Abstract:

Translations from Western languages in the post-Tanzimat era played a significant role in the renewal and further development of Turkish literature. During the post-Tanzimat era, when the interaction with the West gained momentum, various works were initially translated from French as a result of political, social, cultural and literary circumstances. However, in the following years, and especially from 1880 onwards, translations of many works of prose and verse from English, German and Russian literature begin. Turkish readers met with Russian literature for the first time in 1884, 25 years after the first literary translations from French. The reason behind the growing interest in Russian literature was the beginning of Russian language education in military schools and orientalist Olga Sergeyevna Lebedeva’s visits to Istanbul. Following the first translation from Russian literature in 1884, there is a considerable increase in translation efforts. In this period, various dictionaries as well as grammar and course books were published to aid learning Russian. Prominent poets and authors of Russian literature were introduced through articles and monographs. Works on the history of Russian literature were also published with the aim of introducing Russian literature to a Turkish audience. Despite the existence of many good-willed endeavors, one can say that the translations from Russian into Turkish were not undertaken with a systematic and structured approach and rather depended on the individual choices of the translators as well as social, political and cultural circumstances of the period. Some of these translations are based on a second language, namely French. One can hardly identify a beautiful style and a high quality translation in some of these translations, which contained errors and missing parts. A systematic and planned approach to translation only came about in Republican era especially after 1940. Like the translations from Western languages, the translations from Russian had a substantial impact on broadening Turkish reader’s and intellectual’s horizon and on acquainting with the literary, cultural and artistic works and values of Russia. These first translations from Russian laid the groundwork for more quality translations to be made in the Republican era. This article will focus on the translations from Russian in Post-Tanzimat era

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