The relational processes of Turkish-Russian literary translation flow in the post-Stalin era (1953-1991)

Abstract

The thesis explores the complex webs of relations, which functioned as the driving forces behind and within the Turkish-Russian literary translation flow that gained momentum between the death of Joseph Stalin (1953) and the dissolution of the Soviet Union (1991) by concentrating on the "selection" and "labeling and classification" processes (Bourdieu, (1990) 2000, p. 222). To clarify and discuss the driving forces of the translation flow, the thesis offers a three-fold analysis: (a) the field analysis reveals the relations between the Soviet state policies and the dynamics of the translation flow in question, (b) the product analysis explores and problematizes the profile of the translated repertoire of Turkish literature and authors as well as the profile of the paratexts, and (c) the analysis of social agents and their activities also covers the examination of the profile of the extratextual materials produced by the Turkologists. In addition, with regard to the third aspect of the analysis, the thesis offers a case study concentrating on two particular Turkologists, whose views and actions differ from each other: Tevfik Melikov and Svetlana Uturgauri. The findings of the study reveal that the Turkish-Russian literary translation flow was driven by the priorities of the prevalent ideological mode of the Soviet socio-cultural context. This indicates not only the strength of the ideological mode, but also the fact that social agents responded to this mode at large. The findings also prove that questioning the relations between the field and habitus might help in understanding the reasons behind the deviant actions of a social agent.