“LAUGH OR LAMENT”: CIRCULATION OF IDEAS BY TRANSLATION
“LAUGH OR LAMENT”: CIRCULATION OF IDEAS BY TRANSLATION

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present an example of the circulation of ideas in the form of “laugh or lament” which is the collection of short stories by Aziz Nesin. The cause to question the basic problem is the translation of satires in the short stories in the context of circulation of ideas, which (do not) consist of Aziz Nezin’s style. The paper, from different perspectives, but based on Aziz Nesin's satire style, aims to analyze the circulation of ideas by translation. Aziz Nesin is widely regarded as one of the prominent Turkish authors, with his satirical language; he targets the absurdity of hypocrisy, corruption in a society, the dehumanizing effect of excessive bureaucracy, and unexpected problems and solutions in life, which are all cultural. As it is well known throughout the history of the literature, the best satirical work should provoke the readers by enabling them to understand the targets of the author. In Turkish, Aziz Nesin has been well understood by his target audience, and still exists in a bestseller status. However, his stories are not just made up of humor sense but also full of allusion. Thus, as Lawrence Venuti (1998) told in his work The Scandals of Translation, and considering that Aziz Nesin’s specified short stories are ranked as bestsellers, in the hope of a similar performance in a different language and culture, the translation of the short stories is expected to reinforce literary, moral, religious, or political values already held by that reader. When the translations of the short stories have been analyzed, it has been seen that the translation does not seem to have the same satirical aims. However, it can be said that the circulation of ideas has been completed by translation, transformation of satire and information. In the paper, by using Lawrence Venuti’s “bestseller” concept, the translator’s choices will be analyzed considering the features of bestsellers. Thus, this perspective can give readers a wide opinion to understand the translator’s choices, and by presenting an example of the circulation of ideas, how the translation effects this “circle” will be described.

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