The pseudotranslation is a technique that many authors employ to break
the chains from the restrictions of cultural or political censorship. When
established norms and marginalization are rooted in a single culture or
country, this technique is applied. When addressing issues such as racism or
antisemitism, Shakespeare, for example, preferred to stage his plays in other
nations so that he would not be accused of being a traitor, as anyone could
have been with a little misfortune. Even when he writes about the history of
his country, he constantly blames supernatural creatures.
The topic, as in our fiction, is
about the country's long-awaited emancipation from bossism, which occurred
nearly a century ago but has the potential to generate political debate. As a
result, the author constructs a novel utilizing pseudotranslation as a frame
plot, a technique known as transmesis. A translator writes a letter claiming to
have discovered an ancient diary belonging to a reporter who covered his time
in Istanbul during the period of constitutional monarchy. The rest of the novel
is told in the form of translated letters to a close friend by this reporter.
Because it was an era of political turbulence, the
author chose Fuat Franck Chausson, a Frenchman with Turkish origins, believing
that his hybridity would allow for objective narration, which was impossible to
happen .
As the main character gets lost in
his identity crises, his observations get blurred as he interrogates his roots
and wonders where he belongs. The dominant theme of the novel is the son that
carries the fate of the father however it has a twist: the son and the father
could be read as metaphors for translated text and authentic text. While the
son tries to replace the father, we see that also translated text in many ways
replace the authentic text. In this metaphor, the mother becomes the
translator. As the translated son bears both characteristics of the translator
mother and authentic father, the son resembles a hybrid creature. In the novel,
through this metaphor, the son (translated text) Fuat Franck is a bastard whose
father (authentic text/Turkish) is unknown by the intention of the mother
(translator/ French) who raised by another man (editor/French) and the son only
seeks his roots when he comes to the lands of the father. His repressed
feelings come to light when he boards the ship that will carry him to those
lands.
Furthermore, those lands were
previously the realm of the most powerful empire in the world. As a result, the
author adds to the metaphors by referring to the empire as a hybrid creature
that represents the protagonist. Fuat writes his dream about the creatures that
are half flowers and half animals in the garden of the palace ;
‘’Sultan ölmüştü ve bu melez mahlukat sahipsiz kalmıştı. Ben ölüp gitmiş sultan
için değil de ait oldukları yerden kopartılmış ve sonra da burada unutulmuş bu
şanssız hilkat garibeleri için üzülüyordum- The sultan was dead and these
hybrid creatures were abandoned. I was not sad for the sultan but for these
creates that had been forced out from their places. ‘’ (page 18, my
translation)
We know that dreams are the projectors
of the subconscious thus it is clear that Fuat identifies himself with the
hybrid empire and throughout the novel both hybrid creatures get through a
change that includes identity seek, turmoil, and eventually madness. Both the
empire and Fuat live with ‘’baba hayaleti- the ghost of the father (p. 49)’’ as
the empire’s ghost is the sultan. They both carry the characteristics of both
the East and the West thus their identity seeks sourced by being stuck in
between. Although his friend sees Fuat as a lucky person for carrying the
secrets of both sides, the protagonist and the empire do not feel lucky because
eventually, it starts to strangle them up.
‘’Sen dostum Fuat, sen ne kadar şanslı olduğunun farkında mısın? Senin
damarlarında Doğu’nun da Batı’nın da sırları dolaşıyor- Fuat, my friend, do you
realize how lucky you are? You carry the secrets of both the East and the West
in your veins.’’ (p.194)
When Fuat first came to the lands
of his father, he had an Oxidant gaze as he sees Istanbul as a mysterious and
sensational land where history meets with the modern age. Even on the political
aspect, the public is illiterate and bigoted in his perception:
‘’…ama kafalarının içindeki kemikleşmiş düşüncelerden kurtulmaları mümkün
müydü? Sabahattin Bey’e sorarsak cevap evettir. Daha düne kadar sarıkla dolaşan
Türkler şimdi fes giymiyor mu? Peki, kıyafet değiştirir gibi zihniyet
değiştirmek mümkün müdür?-
but could
they get rid of their rooted thoughts that easily? If we ask Mr. Sabahattin, the
answer is yes. Did not they wander around with their turbans until yesterday,
now they are wearing a fez? Yet, is it possible to change the mentality that
easily as if changing clothes? ‘’(p.
127)
However, it is understandable when
we think that the son (translated text) could carry the effects of the
stepfather (French man/editor) and the mother (French woman/translator) until
he meets his real father (Turkish man/authentic text) and his past. The son always finds a way to link himself to
the father because he never forgets his roots. Fuat’s point of view becomes
more emphatic as he learns about the land and the past of his father. His
perception of the East changes as he tries to find a place for himself in that
mysterious place. He understands the motivations of the public.
‘’Kim her şeyi kendi yerine düşünen kudretli bir babası olsun istemez ki- Who
does not want a mighty father who thinks instead of himself… ‘’ (p. 263)
It does not matter how much the son (translated text) has changed. He will
always carry the funeral of his father (authentic text) on his shoulder:
‘’Ne acayip bir olay Alex. Sabahattin Bey babasının cenazesiyle geliyordu
İstanbul’a, ben her şeyden habersiz eşlik ediyordum ona.Oysa şimdi kendi
babamın cenazesini aklımın içinde taşıyorum gittiğim her yere- What a bizarre
event Alex. Mr. Sabahattin was carrying his father’s funeral back to Istanbul
and I was companying him without even realizing that eventually, I would be the
one who carries his father’s funeral in his mind everywhere he goes.’’ (p. 290)
To sum up, the author employs the
psuedotranslation technique for the proper reasons. The reader could enjoy
reading with many discussions about literature, art, family, history, and
politics keeping in mind the translation metaphors that have been created
through the characters, and the author could write without confining himself to
generic issues or stepping on delicate things on the balls of his feet.
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