Abstract:

The aim of this study is to analyze the play Coriolanus by Shakespeare from semiotics point of view and evaluate its Turkish translations from semiotics of translation perspective. To this end, the play Coriolanus originally published in 1623 and re-published by Penguin Books in 1955 was chosen as data collection tool. “Instances theory” by Jean-Claude Coquet (2007) was adopted in the semiological analysis of the original play and striking examples were found regarding “non-subjects” as coined by Coquet (2007). In the categorization of “non-subjects”, the typology system revised by Öztürk Kasar (2009a) based on Coquet and Öztürk Kasar (2003) was used. In reporting the non-subjects in the play, the “components of instance” as termed by Coquet (in Öztürk Kasar, 2012) was also used. Two Turkish translations of the play, one by Halide Edib Adıvar and Vahit Turhan (1945) and the other one by Bülent Bozkurt (1994) were chosen for translation evaluation. “Designificative Tendencies Systematic” developed by Öztürk Kasar (in Öztürk Kasar, Tuna, 2015) was used in data collection procedure for translation evaluation. As a result of translation evaluation, it was found that while subjectivity was preserved in some contexts in the translated texts, translators were exposed to certain designificative tendencies in the translation of certain contexts with non-subject discourse, It was concluded that semiotics and translation complement each other, with semiotics contributing to translation act thereby minimizing the chances of designificative tendencies.

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