Translating Experimental Literature: A Stylistic Analysis of the Turkish Translation of Cut-Ups in W. S. Burroughs’ the Soft Machine

Abstract

Experimental literary works enable fertile translation discussions due to their rich and observable stylistic peculiarities. Such works provide rich material to revisit the relation between the concepts of style and visibility in translation. As an experimental novel, William S. Burroughs The Soft Machine, which is written in the cut-up technique, forces the translator to face new challenges and outstandingly exhibits a potential for the discussions concerning the style and (in)visibility of the translator. The present study aims to find out how the style of the target text differs from the style of the source text and to what extend this differentiation contributes to the (in)visibility of the translator. In order to do this, the study seeks to depict how the translator copes with the remarkable stylistic challenges originated from the cut-up technique in The Soft Machine.