Units of Measurement

of the metric system as mentioned above. Meters and centimeters are commonly used in everyday life in Turkey instead of inches and feet. However, one should bear in mind that Turkish readers are aware of foreign units such as inch, feet and miles, which have restricted use in Turkish. One can clearly see that both TT1 and TT2 translator applied Venuti‟s domestication approach; however, there is a striking difference between their strategies under Aixela. TT1 translator preferred to delete not only the units of measurement but also the whole sentence whereas TT2 translator employed the absolute universalization strategy, in which she replaced both units of measurement by duly converting them into centimeters. Her approach does not allow readers to feel the foreignness of the source references among Turkish readers, which could be instrumental in not disturbing their attention.

Example 37

ST He was five-ten¹, and weighed less than a hundred and fifty pounds²… (p. 26) TT1 Kamil bir yetmiş beş¹ boyunda ve yetmiş beş kilo ² ağırlığındaydı.

(p. 30)

TT2 Bir yetmiş sekiz¹ boyunda, altmış sekizkilo² ağırlığındaydı. (p. 33)

TT1 TT2

Applied Approach

(Venuti)

1Domestication

2Domestication

1Domestication

2Domestication Applied

Strategy (Aixela)

1Substitution (Absolute Universalization)

2Substitution (Absolute Universalization)

1Substitution (Absolute Universalization)

2Substitution (Absolute Universalization)

This example, which deals with the translation strategies of a combination of measurement units of both length and weight (inch, foot and pound) proves to be useful in determining what strategies both translator adopted in the translation of measurement units that are not similar to those in Turkey. It is important to note that height is measured by a combination of foot and inch whereas weight is measured by pound in the United States. In contrast, height is measured with a combination of meter and centimeter while kilo is used to measure weight in Turkey.

The analysis shows us clearly that both TT1 and TT2 translators employed the same strategies by Venuti and Aixela, namely domestication and absolute universalization, respectively. They both translated the units of height and weight by

converting them into meters, centimeters and kilos. However, there is a striking difference between their translation in terms of conversion. Precisely speaking, 5 feet and 10 inches equal to 177.80 centimeters while 150 pounds equal to 68.03 kg. TT2 translator provides an exact translation about the size in terms of height and weight whereas TT1 translator provides a slightly lower calculation of height as well as a relatively higher calculation in terms of weight. This careless attitude of the TT1 translator might derive from his stance regarding the translation of bestsellers, among which the Pelican Brief stands. Moreover, it proves the assumption that legal thrillers occupied a peripheral position in the Turkish literary polysystem in the early 1990s.

However, their position has made a slight advance from the periphery towards the centre, which might have had impact on the translation strategies thereof. Last but not least, translators need to be careful with the proper translation of measurement units since undue translations thereof might lead readers to have misleading ideas about the characters in a text.

Example 38

ST He followed the shoreline for a quarter of a mile, (p. 165) TT1 Kıyıyı izleyerek birkaç yüz metre gitti. (p. 154)

TT2 Çeyrek mil kadar kıyı çizgisini izledikten sonra geri döndü. (p. 184)

TT1 TT2

Applied Approach

(Venuti)

Domestication Foreignization

Applied Strategy (Aixela)

Substitution (Absolute Universalization)

Conservation (Linguistic translation)

As mentioned earlier, certain measurement units belonging to the imperial system have already gained a restricted access in Turkish, which uses the metric system. A mile, which equals to approximately 1.609 kilometres is one of the units of linear measure that Turkish readers are already familiar with even though they generally have a vague idea of the conversion rate between a mile and a kilometer. Considering the fact that a quarter of a mile equals to 402 meters, the TT1 translator adopted Venuti‟s domestication approach via Aixela‟s absolute universalization strategy which translates as “a few hundred meters”.

He preferred to replace the “mile” with “meter” by removing the foreign connotation of the unit and applying a neutral reference in the target text. On the other hand, TT2 translator employed Venuti‟s foreignization approach by way of Aixela‟s linguistic translation strategy. She might have preferred to keep as much as the original reference that is still recognized as belonging to the source text cultural system.

Considering the fact that mile is already established in Turkish as “mil” under the influence of French, she might have assumed that it might not disrupt reader‟s attention in this way.

Example 39

ST The lobby was as big as a football field, (p. 320) TT1 ...holü bir futbol sahası kadardı. (p. 287) TT2 Lobi futbol sahası kadar büyüktü. (p. 350)

TT1 TT2

Applied Approach

(Venuti)

Domestication Domestication

Applied Strategy (Aixela)

Substitution (Limited universalization)

Substitution (Limited universalization)

We have already emphasized the difference between the imperial and metric system.

The analysis of this example is assumed to have caused translation challenges for the translators because of the ambiguous connotations of “football” in both cultures. The word “football”, borrowed from English has already established itself in Turkish by means of linguistic translation as “futbol” and it refers to soccer in Turkey. In contrast, it refers to the “American football” in the United States. The analysis of the translations shows us that both TT1 and TT2 translator employed the same strategies of Venuti and Aixela; domestication and limited universalization, respectively. However, it is important to bear in mind that field dimensions regarding American football and soccer slightly differ. To illustrate, the standard field dimensions in American football equal to almost 110 meters whereas the size of a soccer field equals to approximately 100 meters. The translators are assumed to have intentionally resorted to the limited universalization strategy feeling that the translation of the CSI “football” as “American football” might lead to obscurity among Turkish readers.

Example 40

ST ... although he knew he was seventy-four inches tall, (p. 26) TT1 ... adamın bir altmış boyunda, (p. 31)

TT2 onun bir seksen sekiz boyunda, (p. 33)

TT1 TT2

Applied Approach

(Venuti)

Domestication Domestication

Applied Strategy (Aixela)

Substitution (Absolute Universalization)

Substitution (Absolute Universalization)

Here is a another example that deals with the translation of measuring human height.

As stated earlier, the height of objects including people people are measured using the imperial system in the US whereas the metric system is used to measure height in Turkey. The analysis in the tables shows us clearly that both translators employed Venuti‟s domestication approach and Aixela‟s absolute universalization strategy.

This example reinforces the assumption that translation of human height to Turkish is predominantly done via absolute universalization strategy. Precisely speaking, a person with the height of 74 inches equals to almost 1,88 meters. TT2 translator provides readers with the same conversion whereas TT1 translator, as in earlier examples, provides readers with an inconsistent result of 1,60 meters, which is far less than 1,88 meters. The inconsistency in the translation of measurement units by TT1 might arise from his view that bestsellers assume a low position in the literary system.

However, it is necessary that conversion be done properly and consistently as errors in most cases lead to ambiguity and confusion among target text readers.