After School - Week 5

Course Insights

• I enjoyed this week's readings in my class Translation and Periodicals, especially "Mâbadı Var" by Ceyda Özmen! Through this reading, I learned the pivotal role played by translation in the introduction of new literary forms, specifically the novel to the Ottoman literary system during Tanzimat era (19th century).
• While journalism and novel have developed separately in Europe, they intertwined in the Turkish context. Turkish authors & translators chose to serialize foreign novels in the newspapers to accustom the readers.
• The paper I mentioned above shows that the source language of the 185 of the 327 works serialized in the Turkish newspapers were French!

No wonder French had a great influence on the Turkish vocabulary!

• Another interesting example of serialization comes from the magazine Yıldız (Star) which published movie-novels based on the promotional material provided by Hollywood even before the movies were released! Some readers wrote in, confused that the actual movie had little in common with the movie-novel in the magazine. The magazine's respond? "Remember, some scenes may be cut!". Ahah
• Speaking of translation, it witnessed an incredible flourishing under Abbasid ruler al-Ma’mun, a time sometimes called the “Islamic Renaissance.” He established Bayt al-Hikmah in Baghdad, a hub for scholars, where Greek texts were translated into Arabic, ensuring their survival and influence all the way into the European Renaissance. Remember my Week 4 post's WTR part? (I talked about the Toledo Translation School’s role in Europe’s intellectual revival.) It's crazy how these translation movement—one from the east, one from the west– encircled Europe and helped its knowledge!

It’s a shame that we barely cover this translation movement in our courses. Such an overlooked contribution to the global cultural history!

• al-Ma'mun received Greek manuscripts annually, sourced through a treaty with the Byzantine Empire! If you are interested in this issue further, you can read "Greek Thought, Arabic Culture" by Dimitri Gutas.
• Definitions are everything. The way you define something totally changes the things and your perspective. For example, it can decide whether you are committing "war" crimes or just "self-defensing".

And here’s the most insightful takeaway from this week! It really got me thinking about translation itself and why it’s such an arduous work:

Sure, you can translate any word, but what if the concept it represents in the target culture is an empty set?

Now, I invite you to think about a word that resonates deeply within you, a unique concept, or even a mundane term, which mean very little –if at all– in another language, which doesn't evoke the same connotations for the listener...

WTR

I didn't like"Güvercin Gerdanlığı" very much and ended up skimming through the pages. The translator added an insightful section to the end talking about the literature in al-Andalus, which I plan to read before returning it to the library.

I started reading the first English book of the semester —I never promised you a rose garden. My studies are getting more and more intense. So, I am not sure if I can spare much time to read it this week.

WTW

This week, I finally got to watch Hayat (Life) by Zeki Demirkubuz (he is from Isparta just like me!). The film aired on TV for the first time last Sunday and it’s Türkiye's candidate for the Oscar nomination! That's why I was super excited all week and couldn't wait for Sunday to come! The film dives deep into the struggles of its characters as they navigate the messy complexities of life and relationships.

Demirkubuz is a major figure both nationally and internationally. His style is told to often challenge viewers to confront uncomfortable truths. It was my first time watching one of his movies, so I don't really have a comment on that.

What struck me in Hayat were the dialogues; they can get really interesting, sometimes turning into long monologues where the other person barely responds and even moves! One moment that really stood out was when a mother talks to her daughter not directly, but through the content of a TV show, highlighting the communication gap between them. The movie is three and a half hours long, so it’s a long watch, but I found it mostly engaging. Fun fact, Zeki Demirkubuz acted shortly in this movie! He played the madman (meczup) in the park.

Anything New?

I got to visit Beylerbeyi Palace this weekend. Little did I know that it would turn into an impromptu interpreting session for me!

Overall, I enjoyed the impromptu volunteer experience of interpreting. Being able to follow the pace of the guide made me feel even better. I was just a few words behind the guide, naturally imitating his gestures. It was as if there were two speakers in the group. There were some challenges for sure. I will talk about them in the next blog post as this series is just meant to give an insight into my life. Don’t forget to read that post!

See you next week!

21-27 October