A New (Mis)Conception in the Face of the (Un)Translatable: ‘Terscüme’

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the concept of ‘terscüme,’ a notion recently introduced to the Turkish literary system through the translation of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, with a focus on the translator’s possible reasons or motives for coining the term. Seventy-seven years after the novel’s completion by Joyce, Finnegans Wake was translated into Turkish twice in 2016, despite lingering doubts and controversy regarding its translatability. Interestingly enough, the first translation titled Finneganın Vahı was released as a ‘terscüme,’ a word derived from the Turkish word tercüme (translation). Having certain negative implications for the work as a translation, ‘terscüme’ could be translated into English as ‘counter-translation,’ ‘inverse translation,’ or ‘contrary translation,’ among other possibilities. In addition, the translator intentionally presents himself as a ‘Turkicizer,’ as opposed to a ‘translator.’ In order to discover the translator’s reasons for placing a seemingly negative cast on the ‘translation’ of this so-called ‘untranslatable’ work, this article considers paratextual elements (Genette 1997) as a research tool and supports them with textual elements. This study argues that what gave rise to the concept of ‘terscüme’ could be the translator’s reticence to assume the essentialist responsibility that would be imposed on a work called a ‘translation’ and designated by the name ‘translator’. The study concludes that the essentialist perspective on translation may cause the translator to avoid that title and seek to attain visibility under different names for himself/herself and his/her work.

Keywords

• terscüme
• untranslatability
• translator’s invisibility
• essentialism
• Finnegans Wake