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Part of
Humour in Self-Translation
Edited by Margherita Dore
[Topics in Humor Research 11] 2022
► pp. 87–112

Chapter 5
“Humourizing” the theatre of the absurd through reworking and (self-)translation

Turkish theatrical tradition in search of its own voice

ORCID logo | İstanbul Yeni Yüzyıl University

The introduction of written dramatic forms to the oral, performative, and improvisational Turkish theatrical tradition was made through translations, a.k.a. reworkings, of Western canonical works. Reworkings of these works were followed by the production of indigenous texts in the Ottoman, and later Turkish Republican, period(s) and were inherently characterised by “a search of the own voice of the Turkish theatre,” in terms of its dramatic and performative aspects. This search was naturally based on a tension between the very dissimilar Western and Turkish theatrical canons and traditions, a tension which required the possibilities of successfully integrating them. The present research aims at illustrating how the theatre of the absurd was “humourised” by means of the reworkings and recanonisations of actor/director Ferhan Şensoy and the theatre company Tiyatrotem. The research concludes by the discussion of how this act of “humourising” contributed both to the release of this intercanonical tension and to the creation of “the own voice.”

Keywords: theatre of the absurd, reworking, self-translation, translation of humour, translational recanonisation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Humour, reworking, and self-translation in a translational recanonisation context
    • 2.1A recanonisational approach to the use of humour within the aesthetics of the theatre of the absurd
    • 2.2Self-translation as reworking and recanonisation
  • 3.Creation of tension between canons in an Ottoman-Republican target context
  • 4.Case study: Reworkings and recanonisations of Waiting for Godot, Ubu Roi and Ubu Enchaîné
    • 4.1Self-translation as reworking: Ferhan Şensoy’s multilingual self-translations of Waiting for Godot
    • 4.2Translation within a self-translation: Tiyatrotem’s reworkings of Ubu Roi and Ubu Enchaîné
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 13 October 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/thr.11.05erg
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2023. World Classics in Turkish Theatrical Tradition and Back in World Canons: Ferhan Şensoy’s Translational Recanonization Practices. Söylem Filoloji Dergisi :Çeviribilim Özel Sayısı ► pp. 10 ff. DOI logo

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