Turkish translations of Lolita A search in the mist


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Denissova N.

BABEL-REVUE INTERNATIONALE DE LA TRADUCTION-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRANSLATION, vol.66, no.3, pp.420-433, 2020 (AHCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 66 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2020
  • Doi Number: 10.1075/babel.00165.den
  • Journal Name: BABEL-REVUE INTERNATIONALE DE LA TRADUCTION-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRANSLATION
  • Journal Indexes: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, Communication & Mass Media Index, Index Islamicus, Linguistic Bibliography, Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, DIALNET
  • Page Numbers: pp.420-433
  • Keywords: Nabokov, Lolita, translation and culture, censorship in translation, NABOKOVS
  • Anadolu University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This paper presents the results of research on translations of Nabokov's Lolita into Turkish. Two of the translations were published under different names, but a closer look reveals that these target texts are identical, except for a difference in the character Lolita's age; she is shown to be twelve in one translation and fourteen in the other. Apart from this, images of body and sex in the text are, to a certain degree, expurgated. Based on the data, I discuss the issues of authorship and (self) censorship in translation, as well as traditional cultural norms and the position of translator when she chooses to adapt to those norms or to question them.