Limited Universalization

Source Text Target Text

Yolculuğumuzun üçüncü günü akşamı küçük limanlardan birinden esmer, atlet yapılı, fevkalade nefis ağız mızıkası çalan, yakışıklı bir delikanlı

At one of the small ports we stopped at on our third night a young man called.

Hasan boarded the ship. He was dark, athletic, good-looking and played the

bindi. O kadar güzel çarliston, kazaska, harmandalı oynuyordu ki.

(p.122-123)

harmonica beautifully. He did the Charleston as well as Caucasian and West Anatolian folk dances. (p.134)

In the example above “çarliston”, “kazaska” and “harmandalı” are CSIs where the protagonist talks about the traditional dances that a guy on the ship to Istanbul can do.

“Çarliston”, in English Charleston, is “a lively dance belongs to 1920s and done by turning the knees inwards and kicking out the ankles” (Lexico powered by Oxford Online Dictionary, n.d.), and it is a CSI belonging to the TT culture itself. “Kazaska” and

“harmandalı”, on the other hand, are CSIs as the dances originated from Caucasus and Aegean Region of Turkey. Since the Charleston is a familiar reference to the TT reader, translator uses the linguistic translation strategy to transfer it. However, he translates

“kazaska” and “harmandalı” as “Caucasian and West Anatolian folk dances” which is an example to the strategy of limited universalization. In other words, translator opts to delete the CSIs, i.e. the names of the dances, and transfers them with the names of the regions they belong to. Although they are still unfamiliar for the TT readers who are not acquainted with those two regions, deleting the names of the dances and replacing them by the names of their original region demolishes the foreign effect of the CSIs in the TTs.

Therefore, the strategy of domestication can be observed at the macro-level.

Example 16

Source Text Target Text

Oysa neler anlatmıyor? Babamın çocukluğu, veremden ölen amcam, halalarım, eski günlerin kelle şekeri, güllacı, iftar dönüşleri harem ve selamlık alemlerine dair neler...

(p.155)

He spoke of my father’s childhood, of my uncle who had died of tuberculosis, of my aunts, of the sweets one could get in the old days and of parties and celebrations followed the fasting at Ramadan. (p.171)

In the example above the utterance “eski günlerin kelle şekeri, güllacı, iftar dönüşleri harem ve selamlık alemlerine dair neler” is a CSI where the protagonist remembers the

traditions of Ramadan which is a sacred month to fast for Muslim people. “Kelle şekeri”

is a type of candy which is in the shape of a conical hat. “Güllaç” is a dessert which is especially made and eaten during Ramadan. It is made of very thin sheets of corn starch and regular flour, and these sheets are covered and softened with a sauce of milk and rose water. Moreover, “haremlik” and “selamlık” refers to the way of gathering around in the Muslim societies and means coming together in a way that women and men do not see each other since it is “haram”,i.e. illicit, in Islam. In the “haremlik” part women sit together and have a chat while “selamlık” part consists of men.

For all these CSI’s are unaccustomed for the TT readers’ context and almost impossible to understand, translator prefers to translate “kelle şekeri” and “güllaç” as “the sweets one”. Furthermore, he translates the CSIs “haremlik” and “selamlık” as “parties and celebrations”. All these utterances opted by the translator can be deemed as an indicator of the absolute universalization strategy, i.e. replacing all the cultural references with neutral expressions. However, the utterance “followed the fasting at Ramadan” is a CSI which not only belongs to the ST culture and but also is more understandable for the TT reader. It makes easier to comprehend the CSI for the TT readers while including a cultural element at the same time. Therefore, at the micro-level the strategy of limited universalization and at the macro-level the strategy of domestication can be observed in the translation of the example given above.

Example 17

Source Text Target Text

Saltanatımızın çöküş sebeplerine sıra gelmişti ki, kapı usullacık açıldı, uzun boylu, iri burunlu genel müdür kapıda dikildi.(p.186)

We had made it all the way to the reasons behind the fall of the Ottoman Empire when the door opened gently and the tall, large-nosed managing director appeared. (p.206)

In the example above the utterance “saltanatımız” is a CSI which refers to the sultanate of the Ottoman Empire. Due to the historical context and the period depicted in the book, the fall of the “sultanate” refers to the Ottoman Empire without any other additional

explanation for the ST readers. In addition, the word “sultanate” is an Arabic expression defining the dominance of a sultan which is a foreign or exotic title for the TT readers, and thus they may find it difficult to interpret the expression “our sultanate” as a reference to the Empire. Therefore, translator employs the strategy of limited universalization and makes this CSI clearer for the TT readers by translating it as “the fall of the Ottoman Empire”. Although the name “Ottoman Empire” is still a CSI belonging to the ST culture, it can be easily understood by the TT readers. By clarifying and explaining this CSI, translator domesticates it at the macro-level.

3.5.2.3. Absolute Universalization