Aspects of agency in the case of editor-translators in the 1990s Turkey

Abstract

The present study focuses on the different aspects of agrncy in translational phenımena in the case of editor translators in the 1990s Turkey. The theoretical framework of the study ia largely drawn by the recent focus on cultural and sociological issues in translaton studies. The initial aim of this study is to reveal that translation is a socially regulated activity with active agents under focus. Following the cultural theorist Itamar Even-Zohar's and the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's conceptual framework, the study focuses on both the social-cultural and personal aspects of translatorial agency in the case of the five editor-translators, Celal Uster, Ulker İnce, İlknur Ozdemir, Yurdanur Salman ve Cevat Çapan, inthe 1990s Turkey. The contextualisation of the different roles and positions of these agents reveal that different aspects of agency of the editor-translators in the 1990s were shaped both by their personal dispositions and socio-cultural facts of the field in which they operate. The findings of the study reveal that research in different aspects of agency and socio-cultural factors offer a fresh perspective for the study of translatorial issues.