Cover not available
Article published In:
Babel
Vol. 63:5 (2017) ► pp.667–688

Re-assessing the ‘weight’ of translations within the context of translated soap operas

| Bilkent University |
In translation studies, investigating translations beyond the implications, realities and difficulties of single texts and single language combinations, viewing the larger picture surrounding translations and following the translations through to the impacts they produce wherever they are received, is an integral part of the discipline. The study discussed in this article is an effort to present food for thought for audiovisual translators of soap operas. Turkish soap operas have been aired in 90 countries around the world, reaching over 400 million viewers, according to 2014 statistics from the sector. The aim of the study is to indicate the type of translated soap operas preferred in different regions of the world; to explain, on the basis of feedback from experts, the public and local and international media, why these are watched; and to investigate the translation modes and strategies used to market the translations successfully in the receiver markets.
Keywords: audiovisual translation, Turkish soap operas, impact of translation, subtitling, doublage, remakes, censorship
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Reasons behind the success of Turkish soap operas
    • 2.1Content and the manipulation of the content
      • 2.1.1Portrayal of issues which are taboo in the viewer country
      • 2.1.2Focus on family and values
      • 2.1.3Creation of strong women characters
      • 2.1.4TV policies in Turkey and censorship making originals acceptable for conservative audiences
    • 2.2Similarities and creating empathy
      • 2.2.1Cultural/linguistic similarities
      • 2.2.2Religious/social similarities
      • 2.2.3Shared history and commonalities
    • 2.3Economic and political factors
      • 2.3.1Portrayal of a synthesis of the West and the East
      • 2.3.2Social and political changes and aspirations in the viewer country
  • 3.Translations of Turkish soap operas
    • 3.1Translations of the names of Turkish soap operas
    • 3.2Dubbed Turkish soap operas
    • 3.3Subtitled Turkish soap operas
    • 3.4Adaptations and remakes of Turkish soap operas and Turkish remakes
    • 3.5Censorship
  • 4.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 16 April 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00003.oky
References (62)
References
Abramovich, Paulina. 2014. “Turkish soaps invade Latin America, land of telenovela”. Business Insider, December 23. [URL].Google Scholar
Akgün, Mensur, et al.. 2013. TESEV Dış Politika Programı:Ortadoğu’da Türkiye Algısı. Online edition. [URL].Google Scholar
Akyol, Arzu. 2014. “Türk Dizilerini Dünyada 400 Milyon Kişi İzliyor”. Akşam, June 15. [URL].Google Scholar
Aljazeera. 2008. “Saudi Scholar Issues TV Death Fatwa”. Aljazeera, September 13. [URL].Google Scholar
. 2014. “Türk Dizilerinin Rekoru”. Aljazeera, February 21. [URL].Google Scholar
Almutawa, Shatha. 2014. “Magnificent century: Historical Turkish Soap Opera finds a Global Audience”. AHA Today: A Blog of the American Historical Association, July 29. [URL].Google Scholar
Altamimi, Jumana. 2012. “Challange of the Turkish Soap Operas.” Gulf News, April 1. [URL].Google Scholar
Altaylı, Fatih. 2013. “Türk Dizileri Niye Başarılı?” Habertürk, August 18. [URL].Google Scholar
Anatolia News Agency. 2013. “Turkish Sopa Operas Take Bulgaria by Storm”. Hürriyet Daily News, June 13. [URL].Google Scholar
Athens Owl. 2014. “How Turkish Soap Operas have affected Greece and the Arab World”. Athens Owl Blog, October 18. [URL].Google Scholar
Ballı, Faruk, et al.. 2013. “Impacts of Exported Turkish Soap Operas and Visa-Free Entry on Inbound Tourism in Turkey”. Elsevier Science 371: 180–192.Google Scholar
Bilbassy-Charters, Nadia. 2010. “Leave it to Turkish soap to conquer hearts and minds”. Foreign Policy Group: The Middle East Channel, April 15. [URL].Google Scholar
Buccianti, Alexandra. 2010. “Dubbed Turkish Soap Operas Conquering the Arab World: Social liberation or cultural alienation”. Arab Media and Society 101. [URL].Google Scholar
Chesterman, Andrew. 2007. “Bridge Concepts in Translation Sociology”. In Constructing a Sociology of Translation, ed. by Michaela Wolf and Alexandra Fukari, 171–186. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Çevik, Senem. 2014. “Turkish Soap Opera Diplomacy: A Western Project by a Muslim Source”. Exchange Journal of Public Diplomacy 51: 77–102.Google Scholar
De Marco, Marcella. 2012. Audiovisual Translation through a Gender Lens. Amsterdam: Rodopi. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Diaz Cintas, Jorge. 2009. New Trends in Audiovisual Translation. Bristol: Mutlilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Díaz Cintas, Jorge. 2012. “Clearing the smoke to see the screen: Ideological manipulation in audiovisual translation”. Meta. 57 (2): 279–293. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dick, Jennifer K. and Stephanie Schwerter (eds.). 2012. Transmissability and Cultural Transfer: Dimensions of Translation in the Humanities. Stuttgart: İbidem-Verlag.Google Scholar
Ekopolitika. 2015. “Türk Dizileri Arap Ülkelerinde Boşanma Furyası Başlattı”. Avrupalı Türklerin Platformu Ekopolitika, June 21. [URL].Google Scholar
Erdbrink, Thomas. 2013. “Starring in Drama in Iran: TV Itself”. The New York Times, Middle East Tehran Journal, January 14. [URL].Google Scholar
Feral, Anne-Lise. 2011. “Gender in audiovisual translation: Naturalizing feminine voices in the French Sex and the City ”. European Journal of Women’s Studies 18 (4): 391–407. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Flynn, Rachel. 2014. “Language, culture and censorship: A Glimpse into the World of Audiovisual Translation”. Rachel Flynn Blog Discussions in Translation Studies. April 14. [URL].Google Scholar
Gamal, Muhammed Y. 2014. “Audiovisual translation in the Arab World: Mapping the Field”. Arab Media and Society 191. [URL].Google Scholar
Gambier, Yves. 2003. “Introduction: Screen translation perception and reception”. The Translator 9 (2): 171–189. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2006. “Multimodality and Audiovisual Translation”. In Proceedings of the Marie Curie Euroconferences MuTra: Audiovisual Translation Scenarios , 1–8. Copenhagen, May 1–5.
Gök, Seda. 2015. “Türk Dizileri Dünya Liderliğine Oynuyor”. Seda Gök’ün Haber Sitesi, March 15. [URL].
Gubash, Charlene. 2008. “Soap Opera Upends Traditional Arab Gender Roles”. NBC News, July 31. [URL].Google Scholar
Günerhan, Ayla. 2014. “Ojala! Şehrazat Mutlu Olur”. Hürriyet Kelebek, September 22. [URL].Google Scholar
Haberport. 2015. “Dünya Hangi Türk Dizilerini Beğeniyor”. Haberport, April 2. [URL].Google Scholar
Haber Türk. 2011. “Adını Rekor Koyduk”. Haber Türk, December 10. [URL].Google Scholar
Hamzic, Amina, Maja Nedelkovska, Donjeta Demolli, and Nemanja Cabric. 2013. “Turks Bewitch the Balkans With their Addictive Soaps”. Balkan Insight. [URL].Google Scholar
Hürriyet. 2012. “Macedonia Bans Turkish Soap Operas”. Hürriyet Daily News. November 14. [URL].Google Scholar
Jawad, Adil. 2013. “Some in Pakistan Threatened by Turkish TV Invasion”. Yahoo News, November 26. [URL].Google Scholar
Kaya, Canan. 2014. “Binbir Gece’nin şaşırtan başarısı- Türk dizileri Güney Amerika dizi piyasasında Arjantin ve Brezilya’nın tahtını sarsmaya başladı”. Hürriyet, September 11. [URL].Google Scholar
Kimmelman, Micheal. 2010. “Turks put twist in Racy Soaps”. New York Times, June 17. [URL].Google Scholar
Khawaja, Hafsa. 2013. “Pakistan hit by fever of Turkey’s popular cultural export”. Hafsa Khawaja’s Blog, March 16. [URL].Google Scholar
Krajeski, Jenna. 2012. “Turkey: Days of our lives”. Pulitzer Center on Crises Reporting, March 30. [URL].Google Scholar
Makris, A. 2012. “Bishop Antimos Hits Out at Turkish Soap Operas Fans”. Greek Reporter, October 30. [URL].Google Scholar
Matthews, Owen. 2011. “Turkish Soap Operas Are Sweeping the Middle East”. Newsweek, September 5. [URL].Google Scholar
Mendillioğlu, Ali. 2014. “Türk Dizileri Balkanlar’da Neden Bu Kadar Popüler?” Dipnot, October 6. [URL].Google Scholar
Moore, Robbie. 2013. “Soap Opera Diplomacy: Turkish TV in Greece”. Yale Global Online, quoted from Article by Robbie Moore in The Independent , February 27. [URL].Google Scholar
Oltra Ripoll, Maria D. 2005. “The Translation of cultural references in the cinema”. In Less Translated Languages, ed. by Albert Branchadell and Lovell Margaret West, 75–94. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Oxford Bussiness Group. 2015. “Soap Power: The Sweeping Success of Turkish television series”. Oxford Business Group. [URL].Google Scholar
Özyurt, Olkan. 2014. “Dünyada İzlenen Türk Dizileri Kadınların Hayatına Dokundu”. Sabah, February 2. [URL].Google Scholar
Paschalidou, Nina Maria. 2014. “Kısmet: How Soap Operas Changed the World: Filmmakers View”. Aljazeera, January 15. [URL].Google Scholar
RFE/RL Uzbek Service. 2015. “Turkish Soap Operas Taken Off Air in Uzbekistan”. Radio Free Europe Rabio Liberty, June 16. [URL].Google Scholar
Rohde, David. 2012. “The Islamıc World’s Culture Wars Played Out on TV Soap Operas”. The Atlantic, March 9. [URL].Google Scholar
Rousselin, Mathieu. 2013. “Turkish Soap Power: International Perspectives and Domestic Paradoxes”. Euxeinos, October. University of St Gallen. [URL].Google Scholar
Salem, Paul. 2011. “Arap Dünyasında Türkiye’nin Imajı”. TESEV Yayınları. [URL].Google Scholar
Scott, J. 2011. “Audiovisual Translation: Culture Versus Translation”. Trusted Translations Translation Blog, November 17. [URL].Google Scholar
Sinanidis, Mary. 2015. “Daze of our Lives”. Odyssey: The World of Greece, January-February. [URL].Google Scholar
Superhaber. 2014. “Türk Dizileri Brezilya’da Maçtan Bile Çok İzleniyor1.” Source cited as Aljazeera.com.tr, November 3. [URL].
Turkish Review. 2014. “Turkish soap operas, Arab viewers and censorship”. Turkish Review, July 1. [URL].Google Scholar
Tursunbaeva, Kanykei. 2014. “Central Asia’s Rulers View Turkish Soap Power with Suspicion”. Global Voices, August 7. [URL].Google Scholar
Vivarelli, Nick. 2013. “Turkish Soaps Slip by Middle East Censors”. Variety, October 9. [URL].Google Scholar
Williams, Nathan. 2013. “The rise of Turkish soap power”. BBC News, June 28. [URL].Google Scholar
Yasser, Nayera. 2015. “Zawya discussses impact of Turkish soap operas on Arab Women”. Daily News Egypt, May 20. [URL].Google Scholar
Yusuf, Huma. 2013. “The Geopolitics of Soap Operas”. The New York Times, January 10. [URL].Google Scholar
Zalewski, Piotr. 2013. “As Turkey Turns: Turkish soap operas are one of the country’s most unexpected cultural exports and a new source of soft power”. The Slate, August 16. [URL].Google Scholar
Zaman. 2014. “Binbir Gece’nin Bulgaristan’daki başarısı Türk dizilerini dünyaya taşıdı”. Zaman, August 1. [URL].Google Scholar
Zayed, Mohamed. 2013. “Turkish Drama in the Arab World: Social Impacts, Religious Reaction and Dramatic Void in the Arab World”. Research Turkey II (7): 35–42. [URL].Google Scholar
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Glushneva, Iuliia
2023. Sentimental education across the borders: Hindi soap opera and translation cultures on the Russophone Web. Feminist Media Studies ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Sancaktaroğlu Bozkurt, Sinem & Ayşe Şirin Okyayuz
2021. Gender identification in the portrayal of female roles in the remakes of American TV series in Turkey. Babel. Revue internationale de la traduction / International Journal of Translation 67:3 ► pp. 255 ff. DOI logo
Okyayuz, Şirin
2019. Translation and language and cultural policies: The importance of political cognizance in audiovisual translator training. Dil ve Dilbilimi Çalışmaları Dergisi 15:3 ► pp. 937 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.