After School - Week 10 & 11

Last week (Week 10) was the cherry on top with sprinkles and glazing. I had one interpreting exam, one written exam, one quiz, one paper, one assignment, one group project, and one presentation due! That’s why I didn’t have much insight to share nor time to spare for writing the blog.

The only interesting thing from Week 10, I would say, was the presentation on Han Kang and her Turkish translator. It was wonderful to learn about how trends in translated literature have changed over time. I got to speak my mind and ask many questions to Han Kang’s Turkish translator—Göksel Türközü.

Another takeaway was that I had to retake the consecutive interpreting exam due to some technical problems. Well, I love being in the booth, so what’s there to worry about when taking the exam a second time? (Maybe the fact that I accidentally did an intralingual translation, huh? I got confused and translated Turkish into Turkish, which I fortunately corrected soon after. But it totally disrupted my concentration, leaving me with a mediocre output. :( )

Enough chit-chat, let’s get started!

Course Insights

• I never cease to leave the Court Interpreting class without gaining some insight. While much of what we discuss is directly related to the course, some of our professor’s remarks unexpectedly make you pause and reflect on life or even your own relationships. For instance, we were discussing the perceived role of the interpreter by the interpreted person (which could be the claimant, respondent, or witness). She asked us, “Just because they see you as a savior, do you have to be the one?” It’s a question that lingers and could easily resonate beyond the context of interpreting.
• I also learned that in Anglo-Saxon countries, you must have studied in another faculty before pursuing law. Naturally, this regulation raises the age at which one begins studying law and ensures that you approach the field with broader perspectives gained from different disciplines.

I translate therefore, I am! - Jhumpa Lahiri

• In my History of Turkish Reforms class, I came across a surprising fact: According to the UN’s Human Development Index (2022), Turkey ranks 45th globally, while Russia doesn’t even make it into the top 50. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting Turkey to rank this high or for Russia to fall behind—it really caught me off guard! It’s fascinating how statistics like these challenge our assumptions.

What to Read (WTR)

In the presentation, alongside Han Kang’s Turkish translator, a Korean master’s student from our university’s Turkish Language and Literature department also shared her insights. She delved into the background of Han Kang’s novels, elaborating on their themes and historical context. What amazed me most was when she casually mentioned finishing four of Kang’s books in just eight hours the day before!

I’ve always procrastinated when it comes to reading Korean literature, maybe because I’ve been waiting for the moment my Korean would be good enough to tackle the originals. But her comment gave me the push I needed. I finally picked up The White Book in Deborah Smith’s English translation and Çocuk Geliyor in Göksel Türközü’s Turkish translation. Both translations were fluent and smooth, skillfully incorporating the foreign elements without losing their essence. I must say translations were quite competent because I could sense the author’s unique style in both translations and the emotions these two translations evoked were strikingly similar.

The White Book leaned towards the poetical, while Çocuk Geliyor was a gripping novel centered on the Gwangju Uprising of 1980—a pivotal event in recent Korean history marked by the last martial law declaration. Shockingly, as I was reading it, another martial law was declared in South Korea, making the book feel even more relevant.

By the way, if you remember, I was reading another Nobel laureate, Orhan Pamuk. Well, I gave up. I found his narration neither engaging nor particularly literary—a bit redundant, to be honest. That said, I feel like I should give one of his more acclaimed works another chance.

What to Watch (WTW)

On my roommate’s recommendation, we watched the movie Time Lapse directed by Bradley King. The story revolves around a machine that takes polaroid photos of events a day into the future. The main characters discover the machine in their neighbor’s apartment, and that’s when the real story begins.The fear of deviating from the future captured in the photos consumes them. They begin to restrict their actions to fit within the frame of each image, allowing their entire lives to revolve around a single polaroid. The movie was a true mind-bender, exploring the intricate ties between the future and the present. What made it even more captivating was its multi-layered nature. Each main character gradually revealed a different, unexpected layer of the story. The ending? It left us with countless questions and sparked a heated debate among us over its interpretations.

If you’re in the mood for a thrilling, thought-provoking film, Time Lapse should be next on your list!

Anything New?

I attended a field tour organized by one of my professors, with another professor as the guest speaker. The highlight of the tour was our visit to the Museum of Islamic Science and Technology, founded by the renowned scholar Fuat Sezgin.

To give you a bit of context, Fuat Sezgin was a pioneering historian of science who dedicated his life to uncovering the contributions of Islamic scholars to global knowledge. His extensive research resulted in a 17-volume work on the history of Arab-Islamic science, and he established similar museums in Frankfurt and Istanbul to showcase these achievements. He is buried in the garden of the respective museum.

The tour itself was filled with insights, thanks to our professors, who generously shared their knowledge. Our conversation brewed afterward over a cup of coffee, creating a rich and reflective atmosphere. It felt totally enriching to sit with two professors and equally contribute to the flow of the conversation.

Oh, and on a different note, I’ve started crocheting a mesh sweater! Let’s see how it turns out!

November 25 - December 8