Tuncay Birkan on the Role of the Translator

    Tuncay Birkan, who is a translator and an editor, says in his article that even though there are many reasons to translate, like to know about your neighbor or transport a good piece of work and knowledge to the next generations; however, in the end, the translation is another way for humanity to dominate each other. He claims that dual translations were done because the vassal state had to keep up with the powerful state, and he is not wrong thinking that the first known written translation in history was the peace treaty between the Hittite Empire and the Egyptian Kingdom.

     Concerning the politics of translation, translators are seen as cold and judgy. The Italian expression becomes a cherry on top: ‘’traduttore traditore (translator, traitor)’’. Translators are seen as the subcontractors of the imperial powers. While powerful stranger conquers the lands, translators are seen as the conqueror of the minds through narratives. The powerful usually tries to conquer the language and the culture of the vassal, however blaming the translator for this is like blaming the sword instead of the one who is holding it. Translators made a place in the stage of history as being a spy and as being a traitor. This prejudice could be understood when considering that mistranslations did take millions of lives. For example; ın July 1945, reporters asked Japanese Premier Kantara Suziki about the Allies' request of Japan surrender, he replied ''Mokusatsu’’, translated as the first definition in the dictionary; ‘’Not worthy of comment’’ instead the actual meaning was ‘’No comment’’. Atomic bombs went off 10 days later.

     Birkan continues his article by claiming that translators are not seen as a craftsman because they are seen to be simply ''imitate'' the narrative instead creating a new thing. However, he says, societies should accept that even the things we count on to be ours could have been borrowed in some way or another at some point in history. He points out that translators are seen as the threat shaped in flesh and bones, that they the constant reminder of that powerful enemy. Frankly, this description reminds the character Mister Raif, who is a translator translating German to Turkish, from Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali, thinking that maybe that was the reason why he was pulled about by his boss because he was the reminder of that long-gone enemy. 

          Birkan ends his article by saying that a translator should call himself a competent translator only when he could enrich the native culture by creating an equivalent of the foreign culture. Moreover, after that, no one would say that translation is an imitation when it is an act of creativity. Translation of narrative or any kind of text means not only translating a language but translating a culture, an anthology, and the connotation that came with that language.

     Apart from exceptions, translators are not spies wandering between politics but the protectors of that politics who gets caught in the middle sometimes. It is safe to end this paper with a quotation from Goethe, one of the most productive polymath; ''Say what we may of the inadequacy of translation, yet the work is and will always be one of the weightiest and worthiest undertakings in the general concerns of the world.'' Ironically, he was German thus this quotation is only a translation of what he said and what he meant.

Mentioned article: https://cevbir.org.tr/yazi-yorum/cevirmen-yabanci-ajani-mi-yabanciligin-ajani-mi