Translation, Presumed Innocent

Abstract In late Ottoman society, in the 19th century, translation was instrumental in the emergence of new literary genres such as the novel and western-style drama. It maintained its significance and influence in the early Republican period, starting in 1923. Apart from its literary significance, an interesting aspect of the trajectory followed by translation in Turkey concerns the way it has conspicuously allied itself with political and ideological agendas, such as westernization, Marxism and Islamism, to mention a few. This paper explores the ideological entanglements of translation in Turkey in the 20th century. It examines the discourse that emerged around translation at certain moments during that period and argues that translation served as a mirror, reflecting the literary and cultural ‘lacks’ of the target system, as much as it was meant to import new forms and ideas which would eventually help Turkish society overcome its perceived deficiencies. The study also problematizes the ways in which the translator’s subject position has been suppressed, especially in the discourse of translators reflecting upon their own work, and concludes that this self-effacing attitude seems to have become part of the professional identity of the Turkish translator.