TIM 2011 Turkish-Greek Hakan ÖZKAN - Transeuropéennes

published this number decreased to 3 in the 1950s and to one in the 1960s which was due to therising oppression by the Greek junta. After 1974 when the junta was brought down, translationsfrom Turkish rose steeply: 22 in the 1970s, and 41 in the 1980s.The four books translated in the 1940s are: An anthology of Turkish poetry of the years 1919-1939, an anthology of Turkish prose, a theatre play by Nazım Hikmet, and a short story by thenovelist Refik Halit Karay.In the following decades publishers preferred works by the poet Nazım Hikmet (18 titles), thesatirist Aziz Nesin (16 titles), the novelist Yaşar Kemal (9 titles), and by the novelist NecatiCumali (3 titles) who wrote about life on the Aegean coast (for example Πικρός καπνός,original title: Acı Tütün, tr. Bitter Tobacco, translated by Petros Markaris, published byThemeliora in 1979).In Social Sciences, Turkish books were not at all represented in Greece. Only in 1976 the firstbook which deals with Turkish politics (Title: Turkey in a Dead-End) was published. 10 Beginningwith the downfall of the junta regime in 1974 publications in Social Sciences rose constantly.10 Bekir Kamuran Harputlu, Η Τουρκία σε αδιέξοδο (tr. No way out: Turkey) Translated by Monika Vlaxu,Athens 1976.© Transeuropéennes, Paris & Fondation Anna Lindh, Alexandrie - 20115

countries of course). Ari Çokona explains this disparity as follows: for Turkey Greece is oneneighbour among many others, but for Greece Turkey is by far the biggest and mostintriguing neighbour with its ethnically, socially and culturally multi-layered 74-millionpopulation, its powerful army. Furthermore the conflict over the Aegean still smoulders andthe Cyprus issue is not settled. Greeks try to understand the dynamics that rule Turkeyprimarily because of mere interest in the big neighbour in the East, but also because Turkeyis perceived as a threat.2.1.2 Predominant authors and themes in belles-lettresSome authors that were translated during the 70s and 80s did not enjoy the same interest inthe following decades. Only four works of Aziz Nesin who together with the poet NazımHikmet was the most featured author of the 1970s and 1980s have been translated in the1990s. In the 2000s no translation of Nesin was published. The same is true for Yaşar Kemalwhose novels were translated mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. Nazım Hikmet instead enjoyedrenewed publication of his known and yet unknown works (poetry and plays). 10 of hisworks have been translated throughout the 1990s and 2000s.I already mentioned that the translation of poetry decreased sharply in the 1990s and 2000s.This of course occurred because of the publishers’ economic considerations; they do notearn on poetry books. Meanwhile Turkish poetry is still being translated and published inGreek literary magazines such as Δέντρο, Ελλέβορος, Η Λέξη, and Τοµές for example whoalso published special issues and features on Turkish literature (Çokona 2009: 75).Among the writers that emerged or became famous in the 1990s and 2000s are of courseOrhan Pamuk (10 titles, most of them published in the 1990s), but also other novelists asMurathan Mungan (7 titles, all in the course of the 2000s), Nedim Gürsel (3 titles in the1990s, 3 titles in the 2000s), and Duygu Asena (3 titles in the 1990s, 3 titles in the 2000s).As to preferred subjects the most conspicuous is love and the city of Istanbul (Gr.Κωνσταντινούπολη, Konstantinoupoli) or both together. Istanbul seems to be the realhero of many a novel: Murathan Mungan’s Son Istanbul (tr. The End of Istanbul, Gr. Το τέλοςτης Πόλης) is one of the numerous examples. Publishers even ask translators to scroungethe market for novels that deal with love and in some way involve The City (Gr. Πόλη,Poli) as Istanbul is still fondly and evocatively called among Greeks.Publishers also tend to put the name of Istanbul or the Bosphorus in the Greek title of thebook even if it does not occur in the original title as in Zülfü Livaneli’s novel Engereğin© Transeuropéennes, Paris & Fondation Anna Lindh, Alexandrie - 20117

Gözündeki Kamaşma (tr. The Viper’s Dazzled Eye) which in the Greek title turns into Οµεγάλος ευνούχος της Κωνσταντινούπολης (tr. The Great Eunuch ofKonstantinoupoli). This preference is also expressed by the choice of the cover which oftendepicts most conspicuous monuments or features of the city as in Sergün Ağar’s book AşkınSamatya’sı Selanik’te kaldı (tr. The love of Samatya remained in Salonica; Samatya is a quarterin Istanbul) which is rendered in Greek as Φίλησα µια φορά την Ευδοξία (tr. I oncekissed Eudoksia). Interestingly, in the Greek title neither Samatya nor Istanbul arementioned. On the cover, however, we see a woman’s eyes looking at us from over theHagia Sophia, the most important symbol of Byzantine or Greek presence in the city:The cover of the original Turkish edition does not include any reference to Istanbul butshows a woman of past centuries sitting on a couch with floral motives:© Transeuropéennes, Paris & Fondation Anna Lindh, Alexandrie - 20118

special series or programmes for Turkish literature as Belge in Turkey does for Greekbooks with their Marenostrum series.It is remarkable that 70% of the Greek readership is female. A fact that may play animportant role in the choice of books that are published (Çokona 2009 ibid.).When choosing Turkish literature publishers mostly rely on the advice of their translators(Çokona 2009, 76). They also screen the major European and American markets; as soon astitles of Turkish writers crop up in the reviews of these countries, Greek publishers showinterest in publishing works of the author in question. Katia Lempesi of the publisher Kedrosthat published the detective novels of Ahmet Ümit, the prose of Mehmet Coral, and AyşeKulin states that they pick Turkish titles that are of “substantial interest” without going intodetail what this substantial interest may be (Siafkou 2006). In lack of literary agencies, Greekpublishers more and more contact their Turkish counterparts directly after having madetheir acquaintance on large book fairs as the Frankfurt Book Fair. An important catalystevent was the 2008 Frankfurt fair where Turkey was the guest of honour (Çokona 2009:77).Publishers do not employ correctors verifying the quality of the translation by referring backto the source text. Mostly lecturing of the target language is checked only. A notableexception is Kastaniotis where a famous translator for Turkish literature, Stella Xristidou,acts also as a corrector.3. Dissemination and availabilityThe large Greek bookstores as Πρωτοπορία in Salonica have the best-selling Turkish novels(Orhan Pamuk, Murathan Mungan, Nazım Hikmet) on their shelves. Πρωτοπορία alsomaintains an online bookstore where most of the titles in the appendix are available fordelivery within few days. Other online bookstores that offer Turkish books with someinformation on the work are www.greekbooks.gr, www.ebooks.gr and www.captainbook.gr.Some of these bookstores as for example www.ebooks.gr include routines that allow you tonarrow down your searches to Turkish literature or Turkish history etc. Sales prices ofTurkish novels and books on Social Sciences average between 15 and 25 €.© Transeuropéennes, Paris & Fondation Anna Lindh, Alexandrie - 201110

4. Media and critical receptionAll major newspapers like Τα Νέα, Το Βήµα, Καθηµερινή, and Ελευθεροτυπία haveliterary supplements where reviews of books are published. In general these review are ofgood quality with occasional references to translation and translation quality (Çokona 2011).Literary magazines like Δέντρο and Η Λέξη also review works that have been translatedfrom Turkish.5. Funding and SupportBeginning with 2005, funding is mostly provided by the Turkish Translation Project, TEDA.TEDA, a translation subvention program initiated by the Turkish government, subsidised 28titles (40%) of the 70 books published between 2005 and 2011. Although they influenced theevolution of translations positively, it is not quantifiable exactly how big this influence was astranslations from Turkish to Greek were constantly on the rise until the middle of the2000s, i.e. until the year of TEDA’s creation. Furthermore, not all editors in Greece knowabout or want to go through the admittedly overestimated hassle of bureaucracy linked tothe application process (Çokona 2011). 12 If we look at belles-lettres in the 2000s,disregarding subsidised books from TEDA, the total of translations has nearly doubled from40 titles in the 1990s to 78 titles in the 2000s. Neither is it clear to which extent the OrhanPamuk’s Nobel prize has affected publishing of Turkish literature since 2006. At least forOrhan Pamuk himself the award did not spark a wave of new publications of his œuvre asmost of his works had already been translated until then.Consequently, we cannot rule out that the books translated with the aid of TEDA wouldhave been published anyway. Therefore the TEDA’s role in promoting translations intoGreek cannot be answered satisfactorily.The figures of publications in the realm of Social Sciences does not help to dispel thisuncertainty. While in the 1990s 9 titles were published in this area the number skyrocketedto 36 in the 2000s. As only 3 publications have been subsidised by TEDA their contributionto the quadrupling in works in Social Sciences is tiny.12 The role of TEDA and their decision process is disputed as it has been reported that in some instancesapplications were rejected because of political considerations (Çokona 2011).© Transeuropéennes, Paris & Fondation Anna Lindh, Alexandrie - 201111

Turkish-Greek translations are eligible for EU funding (EU Education, Audiovisual & CultureExecutive Agency) 13 . According to Ari Çokona works that have been translated fromTurkısh into Greek have not received financial support by the above agency (Çokona 2011).6. TranslatorsMany of the translators that translated or still translate Turkish literature into Greekoriginate from the Greek community in Istanbul. They are bilinguals who attended thebilingual primary and secondary schools in the various districts of Istanbul (Beyoğlu, Fener,Arnavutköy, Büyükada, and Karaköy). Among them are Panayot Abacı (who was the first totranslate eminent authors such as the novelist Yaşar Kemal, the satirist Aziz Nesin, and thepoet and novelist Rıfat Ilgaz), Stella Xristidou (novelists Orhan Kemal and Murathan Mungan),Petros Markaris (novelist Murathan Mungan) Herkül Millas (poets Can Yücel and YunusEmre), Fragko Karaoglan (novelists Zülfü Livaneli and Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar), and IoÇokona (novelist Mehmet Murat Somer). Some of these also translate from Greek intoTurkish: Panayot Abacı, Fragko Karaoglan, and Herkül Millas to name a few. As I explainedfurther above with regard to Avraam N. Papazoglu, the translators of the Greek communityof Istanbul play a major role in mediating between the two countries.Translators of Turkish literature generally cannot live on what they earn for theirtranslations. In most of the cases they have other jobs that sustain them or they do notdepend on the revenues that their translations generate. Fees can be very discouraging sothat translations remain a work fuelled by intrinsic motivation rather than remuneration.According to Ari Çokona, fees in Greece are not calculated by a percentage on the print runof a published work as it is in Turkey (Çokona 2011). Instead translators usually get anagreed fee which can vary considerably. Further print runs do not entitle them to claim arenewal of that payment.7. Learning Turkish in Greece and TurkeyThe universities in Greece that provide instruction in Turkish language and literature are theUniversity of Athens, the Aegean University in Rhodes, the University of Macedonia inSalonica, the Thrace University in Komotini, and the Ionian University in Corfu. There are13 http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/culture/index_en.php. Accessed on 10 July.© Transeuropéennes, Paris & Fondation Anna Lindh, Alexandrie - 201112

also other institutions that teach Turkish language and literature as for example the Centerfor Oriental Language and Culture in Athens. To my knowledge there is no branch ordepartment that is dedicated to translation from Turkish to Greek and vice versa or fromOriental languages to Greek in general.There are other chiefly research-centred institutions that do not provide undergraduatecourses for students but rather postgraduate seminars and programmes in collaborationwith other universities, their main focus being to undertake research on Turkish politics,history, literature, and culture. They make known the results of their research throughjournals, books, organization of seminars and conferences. Two of these institutions areknown to me: the Institute for Balkan Studies in Salonica, and the Institute for MediterraneanStudies in Rethimno, Crete.Turkey: As noted above, Greeks in Istanbul learn Turkish alongside with Greek in primaryand secondary schools that are especially provided for them by the Turkish Ministry forEducation. Many of them also continue their education in Turkish Universities.© Transeuropéennes, Paris & Fondation Anna Lindh, Alexandrie - 201113

BibliographyAri Çokona (1999) Yunancaya Çevrilmiş Türk Edebiyatı (tr. Turkish literature translated intoGreek) In: Çevirmenin Notu, 7, 73-88Ari Çokona (2011) interview on 16 August 2011Episkopoulos, N. (1894) Τουρκική φιλολογία (Turkish Philology), ‘Αστυ, 28 March 1894.Karaoglou, X. et al. (1996) Περιοδικά Λόγου και Τέχνης (1901-1940) (Art and LiteratureMagazines, 1901-1940). Αθηναϊκά περιοδικά (1901-1925). Thessaloniki.Kayadelen, E. (2007) Greek Fiction Translated into Turkish 1990-2006, Boğaziçi University.Papazoglu, Avraam N. (1938). Βαλκανικοί Ορίζοντες (tr. Balkan Horizons), Athens 1938.Papazoglu, Avraam N. (1932). Ercüment Behzad: S.O.S. In: Νεα Εστία 11, 127, 380Pimplis, Manolis (2008) «Μαµά, τώρα θα βλέπω όνειρα στα τούρκικα;» (tr. “Mom,will I dream in Turkish now?”) In: Τα Νέα newspaper accessed on 29 July 2011:http://www.tanea.gr/vivliodromio/?aid=4488351Rigopoulou, Dimitris (2009) Η Κρήτη, οι µουσουλµάνοι και ο δικός τους ξεριζωµός(tr. The Muslims of Crete and their Uprooting) In: Καθηµερινή newspaperaccessed on 29 July 2011:http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_civ_1_20/03/2009_308262Siafkou, Xristos (2006) ‘Ελλας Τουρκία λογοτεχνία (tr. Greek, Turkey, Literature)accessed on 14 August 2011:http://archive.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=113,dt=08.01.2006,id=68971544Zaragkalis, Thanos and Xarisiadou, Maria et. al. (2007) Τουρκική λογοτεχνία: Τούρκοιλογοτέχνες του εικοστού αιώνα. Τούρκοι λογοτέχνες γράφουν καιµιλούν για τους Ρωµιούς (Turkish literature: Turkish writers of the 20 thcentury. Turkish authors on the Rum), Athens 2007.© Transeuropéennes, Paris & Fondation Anna Lindh, Alexandrie - 201114