A DESCRIPTIVE AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TWO TURKISH TRANSLATIONS OF JANE AUSTEN’S PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Abstract

Translation norms have an important place in descriptive translation theory and these norms concern not only the translated texts but also the society and culture to which the texts belong. Norms are related to the behaviour and choices of translators in the translation process and therefore determine translation decisions. The decisions taken in translation determine which of the translators will be closer to the source or target languages and cultures. Thus, it becomes clear which of the poles of adequacy or acceptability is closer to translation. This study aims a descriptive analysis of the two translation versions of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, benefitting mainly from Gideon Toury’s descriptive approach to the translation studies. Through making a comparative analysis between the source text and the two translation versions (target texts) via selecting sentences randomly from the source text and comparing them with the target texts, revealing a comparative and an objective analysis in terms of their equivalences is the main focus of this study without searching for translation errors in comparison to the source text. In order to present a descriptive analysis, Gideon Toury’s norms will be used as a guide and on macro level, Toury’s equivalence theory; “adequacy or acceptability” will be used for the comparison of the target texts.