Susam-Sarajeva, Şebnem;
(2002)
Translation and Travelling Theory. The Role of Translation in the Migration of Literary Theories Across Culture and Power Differentials.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
The thesis explores the role translation plays in the migration of literary and cultural theories across linguistic-cultural borders and power differentials. It shows that translation has a double function in this migration. Firstly, it plays a formative role in shaping and transforming the images of the writers and works involved, the attitudes towards imported theories in the receiving system(s), and the local critical discourses and terminology. Secondly, translation plays an indicative role in that it allows insight into, and analysis of, prevailing attitudes towards the importation of theoretical texts. Translation and translator patterns - such as text-selection, the temporal sequence of individual translations, and the interests and agendas of the translators - together with the metadiscourses accompanying translations reflect and reveal how the source texts and authors are received in their new environments. The thesis presents a comparative account of the reception of structuralism and semiotics in Turkey (1960s-1990s) and of French feminism in Anglo-America (1970s- 1990s). Two case studies are examined in depth: the importation of Roland Barthes's work into Turkish and of Helene Cixous's work into English. They offer detailed analyses of the attitudes towards Barthes's and Cixous's work in Turkish literary critical circles and Anglo-American academic feminist critical circles, respectively, and trace how the images of these two writers are shaped, challenged and transformed through translation. Issues of terminology and retranslation in the transfer of their texts into Turkish and English, and the (non-)translation of certain political aspects in their writings are also explored. As a study in a field rarely examined by translation scholars - especially within the context of power relations - this comparative investigation illuminates the culture and power differentials involved in the translation of theoretical texts, as well as highlighting the traits common to the importation/exportation patterns of literary and cultural theories in general. The thesis thus contributes both to translation studies and to literary and cultural theory.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Translation and Travelling Theory. The Role of Translation in the Migration of Literary Theories Across Culture and Power Differentials |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Thesis digitised by ProQuest. |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10100587 |
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