LITERARY TRANSLATION FROM TURKISH INTO ENGLISH IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND, 1990-2012 a report prepared by Duygu Tekgül and updated by Arzu Akbatur April 2013 Making Literature Travel series of reports on literary exchange, translation and publishing Series editor: Alexandra Büchler Mercator Institute for Media, Languages and Culture Aberystwyth University, Wales, UK 1 The report was originally prepared as part of the Euro-Mediterranean Translation Programme, a co-operation between the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures, Literature Across Frontiers and Transeuropéenes, and with support from the Culture Programme of the European Union. It was updated for the London Book Fair: Turkey Market Focus 2013 in cooperation with the Department of Translation and Interpreting of Boğaziçi University, and printed with support from the British Council. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 UK: England & Wales License . 2 Contents 1 Executive Summary ................................................................................................ 5 1.1 Framework ............................................................................................................................ 5 1.2 Method and scope................................................................................................................. 5 1.3 Literary translation in the British Isles .................................................................................. 6 1.4 Literature translated from Turkish – volume and trends ..................................................... 8 1.5 Conclusions and recommendations ...................................................................................... 9 1.6 Summary of key issues, obstacles, problems ........................................................................ 9 1.6.1 Publishing ....................................................................................................................... 9 1.6.2 Translators ..................................................................................................................... 9 1.6.3 Funding for translation and promotion of works ........................................................ 10 1.7 Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 10 1.7.1 A centralised online resource ...................................................................................... 10 1.7.2 Bibliography and translation statistics ......................................................................... 10 1.7.3 Publishing and book trade ........................................................................................... 11 1.7.4 Translation and the media ........................................................................................... 11 1.7.5 Programming of festivals, venues and projects ........................................................... 11 1.7.6 Support for literary exchange and mobility ................................................................. 11 2 Preface ................................................................................................................ 12 2.1 Background .......................................................................................................................... 12 2.2 Method and scope............................................................................................................... 12 3 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Literary Translation in the British Isles – the wider context ............................................... 13 3.2 Literary exchange as part of fostering international cultural relations .............................. 16 3.3 Overview of support for literary exchange and translation infrastructure ........................ 16 3.4 Translation of Turkish Literature in the British Isles ........................................................... 20 3.5 Modern Turkish literature ................................................................................................... 21 3.5.1 Overview of literary translation from Turkish ............................................................. 21 3.5.2 The position of Turkish literature in the UK book market today ................................. 24 4 Publishing ............................................................................................................ 26 4.1 Towards a bibliography of published translations .............................................................. 26 4.1.1 Bibliography of Translated Works of Turkish Literature into English (1990 – 2012) ... 27 4.2 Publishers, magazines, websites ......................................................................................... 28 4.3 Key publishing issues ........................................................................................................... 30 4.3.1 Selection of the titles ................................................................................................... 30 4.3.2 ‘Lack of interest’? ......................................................................................................... 36 4.3.3 Sample translations for publishers .............................................................................. 38 5 Dissemination and reception ................................................................................. 39 5.1 Media and critical reception ............................................................................................... 39 5.2 The issue of ‘representation’ .............................................................................................. 41 6 Public and private sector support for translation ................................................... 44 6.1 Public and private sector support for translation in the UK and Ireland ............................ 44 3 6.2 Public and private sector support for translation and dissemination of literature from the country of origin ............................................................................................................................. 44 7 Translation issues ................................................................................................. 50 7.1 Translators ........................................................................................................................... 50 7.2 Translator profiles ............................................................................................................... 52 7.2.1 Feyza Howell ................................................................................................................ 52 7.2.2 George Messo .............................................................................................................. 54 7.2.3 Mark David Wyers ........................................................................................................ 56 7.2.4 Maureen Freely ............................................................................................................ 57 7.2.5 Mel Kenne .................................................................................................................... 61 7.2.6 Ruth Christie ................................................................................................................. 65 7.2.7 Saliha Paker .................................................................................................................. 68 7.3 Key issues raised by respondents ........................................................................................ 72 7.4 Language and literary translation training opportunities ................................................... 74 7.5 Translators’ conditions of work and translation quality monitoring .................................. 75 8 Conclusions and recommendations ....................................................................... 76 8.1 Summary of key issues, obstacles, problems ...................................................................... 76 8.1.1 Publishing ..................................................................................................................... 76 8.1.2 Translators ................................................................................................................... 77 8.1.3 Funding for translation and promotion of works ........................................................ 77 8.2 Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 77 8.2.1 A centralised online resource ...................................................................................... 77 8.2.2 Bibliography and translation statistics ......................................................................... 78 8.2.3 Publishing and book trade ........................................................................................... 78 8.2.4 Translation and the media ........................................................................................... 78 8.2.5 Programming of festivals, venues and projects ........................................................... 78 8.2.6 Support for literary exchange and mobility ................................................................. 79 9 Bibliography and sources .....................................................................................