Reflection+Report+By+Ezgi+Uluer

The Practice of Translation in Turkey ( Hazal Kok's presentation)

Maybe because it was the first presentation that was done, Hazal Kok's “The Practice of translation in Turkey” is the one I remember deeply. She was seeking for some answers at the beginning. As far as I remember her questions were like; if the translators in Turkey are well qualified and reasons of it, if it is a good job to save money, who translator is etc. The we have watched two videos about the subject. Both of them helped us to understand the subject better. Then she briefly talked about the qualifications that a translator should have; a translator should know both of the languages as his/her native language, he or she should know the importance of art,culture etc, he/she should read anything, he/she should be an expert in an area, he/she should be calm etc. I think all of these qualifications are needed for translator to be a qualified one. Therefore I am agree with her in these points. Then she briefly talked about an organization “Kitap Cevirmenleri Girisimi” Then she briefly talked about how much translators earn. I did not know that it was that low. While I was listening that part, I felt that they are exploited. Then she concluded with some questions to take ideas of the listeners about a translator. With this presentation I have realized that being a translator is not an easy and well earned job. It raised my attention to the translated works and a translator. After this presentation, before I buy a book, I have started to check by whom it was translated. This semester I bought a book “1984” for my “novel course” Before I bought it, I got both the translated version and the original version and I checked the first couple of sentences to have an idea about the translation.

Ezgi Uluer IYI KOTU BAKIMSIZ by NEDIM CATLI ( by Selma Genc)

The first page in the presentation starts with the Italian proverb “Cevirmen haindir”. After that she goes telling about translation in movies. In this presentation how to decide the quality of translator's work was the main subject as it could be understood from the Italian proverb. The presenter mentions how to decide good movie or bad movie. It is understood that it can be depended because it changes person to person. Then she asks how we can decide if a presenter is good or bad. “   Iste davraniscilarin ‘iyi insan kotu insan yoktur, iyi davranis kotu davranis vardir’ yaklasiminda oldugu gibi ben de meseleye ceviri metin bazinda bakip oncelikle soruyu dogru sormak gerektigini dusunuyorum ARE THERE ANY GOOD TRANSLATION OR BAD TRANSLATION?” I understood that the answer of this question is personal. In the presentation it is also indicated that bad translation or good translation depends on the people's ideas. However, I think that sometimes in the movies the translations are very irrelevant. According to me when the original text and the translated version is not in in harmony then it is the bad translation. However in the presentation we see the contrasting ideas to mine frequently. “Bazi kisiler sirf Turkcesi ‘guzel’ ‘akici’ diye bir ceviri eseri ‘iyi’ diye nitelendirebiliyorlar ya da tam tersi, Turkcesi ‘kotu’ diye cevirinin ‘kotu’ oldugunu soyleyebiliyorlar. Oysa bu iki ornekte durum tam tersi olabilir.” I think the subject of this presentation worth to discuss however I feel like, we could not come to a good solution during the session. Except the conclusion part the presentation was nice.

Ezgi Uluer