Çeviride Yeniden Sömürgeleştirme / Sömürgecilikten Arındırma

Anglofon Afrika yazınında kullanılan eski İngiliz sömürgeciliğine ait yaratıcı yazın dili sömürgecilik sonrası edebiyat içinde fazlasıyla ilgi görmüş olsa da bu benimsenen kurgusal edebiyatın ve dilbilimsel açıdan melez söylemin baskın bir Avrupa diline çevrildiğinde ortaya çıkanlar hakkında günümüze kadar çok az çalışma yapılmıştır. Özellikle bu durumun ideolojik çıkarımları üzerine fazla çalışma yapılmamış olmasının yanında çeviribilim alanında bu konuyla ilgili yapılan az sayıdaki çalışmanın ise, hem kaynak metinde hem de çeviride akıcı olmayan stratejilerin egzotikleştirme ve devamında klişeleştirme eğiliminin göz ardı edilmesi sebebiyle, kaynak metnin akıcı dil stratejilerini metni yeniden sömürgeleştirerek bastırdığı görülmektedir. Çevirinin, kültürler arası bir köprü olmak şöyle dursun, ‘algılanan klişeler üzerinde hak iddaa ettiği durumlarda ayırıcı bir hal alma” potansiyeline sahip olduğu Carbonell i Cortés, 1996; 83 fikrinden yola çıkarak - ki bu bağlamda, erek metnin kaynak kültürden aldığı ve erek kültür için şekillendirdiği basmakalıp imgeleri kalıcı hale getirdiği durumlarda metnin yeniden sömürgeleştirilmiş olduğu söylenebilir – bu çalışma, ne metinsel akıcılığa ilişkin stratejilerin, ne de metinsel akıcılığın olmadığı stratejilerin kendi başlarına metni yeniden sömürgeleştirebileceğini veya sömürgecilikten arındırabileceğini tartışmaktadır. Bunun yerine bu çalışma, hem kaynak metinde bulunan benimsenmiş yaratıcı dilin ve dilbilimsel olarak melez sayılan öğelerin daha detaylı ve farklılaştırılmış analizinin, hem de akıcı olmayan bir dil stratejisi uygulandığında erek metinde ortaya çıkacak etkinin incelenmesi gerektiğini savunmaktadır. Böyle bir inceleme olmadan, sömürgecilik sonrası metinlerin çevirilerinin yeniden sömürgeleştirmeye yatkın olup olmadığı, varsayılan yeniden sömürgeleştirmenin arkasında yatan sebepleri ortaya çıkartıp çıkartmadığı ve en önemlisi de bu çevirilerin ticari yayınevleri için çalışan bir çevirmen için ne tür gerçekçi çeviri stratejilerini ele alıp alamayacağı gibi konularda sonuçlara varmak imkansızdır. Dahası bu tür bir analiz süreci, bu varsayılan yeniden sömürgeleştirme eğilimini engelleyecek stratejileri belirlemek amacıyla çevirmenlik eğitiminin çevirmen adaylarını yönlendirebilmesi ve bu şekilde de çeviride yeniden sömürgeleştirme yöntemlerinin altında yatan kuralları değiştirilebilmesi için gereklidir.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

edebi çeviri, sömürgecilik sonrası yazın, dilbilimsel hibridite, sömürgecilikten arındırma, yeniden sömürgeleştirme

De/Recolonization in Translation

Although the creative appropriation of the language of the former British colonizers in Anglophone African writing has received ample attention in postcolonial literary studies, much less has been written about what happens when this creatively appropriated, linguistically hybrid discourse is translated into another hegemonic European language. The ideological implications in particular have remained under-investigated and the few studies within translation studies that have been done in this area tend to equate target-text strategies of fluency with a ‘recolonization’ of the text, as they do not take into account the exoticizing and hence stereotyping potential of non-fluent strategies, both in the source and the target text. Taking the viewpoint that translation has the potential to be ‘a source of separation when it reaffirms received stereotypes’ Carbonell i Cortés, 1996; 83 rather than a bridge across cultures, and, hence, that a recolonization also takes place when the target text perpetuates the stereotypical image the target culture has constructed of the source culture, this article argues that neither strategies of fluency nor strategies of nonfluency per se are de- or recolonizing. Instead, it suggests that a more detailed and differentiated analysis of the creatively appropriated, linguistically hybrid elements in the source text as well as the effect a non-fluent rendering would have in the target text is needed. Without such an analysis it is impossible to reach conclusions about whether translations of postcolonial texts show a tendency towards recolonization, attempt to uncover the motivations behind this presumed recolonization, and ultimately, explore what alternative translation strategies are realistically available to a translator working in a commercial publishing environment. Furthermore, such an analysis is needed in order to be able to investigate how translator training can contribute to encouraging translators to opt for strategies that prevent this presumed recolonization and in so doing work to change the norms behind recolonizing translation strategies.

Keywords:

literary translation, postcolonial writing, linguistic hybridity, decolonization, recolonization,

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