Mapping what we know

Abstract

This article offers an outline of the literary translation flow from Turkish to Arabic between 1923 and 2005 based on a catalogue of translated literary works that were published in this period that was compiled for the purposes of this research. The aim of the article is to understand what kinds of works make it into a literary-linguistic domain when the host system has a turbulent history with the source system (in the case of Turkey and the Arab Middle East, a series of ideological and political factors were behind such turmoil). Based on Even-Zohar’s concept of clusters, the bibliographic data are consulted to trace the systemic infrastructure that helped determine which works from the source literature were admitted into the host literature. The process is carried out through identifying sets of relatable elements (translations, agents) that clustered around six thematic elements to form the repertoire of translated Turkish literature in the Arabic literary system. The analysis shows that the translation flow from Turkish to Arabic continued despite the historical rancour between Turkey and the Arab Middle East.

Keywords

• translation flow
• literary translation
• networks of relations
• repertoire
• cluster