A Transitivity Analysis of Prefaces Written for Modernist Novel (Re)Translations: Understanding Paratexts as a Tool of Recontextualization

Neslihan Kansu-Yetkiner; Ilgın Aktener; Nazlıgül Bozok; Pınar Danış; Aslı Melike Soylu; Aysu Uslu Korkmaz

doi:10.33919/esnbu.23.1.5

Authors

Neslihan Kansu-Yetkiner İzmir University of Economics, Izmir, Türkiye
Ilgın Aktener İzmir University of Economics, Izmir, Türkiye
Nazlıgül Bozok İzmir University of Economics, Izmir, Türkiye
Pınar Danış Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Türkiye
Aslı Melike Soylu İzmir University of Economics, Izmir, Türkiye
Aysu Uslu Korkmaz İstanbul Beykent University, Istanbul, Türkiye

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33919/esnbu.23.1.5

Keywords:

Paratexts, Transitivity, Recontextualization, Retranslations, Modernist Literature

Abstract

This study focuses on paratexts as recontextualization tools, specifically prefaces written for (re)translations, and problematizes Turkish (re)translations of modernist novels written in English, which, for reasons of morality, encountered legal difficulties, and were stigmatized, banned, or confiscated in the source culture. Recontextualization resonates with (re)producing ideologies, exposing various agents' deliberate power positions in determining discourse structures within the more general framework of Critical Discourse Analysis. Against this backdrop, this study, which is part of a larger project, has a twofold purpose: a) to evaluate 15 prefaces extracted from (re)translations of 10 modernist novels as a tool for recontextualization; and b) to investigate the preface discourse regarding the transfer of modernist novels into the target culture through the lens of transitivity analysis, based on Halliday's Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) model. SFL proposes that the main system by which experiential meaning is associated with process choices within the framework of ideational meta-function is transitivity; transitivity analysis is therefore applied to the prefaces to unveil the relationships established between the processes and the actors. The analysis of findings revealed that recontextualization was functionalized to create an explicit, rather than an implicit discourse structure through the intensive use of material processes. It concludes that prefaces written to (re)translations in Turkish context, as liminal devices between the fictitious and real worlds, are clearly instrumentalized to position the key players in the adaptation, promotion, and representation of these books within their new cultural context, and thus, were designed to influence the discourse surrounding the transfer of modernist novels into the target culture.

Author Biographies

Neslihan Kansu-Yetkiner, İzmir University of Economics, Izmir, Türkiye

Neslihan Kansu-Yetkiner is a professor of Translation and Interpreting and head of the department of English Translation and Interpreting at İzmir University of Economics in Izmir, Türkiye. Kansu-Yetkiner has a doctorate in Language and Communication from University of Groningen, the Netherlands, and an MA (Translation and Interpreting) and BA (Translation and Interpreting) from Hacettepe University, Türkiye. Her primary research interests lie in critical discourse analysis, (translated) children’s literature and corpus-based translation studies. She has published several articles on translation and interpreting and children’s literature in leading journals and has been running several TUBITAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye) supported projects as principal investigator.

Ilgın Aktener, İzmir University of Economics, Izmir, Türkiye

Ilgın Aktener studied translation and interpretation, and public relations and advertising at Izmir University of Economics. She received her MA degrees in the fields of American Culture and Literature and American Studies from Ege University and Heidelberg University (Germany). She undertook her PhD studies in translation at the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies at Heriot-Watt University. She previously worked at İzmir University of Economics as a research assistant, Heriot-Watt University as a research/teaching assistant, and Yaşar University as a lecturer. She has international translation and interpreting experience. Her research areas of interest are literary translation, sociology of translation, translation of children’s literature and corpus-based translation studies.

Nazlıgül Bozok, İzmir University of Economics, Izmir, Türkiye

Nazlıgül Bozok completed her bachelor’s degree in English Translation and Interpreting and her double major in International Relations and the EU at İzmir University of Economics. She received her master’s degree in English Translation and Interpreting from Dokuz Eylül University. Bozok, currently pursues a Ph.D. degree in Translation Studies at Istanbul University and has been working as a research assistant at İzmir University of Economics since 2017 and was a member of TUBITAK 1001 project as a scholar between 2022 and 2023. Her primary research areas include simultaneous interpreting, interpreter training, and cognitive studies in interpreting.

Pınar Danış, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Türkiye

Pınar Danış completed her bachelor's degree in Linguistics, at Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, in 2017. She received her master's degree in General Linguistics Program from Dokuz Eylül University, in 2019. Danış has been carrying out his doctoral studies at Dokuz Eylül University General Linguistics Program since 2019. At the same time, she worked as a scholar in the TUBITAK 1001 Project between 2022-2023. Her main research interests include pragmatics, (critical) discourse analysis, argumentative discourse, and language and ideology.

Aslı Melike Soylu, İzmir University of Economics, Izmir, Türkiye

Aslı Melike Soylu obtained her BA in English Translation and Interpreting and her minor in Sociology at İzmir University of Economics. Soylu graduated from the university in 2022 with a first degree, and also won the first place in the English category of the 2022 Young Translators Competition organized by Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She is currently pursuing her master's degree in English Translation and Interpreting at Dokuz Eylül University and working as a Research Assistant at İzmir University of Economics. Soylu worked as a scholar in a TUBITAK 1001 Project between 2022-2023. Her primary research interests include multimodality, translation of children’s literature, and audiovisual translation.

Aysu Uslu Korkmaz, İstanbul Beykent University, Istanbul, Türkiye

Aysu Uslu Korkmaz began her undergraduate study in Translation and Interpreting Studies at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, in 2015. Within the framework of Erasmus Student Mobility, she was entitled to study at KU Leuven in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2019. Uslu Korkmaz has been pursuing her master’s degree in English Translation and Interpreting at Hacettepe University, Ankara, and working as a Research Assistant at Istanbul Beykent University. In addition, she worked as a scholar in a TUBITAK 1001 Project between 2022-2023. Her primary research interests are critical discourse analysis, paratexts, adaptation as intersemiotic translation, and audiovisual translation.

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