The role of Thilda Kemal in the recreation of Yaşar Kemal's literature in English

Abstract

The aim of this study is to reveal Thilda Kemal's role as a translator in the recreation of YaşarK emal's literature in English. In this study, "The Wind from the Plain" trilogy, which includes the novels The Wind, from the Plain (1963) (Orfa Direk, 1960), Iron Earth, Copper Sky (1974) (Yer Llemir Gök Bakır, 1963) and The Undying Grass (1977) (Olmez Otu, 1968), is described and discussed according to a target-oriented approach. The overall objective of these case studies is to identify and problematize the translation strategies deployed by Thilda Kemal and to try and find answers to the two leading questions of this study: "What is the role of Thilda Kemal in the recreation of Yaşar Kemal's literature in English?" and "What are the influences of her translation strategies on Yaşar Kemal's literature as recreated in the target language?" As a yardstick for comparison, Margaret E. Platon's translation of Ince Memed 2 (1969), (They Burn the Thistles) (1973), is also the object of a target-oriented descriptive analysis. Based on these case studies, Margaret Platon is seen to have stuck closer to the norms of the source text than did Thilda Kemal, resulting in a translation that is rather "faithful" to the linguistic and cultural qualities of ihe source text. It is suggested that the fact that Thilda Kemal is Yaşar Kemal's wife and she acted as the editor of the source texts reduced the potential authoritative influence of the author on her decisions; hence allowing her to use more initiative in her translational decisions than other translators may have done.