A descriptive analysis of the equivalence relationships in Usta beni oldursen'e!

Abstract

Translation is a process of interpretative transfer from source language into target language. Based on Jacobson's classification, translation can be classified into three types i.e. the interlingual, the interlingual and the semiotic. This study presents a descriptive equivalence analysis of the tripartite translational adventure of Usta Beni Oldursen E!, a story and a film about the relationships between a master acrobat and his apprentice, written by Bilge Karasu. This original adventure involves not only three source and target works but also three of the translational processes mentioned above. The first step of the translation involves an interlingual and an intersemiotic translation of the story (source work (SW) 1) into an English screenplay by Baris Pirhasan. The latter product is the first target work (TW) 1 titled Sawdust Tales. The second step of this translation process involves a semiotic and intralingual translation of TW I i.e. SW 2 (The English screenplay has now become a source work from which the film is originated) into a film directed by Bari Pirhasan (TW 2). TW 2 has been presented to two different target cultures as follows: 1) It has been presented to the non-Turkish target culture in English with the name Sawdust Tales. 2) It has been presented to the Turkish culture in English and their Turkish translations in subtitled form. The name of the film presented in the Turkish cultural system is Usta Beni Oldursene Moreover there exists a third translated work in the framework of this entire translation. It is the Turkish translation of the English screenplay published in Turkish culture with the name Usta Beni Oldursen E. Therefore there is an interlingual translation here involving the English screenplay as source text (SW 3: It conserves its characteristics as TW 1 and SW 2) and the Turkish screenplay as target work (TW 3). In the first part of the paper the reasons why three target works have been assumed to be translatums are given. The criteria underlying this assumption are the three postulates suggested by Toury, namely 1) source text, 2) transfer, 3) relationship. What remains unchanged, i.e., the invariant information in all the works that are subject to translation is the relationship between the master and apprentice. The things they share and the conflicts they have form a dilemma which is the core of the invariant. The second part of the paper presents a descriptive analysis of the actual equivalences between the source works and the target works in general and in terms of the phenomenon of authority within a theoretical framework. The authority phenomenon has been chosen because it is signified in all the works by a number of signifiers. The paper ends in a commentary on the types of norms governing the concerned process of translation. The appropriate behaviors within a semiotic translation are defined on the basis of this norm analysis.