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Article published In:
Target
Vol. 26:3 (2014) ► pp.385–405

A habitus-oriented perspective on resistance to language planning through translation

A case study on the Turkish translation of Elif Şafak’s The Bastard of Istanbul

| Hacettepe University

This paper explores some aspects of the socio-biography of the Turkish writer Elif Şafak, who made substantial changes to Baba ve Piç, the Turkish translation of her novel The Bastard of Istanbul. Arguing that Şafak’s habitus has a considerable influence on her style in Baba ve Piç, the paper focuses on Şafak’s incorporation of Ottoman Turkish words into the Turkish translation in order to show that the addition of these words frames the Turkish translation within the broader narrative of language planning in Turkey. Ultimately, the study argues that the concept of habitus and the concept of narrative can be fruitfully brought together to explain how certain socio-stylistic aspects of the habitus-governed translation respond to the larger narratives of the target society.

Keywords: habitus, style, translation, narrative theory, language planning
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1The concept of translator’s habitus
    • 1.2Why Elif Şafak’s habitus?
    • 2.Şafak’s position-taking in Turkish society
      • 2.1Language planning in Turkey
      • 2.2Şafak’s resistance to Turkish language planning
    • 3.Şafak’s style in the Turkish translation of The Bastard of Istanbul
    • 3.1Methodological background
    • 3.2Examples
  • 4.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgement
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 22 September 2014
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https://doi.org/10.1075/target.26.3.03dur
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