Research Information System
9th International KTUDELL Conference, Trabzon, Turkey, 25 - 26 September 2023, pp.41-48, (Full Text)
Since ancient times, the function and responsibilities of translators have been questioned, but their very existence has been overlooked until the modern period. Toward the turn of the twentieth century,
researchers interested in translator identity and literary translation emphasized the concept of translator not only as a channel but also as a creator. There have been studies on the perception of translators. In
keeping with this tradition, the purpose of this study is to compare and contrast a popular novel and its translation. In this study, a comparative analysis of Origin, a work of popular literature by Dan Brown,
and its translation into Turkish by translator Petek Demir İncek was conducted. The study aims to be a descriptive analysis. To this end, the study is grounded on a theoretical basis in order to avoid subjective
opinions and to make objective evaluations rather than ‘error hunting’. The data have been analysed using the van den Broeck comparative analysis approach, and the results have been evaluated in terms
of shifts of expression, the ideas presented by Anton Popovic. The results of these evaluations have been used to focus on the current traps that translators may face during literary translation of globally popular
literary texts and their possible outcomes for the translators, readers and the publishers. The study has shown that shifts of expressions can in large proportion be negative in a popular novel due to (a) the
choices of the translator, (b) the prerequisites of the publishers, and that (c) not every negative shift of expression can be a ‘gain’, as per Popovic’s statement, for the target culture and language.