’s highly speculated novel The Color Purple and its Turkish 

translation Renklerden Moru are selected as the source and target texts, respectively and 

they will be studied within the framework of Berman’s analytic of translation. The 



2 

 

questions of how the stylistic features are rendered in the translationand to what extent 

the style of the original work is deformed are the focal questions to tackle in this study. 

1. PROBLEM STATEMENT 

The Color Purple possesses a distinctive style which is created by a number of various 

elements such as the extensive use of African-American Vernacular English, contrastive 

usage of this vernacular and the Standard English, idiolectal and rhythmical expressions 

of the novel’s protagonist Celie as well as her simple style. All of these stylistic features 

of the novel complicate the process of translation as they are intentionally asserted with 

superior motives by the author. These motives will be discussed in detail in the case 

study. Thus, the study will evaluate to what extent these distinctive stylistic features of 

the source text are reflected in the target text under the light of Berman’s methodology. 

2. THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 

The purpose of this study is to implement a comparative stylistic analysis between the 

source and target texts, in order to explore the differences between the texts in 

accordance with Berman’s categorization and enlighten the reasons which may cause 

such differences.  

As mentioned above, Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple and its Turkish translation 

Renklerden Moru by Armağan İlkin are chosen to be examined as a case study. In the 

novel, the protagonist Celie, first, writes letters to God, then to her sister, Nettie. These 

letters are written in a very simple manner due to her lack of education and they also 

contain African American Vernacular English, in other words Black English. In this 

study, the questions of whether the translator is able to capture the same stylistic effect 

which exists in the source text and if the style of the source text is deformed or not will 

be discussed. For the evaluation of these points, Antoine Berman’s analytic of 

translation will be adopted. Berman’s methodology is one of the understudied 

approaches in the field of Translation Studies and in that sense; this study differs from 

the other studies of this field on the aspect of adopting this methodology as a theoretical 

framework.  



3 

 

3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 

In this study, the answers for the following questions will be sought: 

1. Is the style of the source text preserved in the target text? 

2. If the style of the source text cannot be preserved, which deforming tendencies 

do occur in the target text? 

3. What is lost in the style of the source text due to resultant deforming tendencies? 

4. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL 

FRAMEWORK 

In this study, the analytic of translation that is suggested by Antoine Berman will be 

adopted as the theoretical framework. Berman introduces this analytic in his article 

titled “Translation and the Trials of the Foreign” (2000). Berman expresses in his article 

that the “foreignness” of an original work should be preserved in the translation. Within 

this mindset, he proposes this analytic as a methodology in order to underline the key 

points that should be regarded by the translators. 

This analytic is a stylistic one and it focuses on the stylistic deformations that tend to 

happen in the translation process. Taking this fact into consideration, Berman proposes 

twelve deforming tendencies that mainly classify these deformations which are likely to 

happen. These twelve tendencies will constitute the basis of the analysis and they will 

be adopted as the criteria of evaluation and comparison between the stylistic features of 

the two texts. These tendencies can be defined as follows: 

1- rationalization 

2- clarification 

3- expansion 

4- ennoblement and popularization 

5- qualitative impoverishment 

6- quantitative impoverishment 

7- the destruction of rhythms 

8- the destruction of underlying networks of signification 

9- the destruction of linguistic patternings 



4 

 

10- the destruction of vernacular networks or their exoticization 

11- the destruction of expressions and idioms 

12- the effacement of the superimposition of languages (Berman, 2000, p. 

288) 

Each of these deforming tendencies will be analyzed and discussed conscientiously in 

the chapter of case study. 

5. LIMITATIONS 

The comparative analysis will be carried out between The Color Purple and its one and 

only Turkish translation Renklerden Moru which is translated by Armağan İlkin in 

1984. The book hasn’t been translated by another translator and there aren’t any 

editions of this current translation. 

This analysis will solely focus on the stylistic aspects of both texts and the methodology 

for the evaluation will be none other than Berman’s analytic of translation. This is the 

main and only theoretical and methodological framework of this thesis. 

Berman suggests this analytic in his article titled “La Traduction comme épreuve de 

l’étranger” which is written in French 1985. Later, it was translated into English by 

Lawrence Venuti under the title of “Translation and the Trials of the Foreign” in 2000. 

This study is confined to English version of the methodology.  

Finally, this study aims to enlighten the issues surrounding the reflection of stylistic 

structures in the translation and what is lost with the deformation of these stylistic 

structures in the style of the source text within the boundaries of this particular case 

study.  

 

 

 

 

 



5 

 

CHAPTER 1 – THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 

1. STYLE, STYLISTICS AND TRANSLATION 

1.1. Style 

Style can be mainly defined as the specific use of language in a certain context. 

Although style is an umbrella term which is hard to define, this short definition can give 

the meaning of style in general. The context of style may vary and comprise a wide 

range of fields. Style is closely connected with the linguistic concept register which can 

also be given as the variation of language in a certain context for a certain purpose 

(Boase-Beier, 2011, p. 153). Register is the language variation whereas style is the 

preferred language in the context. Consequently, style overlaps with the concept of 

register.  

Style is described as characteristic language use by Geoffrey Leech and Mick Short in 

their groundbreaking book titled Style in Fiction: A Linguistic Introduction to English 

Fictional Prose which can be identified as a pioneering work in the field of stylistics 

(Leech & Short, 2007). Although style exists in various kinds of texts, style in literary 

texts i.e. literary style is the mostly scrutinized aspect of the stylistic studies. Taking this 

fact into consideration, the focal point of this thesis is the literary style and it will be 

discussed hereafter.  

Style of a literary text enables us to fully comprehend the meaning of the text. Thus, 

style is crucially important in literary texts. Style consists of linguistic structures that are 

used in the literary texts for conveying the underlying and genuine meaning while 

achieving an aesthetically pleasing text. Furthermore, stylistic features of a specific text 

distinguish it from the other texts and thus create a textual uniqueness. In order to 

achieve this uniqueness, the concept of deviation should be taken into account. These 

stylistic features are to deviate from the standard language use which can be accepted as 

the norm (Leech, Stylistics, 1985, p. 40). 

It is a fact that linguistic structures constitute literary style, yet not all of these structures 

can be accounted as a stylistic feature. There is a fine line between a random literary 

structure in a text and a stylistic feature of a text. The linguistic structures in a text are 



6 

 

required to follow a pattern and there should be a repetition of the same structures more 

than a couple of times. In other words, style should be systematic with the patterned and 

repeated linguistic choices. 

Writers choose one or a number of stylistic variants over the endless options of 

linguistic structures intentionally or unintentionally and this choice makes up the style 

of that text (p. 16). There is a wide range of linguistic structures one can find in the 

language system. To name a few, these structures may include rhyme, metaphor, simile, 

irony, oxymoron and so forth. A systematic use of a certain dialect can also be classified 

as the stylistic features of the text.  

1.2. Stylistics 

Stylistics is the discipline that studies the style. Leech and Short define stylistics “as an 

exercise in describing what use is made of language” (2007, p. 11). Stylistics aims to 

understand how a text means what it means. It focuses on not only the meaning of the 

text but also the linguistic devices that constitute the meaning of the text. Stylistics 

explores what underlies beyond the text, what is implied, what is inferred by the reader 

and so forth by concentrating on the style.  

Katie Wales describe and defines stylistics as follows; 

“STYLISTICS: The study of style… Just as style can be viewed in several 

ways, so there are several stylistic approaches. This variety in stylistics is 

due to the main influences of linguistics and literary criticism… By far the 

most common kind of material studied is literary; and attention is largely 

text-centred… The goal of most stylistics is not simply to describe the 

formal features of texts for their own sake, but in order to show their 

functional significance for the interpretation of text; or in order to relate 

literary effects to linguistic “causes” where these are felt to be relevant…” 

(2001, pp. 437- 438) 

 

Stylistics was born from the need to put stylistic studies on a scientific basis and create 

an objective field of study. The main reason for objectivization of stylistic studies is the 

criticism against the subjective and ambiguous nature of these studies. With the 

emergence of stylistics as a new discipline and suggestions of new methods and 

approaches, stylistic studies have become more systematic and objective. 



7 

 

The establishment of stylistics as a separate and brand-new discipline within the literary 

studies is prominently influenced by two groups: Russian and European Formalists and 

New Criticism which mainly consists of scholars and writers from Britain and America. 

These two groups carried out studies within the same direction and framework but 

restrictively within their specific geographic region and academia (Bradford, 2005, p. 

11).  Russian and European Formalists include a number of important scholars such as 

Roman Jakobson – who has also prominent works in translation studies –, Jan 

Mukařovský, Viktor Shklovsky and later Leo Spitzer; whereas New Critics are formed 

by I. A. Richards, Robert Penn Warren and Cleanth Brooks. Afterwards, scholars such 

as Willie Van Peer, Mick Short and Geoffrey Leech lay the foundations of modern 

stylistics with their works.  

At first, stylistics evaluated the style of the texts with a textual analysis while 

completely isolating the non-textual factors such as background of the reader or 

circumstances in which the text is written. Afterwards, stylistics moved towards a more 

comprehensive perspective by taking into account of non-textual factors. With this step, 

stylistic analysis has become both textual and contextual for exploring the style of the 

texts (McRae & Clark, 2004, p. 329).  

1.3. Stylistics and Translation 

Stylistics is newly studied discipline in translation studies. This stems from the fact that 

stylistics is a recently emerged field of study in the same way as translation studies. 

Preliminary works of translation studies are merely linguistic approaches and these 

studies rarely mentioned the style and its translatability even though stylistics is a 

branch of linguistics. 

Style of a text has been referred as “spirit” or “energy” of the text from Cicero and 

Horace to Dryden and Pope. It is mentioned by many forerunners in translation history 

yet it has never been handled in detail (Boase-Beier, 2006, pp. 10 - 11).  

Roman Jakobson can be regarded as an influential scholar for both disciplines. He not 

only laid the foundations of modern stylistics but also made significant contributions to 

the field of Translation Studies. Hence Jakobson is one of the first translation scholars 

who state the importance of style in his article titled “On Linguistic Aspects of 



8 

 

Translation” (2000) which is published in 1959 although he does not discuss the matter 

to the fullest extent. After Jakobson, no linguistic studies within the field of translation 

studies have discussed the style in translation (Boase-Beier, 2004a).  

Stylistics gained prominence in translation studies with the works of scholars such as 

Mona Baker (2000) and Jeremy Munday (2001) but it is Mary Snell-Hornby who firstly 

and comprehensively discussed style in literary translation in her work titled 

Translation Studies: An Integrated Approach (1995). With these initiatives, stylistics 

and the concept of style started to integrate into translation studies and then it is further 

examined.  

Jean Boase-Beier has become a household name in this field of study with her works 

(2004a), (2004b), (2004c), (2006) and enhanced the field of stylistics in translation 

studies along with other scholars such as Kirsten Malmkjær (2004) who suggests the 

concept of translational stylistics, Catherine Claire Thomson (2004) who examines 

heteroglossia within the framework of Antoine Berman’s analytic of translation (2000), 

and finally Josep Marco (2004) who suggests a model for translation-oriented stylistic 

analysis. 

Antoine Berman introduces a methodology in his work titled “Translation and the Trials 

of the Foreign” (2000) for examining the translation of vernacular networks and other 

aspects, also. Although it has never been referred as a stylistic approach in translation 

studies, Berman’s analytic deals with a considerable amount of stylistic issues such as 

translation of linguistic patternings and rhythms. Berman’s approach can be regarded as 

a stylistic approach because of its focus on stylistic features of both source and target 

texts and hence this thesis will adopt Berman’s analytic of translation as the theoretical 

framework. This methodology is discussed in detail in the following section. 

2. ANALYTIC OF TRANSLATION AND ANTOINE BERMAN  

In 1990s, the notions of keeping the “foreignness” and “foreignizing” the text have 

emerged (Thomson, 2004). This idea is mainly promoted by Lawrence Venuti and he 

promotes the concept of “visible translator” by foreignizing the text. He suggests that 

preserving the foreignness of text will implicate the presence of a translator (1995). 

Venuti was mainly influenced by French scholar Antoine Berman who had previously 



9 

 

suggested and discussed the notion of ‘foreignness’ in his book titled L’éprevue de 

l’étranger: culture et traduction dans l’Allemagne romantique (1984) which is 

translated into English as The Experience of the Foreign: Culture and Translation in 

Romantic Germany (1992). He also meticilously explores this notion in his article 

entitled “La Traduction comme épreuve de l’étranger” (1985) which is also translated 

into English as “Translation and the Trials of the Foreign” (2000) by none other than 

Lawrence Venuti.  

Berman suggests that it is translator’s first and foremost task to preserve and transfer the 

authenticity of the source text as much as possible during the translation process. He 

names the act of translation “trial of the foreign” (Berman, 2000, p. 284). There are two 

aspects of this concept which are outlined by Berman: Firstly, it is a trial for target 

culture to encounter and feel the foreignness of the foreign work, in other words source 

text at most. Secondly, it is a trial for the foreign work which is displaced from its own 

language system and is tried to be placed in another language system (p. 284).  

Berman primarily focuses on the reflection of different vernaculars, dialect and 

ethnocentric elements that exist in a foreign work as he mostly translates from Spanish 

speaking Latin American countries which have various dialects spoken on their lands 

and the works of German Romanticism. Being exposed to different vernaculars leads 

Berman to suggest the notion of bringing the “foreignness” of text to the fore. He 

asserts that when a translation is neutralized, the “foreignness” disappears and this 

causes the textual deformation of the foreign work (Munday, 2001, p. 147). 

This notion motivated Berman to propose an analytic of translation for two purposes. 

First purpose is to reveal the textual deformation which is exercised through translation 

and the second one is to display the existing “forces” which leads to the deviation of 

translation from its original in the deforming system while keeping in mind that this 

system might be unaware of this deviation (Berman, 2000, p. 286). Berman refers to his 

analytic as negative analytic due to its negative nature of analyzing the textual 

deformation. However, he defines that the analytic might have a positive counterpart 

when these negative tendencies for textual deformation are limited or removed.  

Berman suggests a categorization of twelve deforming tendencies in order to examine 

the textual deformation of translation. This categorization will be adopted as the main 

methodology of this thesis. The tendencies are explained in detail as follows: 



10 

 

2.1. Rationalization 

This tendency mainly deals with the deformation of syntactical structures. This includes 

changing the punctuation, reorganizing the sequence of sentences, rearranging sentence 

order and the division of sentences. It also involves abstraction of the foreign work and 

making the text lose its concreteness. This means translating a verb with a noun form or 

adopting a strategy of generalization during translation process (Munday, 2001, p. 147). 

2.2. Clarification 

Clarification means making an element clear or “definite” while it is ambiguous or 

“indefinite” in the original. In other words, it is clarifying something which is not clear 

in the foreign text. Berman states that clarification is the most frequently adopted 

tendency by translators (2000, p. 289). He claims that the act of concealment might be 

intentional and has an underlying purpose; and making it apparent would be a betrayal 

to that purpose. Berman adds that “the movement from polysemy to monosemy is a 

mode of clarification” (p. 289) such as the failure of translating both meanings of a pun. 

Furthermore, paraphrasing and explanatory translation are other modes of clarification. 

It is worth noting that paratextual elements in the text such as footnotes, prefaces, last 

words or explanatory information in brackets by translator can fall under the category of 

clarification. 

2.3. Expansion 

Translations are usually longer than their original. The reason of this situation stems 

from the abovementioned modes of the analytic. Rationalization and clarification 

expand the translated work which is what this mode deals with. Berman claims that 

additions to the original work are “empty” words which have no meaning whatsoever. 

He defines them as a babbling that contributes not to the meaning of the text but to the 

mass of the text while diminishing and flattening the voice of the original text (p. 290).  

 



11 

 

2.4. Ennoblement and Popularization 

Ennoblement can be defined as embellishing the text, in other words making it more 

elevated than the original work. Berman describes ennoblement as “poetization” in 

poetry and “rhetorization” in prose (p. 290). The mode of ennoblement can include 

making the text more “elegant” by replacing simple elements with sophisticated ones or 

making the text more “readable” by discarding the clumsiness and complexity that exist 

in the original. The reverse concept of ennoblement is popularization which is discussed 

under the mode of ennoblement by Berman. Being the complete opposite of 

ennoblement, popularization entails making the text more ‘popular’ than it is by 

preferring up-to-date language instead of a dated one in the original work or replacing a 

formal expression with an informal one in the translation. 

2.5. Qualitative Impoverishment 

Qualitative impoverishment refers to the instances where some words or terms lose their 

phonetic quality during translation process. Berman defines this mode as replacing 

original expressions with target language elements “that lack their sonorous richness or, 

correspondingly, their signifying or “iconic” richness.” (p. 291). Referring the concept 

of iconicity, Berman indicates that the form and sound of some words makes them 

unique and thus it is hard to fully grasp the meaning, the form and the sound in the 

translation. 

2.6. Quantitative Impoverishment 

Quantitative impoverishment deals with the loss of lexical units. Berman explains that 

there are many different usages for the same concept in the language but these different 

words are usually translated with one word and that is a lexical loss (p. 292). For 

instance, there are more than twenty words for ‘snow’ in Eskimo languages and a 

translation from those languages into English will probably be at loss of some of those 

words by translating them merely as ‘snow’. This loss of lexical units is also another 

reason for poor and long translations. Quantitative impoverishment overlaps with the 



12 

 

mode of expansion due to the fact that the loss of a lexical unit is usually compensated 

with other lexical units in the target language. 

2.7. The Destruction of Rhythms 

This deforming tendency can be rendered as the most obvious one. This mode is mainly 

associated with poetry because of the fact that rhythm is the essential feature of many 

poems. Although this mode is usually discussed within the poetry e.g. destruction of 

rhyme and rhythm, it can also exist in prose. Deformation of an alliteration in a novel or 

using more punctuation marks than the original falls under the category of the 

destruction of rhythms. 

2.8. The Destruction of Underlying Networks of Signification 

Every text has an underlying meaning as discussed above while explaining the concept 

of style. This underlying meaning is achieved through underlying networks which are 

formed under the surface by the words on the surface. In other words, certain words in a 

text are connected through underlying networks which contribute to the meaning of the 

text. These certain words might be rendered as insignificant when they are out of the 

context yet they constitute an interdependent network of signification when they are 

used together. Mistranslation or omission of one of these words is similar to breaking a 

chain and it is also the destruction of underlying networks of signification. 

2.9. The Destruction of Linguistic Patternings 

A text may include irregular linguistic patternings which are different from regular 

patternings such as metaphors, oxymorons, alliteration and so forth. These irregular 

patternings are specific to that text, they are systematically repeated and they compose 

the text’s originality in the meantime creating a heterogeneous coherence for the text. 

Berman expresses that this heterogeneous coherence tends to be spoiled during the 

process of rationalization, clarification, expansion along with practice of other 



13 

 

deforming tendencies. This disruption of the linguistic patternings lead to a more 

“homogenous” text than the original (p. 293) and this is what the destruction of 

linguistic patternings entails.  

2.10. The Destruction of Vernacular Networks or Their Exoticization 

Berman attributes great importance to vernacular language in foreign works. He states 

that deformation of vernaculars in translation is a “serious injury to the textuality of 

prose works” (p. 294). Berman’s concern about the translation of vernaculars 

presumably originates from the fact that he frequently encounters different Latin 

American vernaculars in his translations. Neutralization or omission of these vernacular 

networks in translation will be the destruction of vernacular networks. Exoticization of 

vernaculars is mostly preferred practice of transferring the vernacular networks into the 

target language. Exoticization can happen in two ways: Firstly by italicizing vernacular 

elements which isolates them from the text and secondly replacing them with an 

equivalent target culture vernacular which ridicules the original (p. 294).  

2.11. The Destruction of Expressions and Idioms 

Every work of prose or poetry involves expressions, idioms, proverbs and so on. 

Berman assumes that finding a target language equivalent for these is not the proper 

way to translate them. Thus, he prefers literal translation of expressions, idioms and 

proverbs instead of searching an equivalence that exists in target culture. He claims that 

literal translation of these elements will enrich the target language while preserving 

their foreignness.  

2.12. The Effacement of the Superimposition of Languages  

A novel can comprise different vernaculars and a common language. Superimposition 

refers to the different nuances between these vernaculars and language which indicate 

the existence of different identities. The effacement of the superimposition of languages 



14 

 

deals with erasure of these nuances in the translation. In this way, the differences 

between vernaculars and the language or languages disappear and the traces of the 

vernaculars are lost. Berman states that this problem requires our maximum attention as 

translators. He highlights the importance of heteroglossia such as sociolects, idiolects 

and so forth which reflects the diversity in languages. 

As discussed above, these categorizations are closely related with the stylistic features 

of the text. Berman’s analytic is significant in the aspect of its focus on stylistic matters, 

heteroglossia in particular. Berman states that translation always tends to sacrifice style 

of the foreign work in favor of meaning (p. 297). He suggests this kind of analytic in 

order to change this tendency and bring the “foreignness” in translation to the fore. 

Although his primary aims are not stylistic concerns, Berman’s methodology can easily 

be categorized as a stylistic approach due to its nature.  

Regarding this information above, this thesis adopts Berman’s methodology for 

analyzing the styles of source and target texts. The examples which are taken from the 

stylistic features of both texts are chosen and evaluated within the framework of 

Berman’s categorization. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



15 

 

CHAPTER 2 – THE AUTHOR AND THE NOVEL 

1. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ALICE WALKER 

Alice Walker is an African American novelist, essayist; activist and finally ‘womanist’ 

which is a term she coined instead of using the term ‘feminist’. She was born in 

February 9, 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia. Her parents were sharecroppers and thus she 

and her family suffered greatly from poverty during her childhood. 

At the age of eight, Walker had an accident that scarred her for life both physically and 

emotionally. While playing a game with her brothers, she was accidentally shot with a 

BB gun that injured her right eye. Her parents were a little late to provide her a medical 

treatment therefore she lost the sight in her eye. Also, the injury left a scar in her eye 

that made her embarrassed. After the incident, Walker became shy and silent and that’s 

when she turned to books for relief and recovery. This condition of her eye continued 

until she had an operation and the tissue that caused the scar in her eye removed 

(Donnelly, 2010, pp. 12-14). Later, she regained her self-confidence and increased her 

grades in school and eventually she earned a scholarship in Spelman College which is a 

well-respected college for educating black women.  

When Walker started college, Jim Crow laws were effective in South. These laws 

required segregation between white and black people (Fredrickson, 2002, p. 1). During 

her college years, Walker joined the civil rights movement and took an activist stand in 

the matters of discrimination against black people. She even attended the famous ‘I 

Have a Dream’ speech of Martin Luther King Jr. in August 1963 March on Washington. 

Spelman College was not pleased with her activist behavior and thus Walker was 

transferred to Sarah Lawrence College in New York (Donnelly, 2010, p. 20). 

At the last year in college, Walker became pregnant and she suffered a heavy depression 

because of it, even thought about committing suicide. Later, she had an illegal abortion 

with the help of her friends. These dark times affected her craft, too. She wrote a story 

titled “To Hell With Dying” in those times and later, it was published. 

After graduation, Walker first moved to New York City and then Mississippi where she 

met a white Jewish law student Mel Leventhal. They got married and became one of the 



16 

 

first interracial couples which were illegal in Mississippi at that time (Lauret, 2010, p. 

491).  

In the year of 1969, Walker gave birth to her first and only child Rebecca and she 

completed her first novel The Third Life of Grange Copeland. Even though her literary 

talent was recognized and praised, her portrayal of black men was highly criticized and 

she even accused of betraying her race (p. 491).  

After her first novel, Walker published two books: one is a collection of her short 

stories entitled In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women (1973) and the other one 

is a collection of her poems entitled Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems (1973) 

which “was nominated for a National Book Award” (Donnelly, 2010, p. 37).  

In 1976, Walker got divorced fro her husband Mel and then published her second 

fictional novel Meridian which is a story of a young woman who takes place in the civil 

rights movement.  

After her second novel, Walker started to work on her third novel but she found out it 

was impossible for her to work on it in New York because this novel’s characters were 

country people (Walker, 1983, p. 356). For this reason, she moved to a rural part of 

California to write her most famous novel to the date: The Color Purple. 

While working on her new novel The Color Purple, Walker impressively published two 

books. The first book is a collection poems Good Night, Willie Lee, I’ll See You in the 

Morning (1979) which was dedicated to her father and the other one is a collection of 

short stories You Can’t Keep a Good Woman (1981). She also edited an anthology book 

entitled I Love Myself When I Am Laughing… And Then Again When I Am Looking 

Mean and Impressive (1979) about African American woman writer, Zora Neale 

Hurston who influenced Alice Walker in many ways (Donnelly, 2010, pp. 40-41). 

Finally, The Color Purple was published in 1982 and immediately became a best-

selling and an award-winning novel. In 1983, Walker won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction 

and became the first black woman to win this award (p. 41). She was also awarded with 

a National Book Award for her achievement in the novel. The Color Purple has been 

both praised and criticized ever since it was published. Some critics categorized it as a 

groundbreaking novel for its literary achievement and distinctive storyline whereas 

others criticized it for its portrayal of black men which is always negative (Harris, 

1984). The novel has caused controversy throughout the years and yet it is reclaimed as 



17 

 

a contemporary classic. The novel was adapted into a motion picture in 1985 and it was 

directed by Steven Spielberg. Later, it was adapted into a Broadway musical in the 

2000s.  

In 1983, Walker published a collection of articles which she wrote throughout the years 

and a couple of new articles which were written for the book under the title of In Search 

of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose. In this book, she dealt with many issues 

such as how she wrote The Color Purple, civil rights movement, Zora Neale Hurston 

and so forth. In this particular book, Walker suggested a new term she coined instead of 

feminist. The term is ‘womanist’ and Walker describes it as “a black feminist or 

feminist of color” (Walker, 1983, p. xi)  and she adds that a womanist “is committed to 

the survival and wholeness of an entire people, male and female.” (p. xii). Posasibly, 

Walker prefers and suggests ‘womanist’ because of the fact that the term ‘feminist’ and 

‘feminism’ fails to represent the women who have different racial, cultural, social and 

ethnic backgrounds. 

Walker published many fictional novels after The Color Purple such as The Temple of 

My Familiar (1989), Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992), By the Light of My Father’s 

Smile (1998), Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart (2005). Additionally, she wrote 

collections of poetry and essays such as Horses Make a Landscape Look Beautiful 

(1984), Her Blue Body Everything We Know: Earthling Poems (1991), Absolute Trust 

in the Goodness of the Earth (2003), A Poem Traveled Down My Arm (2003), The Same 

River Twice: Honoring the Difficult (1996), The Way Forward Is With a Broken Heart 

(2000), Anything We Love Can Be Saved (1997), We Are the Ones We Have Been 

Waiting For (2006), Overcoming Speechlessness (2010). Although she has created 

many literary works after The Color Purple, none of them became as famous as that 

novel. 

Alice Walker still lives in California, USA. She still actively writes about current issues 

such as environmental, gender and racial issues. 

2. THE SUMMARY OF THE COLOR PURPLE 

The Color Purple tells the story of a young black girl Celie. The novel is an epistolary 

novel which is composed of firstly Celie’s letters to God, then Celie’s sister Nettie’s 



18 

 

letters to Celie and finally Celie’s letters to Nettie. The novel is composed of 90 letters. 

Celie is the protagonist of the story and she writes the letters form her perspective and 

thus she is also the narrator. Celie shares her experiences, her thoughts and her troubles. 

She is a young black poor uneducated girl who lives in rural Georgia with her family. 

Her only friend is her beloved sister, Nettie. At the age of fourteen, Celie is raped by her 

father Alfonso and gets pregnant twice. Her babies are taken away from her by her 

father and Celie doesn’t know what happened to them, even whether they are alive or 

not. Due to her pregnancies, she drops out of school and thus she loses her chance to get 

an education. After her mother gets sick and then dies, her father forces Celie into a 

loveless marriage with Mr.  who initially lusts after her sister Nettie. Celie’s life 

doesn’t get better when she marries Mr. . He continually abuses and beats her. 

Moreover, Celie is required to do the chores in the house, look after the children of Mr. 

 from his first marriage and work in the farm. When their father tries to sexually 

molest Nettie, Nettie runs away and comes to live with Celie. But Mr.  who is 

attracted to Nettie throws her out of the house unless she accepts to be his mistress. 

When Nettie rejects, she leaves the house and thus Celie and her beloved sister Nettie 

remain seperate for a long time. Celie is left alone and trapped into a horrible marriage 

and she hates Mr.  even more.  

Nettie meets a reverend and his wife and starts working in their house as a maid. Later, 

she finds out the truth that this couple has adopted Celie’s children and the man whom 

they thought as their father is actually their stepfather as their real father was lynched by 

white people when they were very little. She goes to Africa as a missionary with this 

couple. They start to live with an African tribe Olinka and Nettie lives in Africa for 

many long years. She sends letters to Celie in order to tell what she goes through. Celie 

never receives these letters because Mr.  hides them from Celie.  

In the meantime, Mr. ’s eldest son Harpo falls in love with a girl Sofia. Sofia gets 

pregnant and they get married even though Mr.  rejects. Sofia doesn’t resemble Celie 

in any way. She is not obedient like Celie and doesn’t let Harpo beat her, as she is twice 

bigger and stronger than him. Harpo doesn’t know what to do with Sofia and asks Celie 

for advice. Celie advises him to beat her and then she immediately regrets it. When 

Sofia learns what Celie said, she confronts Celie and Celie apologizes. After this 

incident, they become close friends and this friendship becomes the only thing Celie 



19 

 

enjoys in her life. But Harpo continues to try to dominate her and being fed up with 

Harpo’s behaviour, Sofia leaves him to live with her sister Odessa by taking the 

children with her. After a while, Harpo starts a relationship with a girl named Squeak 

whose real name is Mary Agnes. 

One day Shug Avery comes to town. She is the only woman whom Mr.  fell in love 

with. Mr.  couldn’t marry her because his father didn’t allow him. Instead he married 

Annie Julia, the mother of his children but he continued to cheat on her with Shug. In 

the end, Annie Julia took a lover, too and when she tried to break up with him, her lover 

killed her and Mr.  became a widower.  

Shug is a blues singer and she is beautiful. She comes to town in order to sing. Celie 

desperately wants to go as she is curious about her but Mr.  doesn’t allow her. Then, 

Mr.  brings Shug Avery to his house because she is heavily sick. Mr.  wants Celie 

to take care of her and Celie does so. Celie doesn’t feel offended when she takes care of 

Shug owing to the fact that she feels attracted to her. At first, Shug ill-treats Celie due to 

her feelings for Albert which is Mr. ’s real name and she resents Celie for being his 

wife. Yet, as time passes, Shug gets better with the help of Celie and she grows fond of 

her. They become friends and Celie tells her about Mr. ’s beatings. When Shug asks 

the reason, Celie says, “for being me and not you” (p. 71). At that point, Shug promises 

Celie not to leave her until she becomes sure that Albert never beats her again. 

In the meantime, Harpo turns his house into a juke joint after Sofia leaves and asks 

Shug to sing in the joint. Shug sings a song which she named after Celie in the joint and 

Celie feels like she is loved for the first time after her sister left. One night, Shug tells 

Celie that she and Albert slept again and asks her permission to sleep with him. Celie 

reveals that she doesn’t care if they sleep or not and they start to talk about sex. Celie 

tells Shug that she never enjoys it and Shug tells Celie that she is still a virgin. 

Afterwards, she makes Celie to look at her vagina and to explore her sexuality and 

finally teaches her how to masturbate. Even though Celie tells her that she doesn’t mind 

if Shug and Albert sleep together, she actually does since she starts to fall for Shug. 

When Shug and Albert sleep together at nights, Celie listens them and masturbates 

while crying at the same time. Soon afterwards, Shug leaves. 

One night, Sofia comes to juke joint with her new boyfriend. She and Harpo starts 

dancing and then, Squeak who is Harpo’s new girlfriend gets jealous. She gets into a 



20 

 

fight with Sofia and Sofia beats Squeak, as she is stronger. Afterwards, Sofia leaves the 

juke joint. Soon after, Sofia comes across the Mayor and his wife in the town. His wife 

likes Sofia and her children and asks Sofia to be her maid. Sofia rudely refuses, 

therefore the Mayor slaps her and she punches the Mayor back. After this incident, she 

is put into prison. Celie, Harpo and the others go to visit Sofia in the prison where she is 

treated badly. They decide to do something about it and send Squeak to speak with the 

warden who is Squeak’s uncle about making Sofia work as a maid in the Mayor’s 

house. Squeak goes to talk to him and he rapes her. But after that, they move Sofia into 

the Mayor’s house and she starts working as a maid. After the rape, Squeak asks people 

to call her Mary Agnes, her real name and she also starts singing. 

After a while Shug comes to visit Celie and Albert for the holidays with a surprise. She 

is married to a man named Grady. Mr.  and Grady drink together all the time and thus 

Celie and Shug often stay alone. Celie finally tells Shug about her rape and after this, 

Celie and Shug sleep together for the first time. Celie also talks about how she is 

separated from her sister Nettie. Shug remembers that she saw funny-looking letters in 

Albert’s room. Together, they find Nettie’s letters that Mr.  is hiding and read them.  

Celie finds out that Nettie has found the missionary couple, Samuel and Corrine who 

has adopted Celie’s children, Adam and Olivia and has started to live with them. 

Afterwards, she has gone to Africa on a missionary with them and has moved to Olinka 

which is a tribe in Africa. They build a school and a church and try to educate Olinka 

children. In the meantime, Olivia became friends with Tashi, an Olinka girl. One day, a 

road is built right at the center of Olinka village and the school, church and many 

houses of Olinka people are destroyed. Olinka people leave their village and start to 

work in rubber plantation and unfortunately they become colonized. While they are in 

Olinka, Corrine gets sick and she is also angry with Nettie because the children 

resemble her a lot. Nettie tells the truth to Corrine about Celie and children. Although 

she relieves a little, Corrine still stays bitter and eventually dies. After the destruction of 

the Olinka village, Nettie and her people decide to return America. They bring Tashi 

with them as she and Adam fall in love with each other. On their way to America, 

Samuel and Nettie fall in love, too and they get married. 



21 

 

Nettie also shares the truth about Alfonso with Celie in her letters. She tells Celie that 

their real father is dead and their mother was remarried with Alfonso who is their 

stepfather.  

Shocked by the truth, Celie gets really angry with Mr.  for hiding the letters and with 

God who gives Celie nothing but misery. She starts to write Nettie instead of God and 

wander around the house all day while mumbling to herself and contemplating to kill 

Mr. . Seeing her act like crazy, Shug decides to take Celie with her to Memphis while 

leaving.  

Celie tells Mr.  that she is leaving him and going away with Shug. Mr.  tries to stop 

her but he fails. While leaving, Celie curses him. After they arrive in Memphis, Celie 

starts to make pants to keep herself busy. Eventually, she gets good at making them and 

starts to design for other people. After a while, she makes a business out of it and names 

her business Folkspants. 

Celie goes to visit Sofia and Harpo in Georgia and finds out that Mr.  has changed 

and turned into a new man. Albert finally stops being cruel and gives Celie the rest of 

Nettie’s letters. The letters say that Nettie and her family are returning to America and 

Adam is married with Tashi. Soon after, Celie learns that her stepfather, Alfonso is dead 

and the house that he was living actually belongs to her and Nettie. Celie moves to her 

house and opens a business of pants.  

After some time, Shug falls for a very young man while she is on the road. She goes to 

Celie and asks for her permission to have one last fling. Celie is shocked and 

heartbroken by the fact that Shug loves another and he is a man but she doesn’t prevent 

Shug from going. While Shug is off to have a final adventure, Celie becomes friend 

with Albert. They talk about different things such as their love for Shug and they sew 

together. Celie starts to enjoy Albert’s company. After sending her love to college, Shug 

returns to Celie and Albert. They start to spend their days in harmony and peace until 

the day Celie receives a telegram that announces the boat which carries Nettie, Samuel 

and the children sank and there are no survivors. However, Celie never believes that 

Nettie is dead. 

One day, out of nowhere, a car arrives at Celie’s house and Nettie, Samuel, Adam, 

Tashi and Olivia come out of the car. Celie starts to cry from happiness. After a very 



22 

 

long separation, two sisters reunite at last. Finally, they become a great and huge family 

and spend their days in peace and happiness. 

3. THE STYLE OF THE COLOR PURPLE 

The Color Purple is written in a very peculiar style. Walker’s unconventional use of 

language certainly plays an undeniably crucial role in the emergence of this style. The 

peculiarity and originality of this style will be demonstrated with selected examples. 

First and foremost the novel is remarkable for its effective usage of African American 

vernacular. This effective usage is always praised by critics, even though other elements 

of the novel have been criticized. Notable vernacular usages such as “I don’t never git 

used to it” (Walker, 1982, p. 3) , “He say, Naw, Can’t say I is” (p. 9) or “I seen my baby 

girl” (p. 15) are striking elements in the novel and they certainly grab the reader’s 

attention instantly. Additionally, the particular usage of this vernacular is primarily 

motivated by the purpose of bringing the African American minority to the fore as this 

vernacular is originated from this minority and it is their original way of speaking. This 

vernacular is an inseparable part of the novel’s style and thus, the question of its 

translatability is a pivotal one. Furthermore, Celie’s sister Nettie and her grammatically 

correct sophisticated use of Standard English creates an exceptional contrast between 

her language and Celie’s vernacular. This contrast is clearly visible when the two sisters 

utter the same sentence in their own ways as “Pa is not our pa!” (p. 159) by Nettie and 

“Pa not Pa.” (p. 160) by Celie. The representation of the differences between two 

different narrations in the translation is another aspect to be explored in the case study.  

One of the other eminent stylistic feature of the novel is the use of rhythmical 

expressions. Primarily used by the protagonist Celie, these rhythmical units bear the 

traces of the blues i.e. African American folks’ music. Blues is a music genre that 

originates from African American people and it usually deals with issues such as 

heartbreak, melancholy, depression, loneliness, domestic abuse, jealousy (Moore, 2009, 

p. 78). The passages such as “I say, Write. She say, What? I say, Write.” (p. 19) and “I 

think she mine. My heart say she mine. But I don’t know she mine. If she mine, her 

name Olivia.” (p. 15) display an unquestionable rhythm. These rhythms convey 

sadness, melancholy, excitement and disappointement and thus, they perfectly overlap 



23 

 

with the concept of blues and the emotions that it represents. These rhythmical excerpts 

can also be regarded as references to black American minority. Hence, the reflection of 

these rhythmical units in the translated work will be further discussed. 

Another outstanding stylistic feature is the simple voice of Celie. Celie’s lack of 

education and innocence are embodied in her writing. Expressions such as “Shug so 

quiet I think she sleep” (p. 102), “You miss ‘em? I ast” (p. 48) and “But I feels daze.” 

(p. 160) exemplify her simplicity. Even the way she describes the incestuous rape that 

she experiences as “Then he push his thing inside my pussy.” (p. 3) is a clear evidence 

of her innocence and her inability to understand this unfortunate incident. The transfer 

of this simplicity in Celie’s voice is another question to be answered in the case study.  

All of these distinctive stylistic features of the ST and their rendition in TT are 

discussed and explored within the framework of the chosen methodology.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



24 

 

CHAPTER 3 – CASE STUDY: THE COLOR PURPLE 

1. A COMPARATIVE STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE COLOR PURPLE 

AND ITS TURKISH TRANSLATON RENKLERDEN MORU  

In this section, a comparative stylistic study of The Color Purple and its Turkish 

translation Renklerden Moru will be carried out. The chosen novel and its translation 

will be analyzed within the framework of Antoine Berman’s analytic of translation. 

This analytic suggests twelve deforming tendencies that tend to occur during the 

translation process. These deforming tendencies can be given as (1) rationalization, (2) 

clarification, (3) expansion, (4) ennoblement and popularization, (5) qualitative 

impoverishment, (6) quantitative impoverishment, (7) the destruction of rhythms, (8) 

the destruction of underlying networks of signification, (9) the destruction of 

linguistic patternings, (10) the destruction of vernacular networks or their 

exoticization, (11) the destruction of expressions and idioms and (12) the effacement 

of the superimposition of languages (2000). These tendencies are comprehensively 

explained in Chapter 1. However, they will be shortly defined when the examples for 

each categorization are discussed. 

Five notable examples are selected for each tendency from the source text and 

compared to their translations to determine whether the “foreignness” of the foreign text 

is preserved or deformed. Five examples are considered to be sufficient to demonstrate 

whether the tendency in question occurs in a systematic and repetitive pattern in the 

target text or not. Consequently, these chosen examples will provide a better 

understanding of the styles of both source and target text and an answer to question of 

whether the style of the source texts is preserved and reflected in the target text. 

1.1. Rationalization 

Rationalization deals with the syntactical changes that are placed in target text, as 

mentioned in Chapter 1. Since syntactical changes are very likely to occur at every 

translation, this tendency can be categorized as the basic tendency. These changes 

include the division of sentences; change of punctuation marks and recomposing the 



25 

 

sentence sequence and order. Berman even describes the changes of subject-object-verb 

structure as deformation and renders them as rationalization (2000, p. 288). This 

deformation is inevitable in the English-Turkish language pair of this study owing to the 

fact that the sentence structure of English language is SVO whereas it is SOV in 

Turkish. Taking into account of this framework, chosen examples for the category of 

rationalization are discussed as follows: 

Example 1: 

ST TT 

Maybe you can give me a sign letting me 

know what is happening to me. (p. 3) 

Başıma gelenler nedendir sen söyleyebilir 

misin? (p. 5) 

 

In this example, a declarative sentence is turned into an interrogative one in the 

translation (Leech & Short, 2007, p. 223). It is obvious that syntactical structure in the 

foreign work i.e. source text is changed and hence deformed. Moreover, ST sentence is 

a kind of plea and a request from Celie. She who is pregnant at that time, is seeking for 

answers from God and this sentence indicates Celie’s innocence and confusion (Babb, 

1986, p. 110). However, TT sentence is a kind of complaint rather than a plea. This 

complain is attempted to be softened with the usage of “söyleyebilir misin” in the 

translation but it still fails to signify the confusion and naiveté of Celie. Thus, the 

change of the syntactical structure in TT diminishes some of the emotions that are 

conveyed through the voice of Celie. This syntactical deformation falls under the 

category of rationalization which “recomposes sentences” (2000, p. 288) according to 

Berman’s methodology and this rationalization also deforms the style of the ST to some 

extent. 

 

 

 

 



26 

 

Example 2: 

ST TT 

Say I’m evil an always up to no good. He 

took my other little baby, a boy this time. 

(p. 5) 

Kötüymüşüm ben. Aklım kötülükteymiş 

hep. Öteki bebemi de aldı. Oğlan olmuştu 

bu kez. (p. 5) 

 

In this excerpt, the source text has two sentences whereas the target text has four. The 

sentences of ST are divided into two sentences and punctuation mark is changed from 

comma to full stop as well. Thus, this leads to the deformation of syntactical structures 

of source text. It can also be asserted that this division also deforms the style of this 

excerpt which contains a certain fluency. Uneducated Celie writes as she speaks and her 

narration is “in an oral manner. The spelling, syntax, and grammatical construction all 

evoke the way Celie sounds.” (Babb, 1986, p. 110). This clearly renders a fluent text 

which is displayed in this excerpt. But the division of sentences and cutting them with 

full stops disrupt this fluency that is an essential part of Celie’s writing. As stated 

earlier, rationalization comprises division of sentences; therefore these divided four 

sentences in TT are examples for rationalization that occurs in translation as a 

deforming tendency since it deforms the fluent style of the text. 

Example 3: 

ST TT 

But I got a million question to ast. What 

she wear? Is she still the same old Shug, 

like in my picture? How her hair is? 

What kind lipstick? Wig? She stout? 

She skinny? She sound well? (…)  (p. 27) 

Sormak istediğim bir sürü şey var 

halbuki. Shug Avery ne giymişti? Yine 

eski Shug mıydı? Bendeki resmine 

benziyor mu hala? Dudağının boyası ne 

renk? Saçı nasıl? Kendi saçı mı, takma 

saç mı? Şişman mı, zayıf mı? Sesi güzel 

mi? Ağzının açınca ortalığı çınlatıyor 

mu? (...) (p. 25) 

 



27 

 

This excerpt depicts Celie who is really curious about Shug. She has many questions in 

her mind about Shug and she wants to ask them to Mr  who went to see Shug. The 

questions come in her mind so quickly that at one point she describes them “like 

snakes” (Walker, 1982, p. 27). She writes what comes in her mind so quickly that they 

have no coherence. This quickness and curiosity is reflected in the style of ST with 

short and incoherent questions. But it is obvious that the sentence order is rearranged 

into a more coherent order by gathering the questions about hair in a sequence. This 

surely deforms the style of the ST as it reduces the quickness and curiosity in TT to 

some extent. While describing rationalization, Berman expresses that the changes in the 

sentence sequence and repositioning them in accordance with a certain idea are also 

classified as a deforming tendency, namely rationalization (Berman, 2000, p. 289). 

Consequently, rationalization takes place in this passage once again. 

Example 4: 

ST TT 

(…) Yes, their children sent by ‘God’ are 

your children, Celie. And they are being 

brought up in love, Christian charity, 

and awareness of God. And now ‘God’ 

has sent me to watch over them, to 

protect them and cherish them. (…) (p. 

119) 

(...) Evet, Celie, ‘Tanrı’nın onlara 

bağışladığı çocuklar senin çocukların. 

Çocuklarının çok iyi yetiştirildiğini bil, 

için rahat etsin. Ayrıca, onları sevip 

korumam için beni de yanlarına yolladı 

‘Tanrı’. (...) (p. 108) 

 

Berman states that the tendency of generalization during the translation process can also 

be rendered as rationalization (Munday, 2001, p. 147). In this example, the ST sentence 

is translated with a general depiction. In ST, the writer talks about how the children are 

brought up and mentions that they are aware of their religion. This expression is 

translated as “çok iyi yetiştirilmek” which means “raised up very well” in English. 

Compared to ST, the translated expression in TT seems more general than the ST 

sentence since it does not mention of love or the religion. The reason of this omission 

might be the fact that the majority of target readers are not Christians but Muslims. As a 



28 

 

consequence, this part might be rendered as unnecessary and the strategy of 

generalization is preferred. However, Christianity is a significant theme in the novel as 

most of letters are written to God by Celie and Nettie goes to Africa as a Christian 

missionary. Thus, the style of the novel includes considerable amount of Christianity 

elements and the generalization by omitting these elements deforms the style of the text. 

It can be suggested that the mode of generalization can be categorized as rationalization 

as a deforming tendency in this example. 

Example 5: 

ST TT 

Dear God,  

(...) 

You must be sleep. (p. 160) 

Ulu Tanrım, 

(...) 

Sen uyuyor musun, be Tanrım? (p. 146) 

 

This example resembles the first example in a way that the syntactic form is changed in 

translation. Declarative syntactic form in ST is transferred with an interrogative 

syntactic form in TT. This decision not only deforms the form of the text but also 

slightly changes the meaning and the style. In the ST, Celie learns recently that the man 

whom she knows as her father is actually her stepfather. She says, “You must be 

sleep” to God and she gives up on God with these words as she realizes that the God 

that she was praying has done nothing for her. Hence, this sentence is a kind of 

assumption, resentment, anger and a farewell since she stops writing letters and praying 

to God afterwards (Winchell, 1992, p. 92). But TT sentence “Sen uyuyor musun, be 

Tanrım?” fails on the account of reflecting the resentment in the Celie’s voice. It is 

more like a reproach that reflects the anger. All in all, from a syntactic perspective, this 

example displays that rationalization has been adopted in this excerpt and this 

rationalization injures the style of the text.  Consequently, it can be suggested this 

example and the other four examples deform the text to a certain extent and these 

deformations can be categorized as rationalization.  

 



29 

 

1.2. Clarification 

Clarification can be shortly defined as making translation clearer than the original. This 

entails clarifying the ambiguous usages, paraphrasing or explanatory translation. 

Footnotes, prefaces, epilogues that belong to the translator also fall under the category 

of clarification. According to Berman, the tendency to make a more understandable 

translation eventually leads to clarification that deforms the text (2000, p. 289). 

Selected examples for this deforming tendency are discussed as follows: 

Example 1: 

ST TT 

But too sick to last long.  (p. 3) Ama o da hasta. Yolcudur o, çok kalmaz 

bu dünyada. (p. 6) 

 

This example demonstrates the protagonist’s thoughts about her dying mother. She 

describes that she is too sick and thus doesn’t have much time left. The translator opts 

for an explanatory translation strategy which can also be rendered as a target-oriented 

strategy by using target language phrases such as “yolcudur”. This is a Turkish 

expression that is used for people who are too sick to recover (TDK: yolcu). Target 

oriented choices in translation create a more familiar and understandable text for the 

target reader and this text is clearer than the original. Therefore, this act can be 

classified as clarification.  

Example 2: 

ST TT 

I’m big.  (p. 4) Karnım büyüdü. (p. 6) 

 

This expression is uttered by the protagonist when she is pregnant. In her first 

pregnancy, she can’t understand what happens to her and she thinks that she gets “big”. 

Only after the birth of her baby, she figures out the fact that she was pregnant. The 



30 

 

expression of “I’m big” holds a certain ambiguity that contains references both to the 

pregnancy and the physical appearance which is much bigger than usual. This 

expression is translated as “Karnım büyüdü.” that refers to the fact that she is pregnant 

but it fails to represent bigger physical appearance by only focusing on one part of the 

body, namely the stomach. Consequently, it can also be suggested that the unawareness 

of Celie about her pregnancy is lost. Hence, it is apparent that TT expression is clearer 

than the original because it is lack of the ambiguity that exists in the original expression. 

Sacrificing the ambiguity for the sake of a much clearer and understandable translation 

can be rendered as an act of clarification. 

Example 3: 

ST TT 

Plus What about the scandal his wife 

cause when somebody kill her?  (p. 8) 

Bir de, karısı dostu olacak herifin 

tabancasıyla can verince ele güne 

kepaze olduğunu unutmayalım diyor. 

(p. 8) 

 

In this example, the character in ST talks about a scandal but doesn’t give any detailed 

information about what that scandal is. In TT, on the other hand, the scandal is 

explained as “karısı dostu olacak herifin tabancasıyla can verince” which can be 

translated into English as “his wife who is killed with a gun by her lover”. This 

detailed information about the scandal indicates that this situation which is explained in 

a simple manner is obviously clarified in TT and the mode of clarification is adopted 

during the translation process. This act of clarification clearly eliminates the ambiguity 

in ST which is conveyed as “the scandal his wife cause when somebody kill her”. 

This phrase doesn’t indicate the fact that the wife is killed by her lover. However, this 

information which is hidden from the reader in ST is openly expressed in TT. Thus, it 

can be deduced that this example supports the basic argument of clarification as a 

deforming tendency.  

 



31 

 

Example 4: 

ST TT 

Who ain’t? I ast. 

The Reverend Mr , she say. He took 

the wagon. (p. 16) 

Hemen soruyorum. Burada olmayan kim? 

Kocam. Rahip ....... (p. 15) 

 

This excerpt displays another act of deforming the ambiguousness that exists in ST. The 

character in the novel, Corrine expresses that she is waiting for the reverend in ST. She 

doesn’t give any further information about who the reverend is. This might stem from 

the fact that Corrine is obsessed with respectability (Jenkins, 2002, p. 997). Since she is 

the part of a minority that is deemed to be inferior in the society, Corrine acts like she is 

an important and respectable person. Her obsession is reflected when she addresses her 

husband as “The Reverend Mr ” instead of saying simply “my husband”. As it is 

apparent in the example, there is an explanation of who “The Reverend” is in TT.  

“Kocam” which can be translated as “my husband” into English is added to define 

and clarify the title of the reverend in TT. This addition in translation informs the reader 

that the reverend is Corrine’s husband although it is not stated in the original. This 

explanation also betrays the style of ST as Corrine aims to make her husband look like a 

respectable man by saying only his religious title, “reverend”. Thus, it can be inferred 

from this excerpt that clarification is practiced in order to clarify the reverend’s identity. 

 

 

 

 

 

 



32 

 

Example 5: 

ST TT 

Shug say, the last baby did it. They 

turned me out. I went to stay with my 

mama wild sister in Memphis. She just 

like me, Mama say. She drink, she fight, 

she loves mens to death. She work in a 

roadhouse. Cook. Feed fifty men, screw 

fifty-five. (p. 111) 

Doğurduğum son çocuk işi bozdu, dedi 

Shug. Evden attılar beni. Memphis’teki 

orospu teyzemin yanına gittim. Annem, 

sen ona çekmişsin derdi hep. İçki içerdi 

teyzem, kavga ederdi. Erkeksiz 

duramazdı. Aşçıydı. Anayolun üstündeki 

bir lokantada çalışırdı. Elli tane adama 

yemek çıkarır, sonra da elli beş tanesiyle 

yatabilirdi. (p. 99) 

 

In this excerpt, Shug talks about her aunt who is somewhat a loose woman. While 

describing her, she uses the word ‘wild’. According to Oxford Advanced Learners 

Dictionary, wild means “lacking discipline or restraint” (2000, p. 1365). Clearly, Shug 

indicates that her aunt is independent, uncontrollable woman who does not fit the norms 

of society. This phrase is translated as “orospu” which means, “bitch”. Although there 

is a reference to her sexually loose behaviors towards men, Shug does not only mean 

that her aunt is a bitch by using the word “wild”. She also refers to her aunt’s reckless 

behaviours such as drinking and fighting which is stated in the passage later. By 

rendering this word as “orospu”, the translator sacrifices these other references. Taking 

this information into consideration, it can be inferred that the act of clarification is 

repeated in this excerpt by selecting one meaning over the others. In a way, this act can 

be rendered as a move from polysemy to monosemy which is explicitly defined as “a 

mode of clarification” (2000, p. 289) by Berman. This example and the other four 

examples reveal that clarification is exercised in this translation as a deforming 

tendency to a certain degree.  

 

 



33 

 

1.3. Expansion 

Expansion deals with the additions to the original text as mentioned in Chapter 1. 

Berman suggests that translations are likely to be longer than the original texts 

(Munday, 2001, p. 147). Expansion is the consequence of the abovementioned 

deformations; rationalization and clarification. It usually simplifies and reduces the 

voice of the original work.  

In this case, the translation is shorter than the original. The original text, The Color 

Purple has 262 pages whereas the translation, Renklerden Moru has 240 pages. 

Unusually, the translation is shorter than the source text in this case. This 22 pages 

difference can be explained by three reasons. The first one which is a formal reason is 

the difference between the font sizes of two texts. The font size of ST is bigger than TT. 

Hence, smaller font size of TT is effective in the number of pages. Secondly, the novel 

is an epistolary novel, which means that it consists of letters. In ST, each letter starts in 

a brand new page, and this causes spaces between two letters. Some of these spaces are 

big while some of them are small. Still, it cannot be denied that these spaces affect the 

number of pages by increasing them. On the other hand, in TT, there are no spaces 

between two letters. The new letter starts just when the previous one ends. This, surely, 

prevents extra spaces between the letters and leads to reduction in the number of pages. 

Lastly, there are many omissions in the target text. There are one or two paragraph 

omissions in pages of 170, 176, 191, 211, 212, 233 and 244. Moreover, there are 

omissions which are approximately one page long in the pages of 242, 243 and 245, 

246. The reasons for these omissions could be that some of them contain taboo such as 

menstruation, bodily effluvia, religion and God (Allan & Burridge, 2006, p. 1) whereas 

some of them could be rendered as unnecessary. As a consequence, these changes in the 

format and the omissions are the reasons for 22 pages gap.  

Although the translation seems shorter than the original work, this doesn’t mean that 

expansion is not exercised in the translation as a deforming tendency. The selected 

examples which are discussed below demonstrate that expansion is adopted during the 

translation process, even though it is not instantly visible due to the abovementioned 

reasons. The examples that display the deformation of expansion are examined as 

follows: 



34 

 

Example 1: 

ST TT 

She scared. But I say I’ll take care of 

you. With God help. (p. 5) 

Korkuyor kız. Korma dedim. Ben 

yanındayım, sana kol kanat gererim 

dedim. Korurum onu. Tanrı yardım 

ederse. (p. 7) 

 

It is obvious that the translator exercises expansion by adding extra explanation in this 

example. ST sentence “But I say I’ll take care of you.” is translated in a longer way as 

it can be seen above. In order to intensify the meaning of this sentence, different target 

language expressions which have the meaning of protecting somebody are used. This is 

also a deformation of the style of ST. Celie who is the protagonist and the narrator 

writes in a very simple style due to her lack of education. These additions definitely 

don’t overlap with the simple style of Celie. Consequently, they can be clearly 

categorized as expansion.  

Example 2: 

ST TT 

She hadn’t never seen his. 

Was a scandal, say Carrie. 

He sure was, say Kate.  (p. 20) 

Buradaki gibisini görmemiştir. 

Kalıbımı basarım. 

Rezillikti, dedi Carrie. Ayıptı ayıp. 

Ayıptı evet. Çok ayıptı abimin yaptığı. 

Bunu da Kate söylüyor. (pp. 19-20) 

 

This example displays that the translated paragraph is longer than the paragraph in the 

original. These additions are classified as a “babble designed to muffle the work’s own 

voice” (Berman, 2000, p. 290) even though they may seem as a contribution to the 

original text. In this context, two characters are talking very fast and it is like a repartee. 

But this quickness is slowed down with the additions to the text. As it is apparent in the 

example, the translator uses the Turkish word “ayıp” which means “shame” more than 



35 

 

once in translation. This repetition supports the argument that expansion creates empty 

words and flattens the translation. Hence, expansion is adopted in this excerpt again. 

Example 3: 

ST TT 

Let’s make quilt pieces out of these 

messed up curtains, she say. And I run 

git my pattern book. (p. 41) 

Gel şu yırtık perdeleri kesip yamalık 

yapalım, dedi. Daha iyisi, bütün 

yamalıklarımızı bir araya getirip 

birbirine ekleyelim. Yorgan yüzü 

dikelim. Hemen koşup yorgan 

örneklerini çizdiğim defteri getirdim. (p. 

37) 

 

This excerpt is another example for expansion. The target text is elongated because the 

translator opts for an explanatory translation. This might stem from the fact that quilts 

are not generally made from patchworks in the target culture. Hence, these additions are 

made with the intention of rendering a more understandable text but they lead to 

expansion as a deforming tendency.  

Example 4:  

ST TT 

They can’t rub out stretch marks, I 

said. Stretch marks go right into the skin, 

and a woman’s stomach stretches enough 

so that it keeps a little pot, like all the 

women have here. (p. 166) 

Derideki çatlaklar yok edilmez, 

Corrine. Gebeliğin sonucu olan 

çatlaklar hiç silinmez. Derinin içine 

işler. Üstelik gebelikte karın öyle büyür 

ki, doğumdan sonra da hafif bir 

kabarıklık kalır mutlaka. Buradaki 

kadınlara baksana! Hepsinin karnı 

öyle. (p. 152) 

 



36 

 

Translation tends to be clearer than the original as mentioned in Chapter 1. This 

tendency causes interconnected deforming tendencies. Firstly, clarification takes place 

and then it leads to expansion. This sequence is exemplified in this excerpt. The first 

sentence is clarified by adding extra information about the “stretch marks”. 

Furthermore, there is a clarification about the bellies of African native women at the 

end of the paragraph. When ST sentence simply points out the fact by “like all the 

women have here”, the translator selects the mode of explanation and addition with 

“Buradaki kadınlara baksana! Hepsinin karnı öyle.” which leads to expansion as a 

consequence. Thus, it is apparent that expansion is adopted in this example as a 

deforming tendency. 

Example 5: 

ST TT 

Shug say, She can talk in sign language 

for all I care. She make herself a nice cup 

of herb tea and start talking bout hot 

oiling her hair. (p. 195) 

Kendi bilir, dedi Shug. İsterse tarzanca 

konuşsun. Benim umurumda değil. 

Kendine bir nane limon kaynattı, sonra 

oturup anlattı. Saçını kızgın yağla ovmayı 

deneyecekmiş. Biri salık vermiş, o da 

deneyecekmiş. (p. 180) 

 

This last example demonstrates that there are additions in the novel and expansion 

occurs based on these additions. Although it is not reflected in the number of pages due 

to the format changes and omissions, expansion is certainly adopted as a deforming 

tendency in the target text. Expansion tends to happen when a target-oriented strategy is 

adopted during translation. As it is indicated in the examples, the Turkish translator of 

The Color Purple follows a target-oriented approach in the translation. Naturally, 

expansion occurs throughout the process in order to make the text more understandable 

for target readers. This expansion is also the consequence of the rationalization and 

clarification which are exercised in the TT and they are discussed above in detail. 

Additions and explanations which are implemented in TT for this purpose result in 

expansion. 



37 

 

1.4. Ennoblement and Popularization 

Ennoblement is to make the original text more artistic than it is in the original whereas 

popularization is to popularize the text by using more contemporary and/or casual 

expressions in the translation. Ennoblement leads to more “poetic” or “rhetoric” texts 

than the original because it entails correcting the intentionally or unintentionally 

misused expressions and creating more aesthetic text in the meantime. Selected 

examples for this tendency are examined as follows: 

Example 1: 

ST TT 

I am I have always been a good girl. (p. 

3) 
Oldum bittim namuslu bir kızdım. (p. 5) 

 

It is mentioned earlier that ennoblement entails correcting the text’s clumsiness in order 

to maintain an aesthetically pleasing target text. In this example, “I am” is crossed and 

it can be taken as a clumsy usage in the text as it seems like a mistake. This expression 

which might be supposed as clumsiness by the translator is completely discarded in the 

TT. This act of omission can be regarded as ennoblement due to its purpose of creating 

more elegant translation. It should be noted that “I am” is not a mere clumsiness in the 

text, it has an underlying meaning. Celie “immediately strikes out the word “am” and 

revises her sentence to say, “I have always been a good girl”, demonstrating that she no 

longer feels certain of her goodness or her identity” (Pifer & Slusser, 1998, p. 47). As it 

is stated, Celie doesn’t believe that she is good and innocent anymore because she has 

been raped by the man whom she knows as her father. She feels used and betrayed and 

at the same time, couldn’t fully grasp what had happened. Therefore, it can be asserted 

that ennoblement is exercised in this example by sacrificing a significant element of the 

text which describes Celie’s state of mind.  

 

 

 



38 

 

Example 2: 

ST TT 

I think it was Lucious. He fat and playful, 

all the time munching on something.  (p. 

12) 

Lucious oğlandı galiba. Ağzı hiç 

durmadığından topaç gibi kerata. (p. 13) 

 

It can be inferred that popularization occurs when a target-oriented approach is adopted 

during translation process. This is because popularization concerns about target 

audience and makes the text readable for that audience. Taking these explanations into 

consideration, it can be regarded that this paragraph is translated in accordance with the 

target-oriented approach. “Topaç”, “oğlan” and “kerata” are very colloquial concepts 

when they are compared to ST equivalents “fat and playful”. Therefore, these usages 

fall under the category of popularization since they make TT more readable with 

popular target language usages and thus, TT can be read fluently by target readers. It 

goes without saying that TT possesses somewhat more colloquial style than ST, it even 

contains a certain rhythm. Shortly, popularization is exercised as a deforming tendency 

in this excerpt. 

Example 3: 

ST TT 

But she more evil than my mama and that 

keep her alive. (p. 45) 

Gel gör ki bu, anamdan daha dişli. 

Hınzırın biri. Onun için de canı pek. 

Bunun canı çıkmaz. (p. 41) 

 

In this example, “evil” has the meaning of being “profoundly immoral and wicked” 

(Oxford Dictionaries, www.oxforddictionaries.com). This adjective is translated with 

“dişli” and “hınzır” which are very colloquial words in target culture. Moreover, 

“keep her alive” is translated with “canı pek” which has a figurative meaning (TDK: 

canı pek) and “canı çıkmaz” which is an idiom (TDK: canı çıkmak). Clearly, TT is 



39 

 

translated with expressions leaning towards the spoken language such as colloquial 

words and idioms. This leads to popularization as a deforming tendency as it deforms 

the style of target text by filling it more popular expressions than the original. 

Consequently, popularization exists in this excerpt. 

Example 4: 

ST TT 

But that the way it spose to be. I know 

that. But if that so, why my heart hurt me 

so? (p. 70) 

Dünyanın düzeni böyle kurulmuş. 

Doğrusu öyle. Biliyorum. Dünyanın 

düzeni böyleyse neden yüreğim sızlıyor 

peki? (p. 62) 

 

Berman states that ennoblement is a “stylistic exercise” (2000, p. 291) which is done by 

sacrificing the original text and he adds that it deforms the style of the original work. 

This excerpt affirms this argument as the simple style of the original text is altered by 

adopting more polished style in TT. In this excerpt, the ST undergoes a “rhetorization” 

in TT, so to speak. It is apparent that TT is more poetic than ST with the expressions 

such as “Dünyanın düzeni böyle kurulumuş” and “yüreğim sızlıyor”. This is a 

deformation since the simple style of the ST represents the protagonist Celie’s simple 

way of thinking, as she is an uneducated girl. Her simplicity is reflected in her style 

along with her dialect. As a consequence, her style includes inconsistencies such as 

“spose to”. These inconsistencies and simplicity disappear in order to make a more 

elegant text. Moreover, Celie’s voice is altered since her signature simple style 

disappears. In order to make the text readable for the target reader by creating a more 

polished style, the translator exercises ennoblement as a deforming tendency in this 

excerpt. 

 

 

 

 



40 

 

Example 5: 

ST TT 

She say, Wait a minute. Hold on just a 

minute there. Just because I don’t harass 

it like some peoples us know don’t mean 

I ain’t got religion. (p. 173) 

Hele dur, dedi. Dur da bir soluk al. 

Tanıdığımız birileri gibi iki sıkıda bir 

Tanrı Tanrı diye dırdır etmesek bile biz 

de dinimizi biliriz. (p. 158) 

 

This excerpt includes examples of popularization. In the paragraph, Shug explains that 

she knows her religion even though she doesn’t talk about God constantly. The first 

example for popularization can be taken as “iki sıkıda bir Tanrı Tanrı diye dırdır 

etmesek bile” which is the translated version of “Just because I don’t harass it”. It 

should be noted that “it” refers to God in ST sentence. The abovementioned equivalent 

phrase of this sentence is popularized by using more informal and daily expression in 

TT. The selected words are very colloquial compared to ST and hence popularization as 

a deforming tendency is adopted in this passage. Additionally, “don’t mean I ain’t got 

religion” is translated as “biz de dinimizi biliriz”. This is the second example for 

popularization because TT equivalent possesses a very colloquial style in the same way 

as the previous one. Therefore, popularization which is the opposite of ennoblement is 

exercised as a deforming tendency in this example. To conclude, there are two examples 

for ennoblement and three examples for popularization in this section. Popularization 

results form making the text understandable and familiar for the target reader whereas 

ennoblement stems form concealing the unusual usages and simplicity in Celie’s style. 

Thus, these five examples demonstrate that ennoblement and popularization are both 

adopted as deforming tendencies in the target text to a certain degree and this surely 

deforms the style of source text. 

1.5. Qualitative Impoverishment 

Qualitative impoverishment focuses on the deterioration of the harmonious quality. 

Berman claims that each language bears certain words which possess certain rhythm 

and this rhythmical quality is usually lost in the translation (2000, p. 291). It is very 



41 

 

challenging to keep the form, the rhythm and the meaning of those unique words. 

Selected examples for this deforming tendency are analyzed as follows: 

Example 1: 

ST TT 

“To the Spirit: 

Without whose assistance 

Neither this book 

Nor I 

Would have been 

Written” 

(p. vii) 

No Translation 

 

This is an epigraph by Alice Walker “to the Spirit”. This dedication is placed before the 

novel starts and it is omitted in translation. This omission is a loss in many aspects. 

Firstly, this epigraph might be a reference to the spirits of the characters in the novel 

since Walker indicates that she has been visited by them while she was writing the 

novel (Walker, 1983). Secondly, it might be a reference to Walker’s understanding of 

God. This might be inferred from the invocation to the Spirit which can be interpreted 

as a reference to God. Walker states that she doesn’t “believe there is a God beyond 

nature. The world is God. Man is God. So is a leaf or a snake…” (O'brien, 1993, p. 

341). Hence, the omission of this epigraph is the loss of these references but in this 

example, the focal point is the loss of the sonorous richness of the text. It can be seen 

above that the epigraph contains a certain harmony with the letters of “w” and “n”. 

“Without whose” in the first verse that includes the letter “w”, “Neither” and “Nor” 

in the second and third verses that include the letter “n” and finally, “Would” and 

“Written” in fourth and fifth verses that include the letter “w” create a coherent sound 

and form that possess a quality. Therefore, it can be inferred that the omission of this 

epigraph is a qualitative impoverishment because of the fact that TT lacks the sonorous 

richness that ST has.  

 



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Example 2: 

ST TT 

We sure do thank you for your 

hospitality. She laugh again, look at the 

horses flicking flies off they rump. 

Horsepitality, she say. And I git it and 

laugh. It feel like to split my face. (p. 17) 

Sağolun diyor Olivia’nın analığı. Kızımı 

alıp kocasının arabasına gidiyor. 

Arkalarından bakarken gülüyorum. (p. 

16) 

 

Berman mentions that some words in certain languages posses a phonetic quality which 

cannot be usually transferred into target text (2000, p. 291). It can be seen in the 

example above, the word “hospitality” contains a resonant quality. Interestingly, the 

target language equivalent of this word is “misafirperverlik” which has a sonorous 

richness in target language as well. However, the translator omits this word and chooses 

not to use the target language equivalent which would create the same phonetic effect in 

target text. Additionally, there is the wordplay of “hospitality” as “horsepitality” that 

is made by Celie’s daughter. This childlike wordplay has its own sonorousness and it 

also represents the style of a little child. It is omitted in the translation as well and this 

omission deforms the style of the text. Hence, the omission of this word and the 

wordplay can be rendered as qualitative impoverishment as a deforming tendency in this 

example.