Research Article

An Analysis of Narrative and Discourse Levels in Poetry Translation: The Case of Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice

Number: 16 August 30, 2026
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An Analysis of Narrative and Discourse Levels in Poetry Translation: The Case of Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice

Abstract

Poetry translation is a multilayered rewriting process shaped by the attempt to preserve rich symbolic structures, rhythmic elements, and sound patterns while maintaining semantic integrity. This study aims to comparatively analyse Robert Frost’s poem Fire and Ice and its translation into Turkish created by Talât Sait Halman from an interdisciplinary perspective. Based on a qualitative research method, the study adopts Holmes’s (1972) descriptive translation approach. The texts are analysed along the levels of narrative and discourse within the framework of Barthes’ (1967) layers of meaning, Derrida’s (1978) deconstruction theory, Kristeva’s (1980) concept of intertextuality, and Lefevere’s (1992) rewriting approach. The analysis reveals that Halman’s translation largely preserves the narrative level of the source text, including the binary opposition constructed around the signs of fire and ice and the lyrical subject’s choice between these two forces. However, significant transformations are observed at the discourse level. It is determined that the emphatic positions of the signs at the end of the lines are partially lost and that the lyrical subject’s epistemic hesitation is largely eliminated in the translation, resulting in a more certain and dramatic discourse. The findings demonstrate that poetry translation is not a process of transferring meaning in a fixed manner, but rather a dynamic creative process that reconstructs meaning in accordance with the expressive possibilities of the target language. Since limited to a single source text and its translation, this study does not claim generalizability. Yet, it offers an interdisciplinary analytical model for poetry translation studies.

Keywords

References

  1. Aksoy, N. B. (2002). Geçmişten günümüze yazın çevirisi. İmge Kitabevi.
  2. Barnstone, W. (1993). The poetics of translation: History, theory, practice. Yale University Press.
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  4. Barthes, R. (1967). The death of the author. Aspen, 5–6.
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  6. Benjamin, W. (2000). The task of the translator. In L. Venuti (Ed.), The translation studies reader (pp. 15–25). Routledge.
  7. Davis, K. (2009). Deconstruction. In M. Baker & G. Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (pp. 74–77). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
  8. Derrida, J. (1978). Structure, sign, and play in the discourse of the human sciences. In J. Derrida, Writing and difference (A. Bass, Trans.). University of Chicago Press.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Translation and Interpretation Studies

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

August 30, 2026

Submission Date

June 23, 2026

Acceptance Date

August 30, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Number: 16

APA
Yılmaz, E. (2026). An Analysis of Narrative and Discourse Levels in Poetry Translation: The Case of Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice. Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 16, 274-294. https://doi.org/10.47948/efad.1976927
AMA
1.Yılmaz E. An Analysis of Narrative and Discourse Levels in Poetry Translation: The Case of Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice. KMU EFAD. 2026;(16):274-294. doi:10.47948/efad.1976927
Chicago
Yılmaz, Elif. 2026. “An Analysis of Narrative and Discourse Levels in Poetry Translation: The Case of Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice”. Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, nos. 16: 274-94. https://doi.org/10.47948/efad.1976927.
EndNote
Yılmaz E (August 1, 2026) An Analysis of Narrative and Discourse Levels in Poetry Translation: The Case of Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice. Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 16 274–294.
IEEE
[1]E. Yılmaz, “An Analysis of Narrative and Discourse Levels in Poetry Translation: The Case of Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice”, KMU EFAD, no. 16, pp. 274–294, Aug. 2026, doi: 10.47948/efad.1976927.
ISNAD
Yılmaz, Elif. “An Analysis of Narrative and Discourse Levels in Poetry Translation: The Case of Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice”. Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi. 16 (August 1, 2026): 274-294. https://doi.org/10.47948/efad.1976927.
JAMA
1.Yılmaz E. An Analysis of Narrative and Discourse Levels in Poetry Translation: The Case of Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice. KMU EFAD. 2026;:274–294.
MLA
Yılmaz, Elif. “An Analysis of Narrative and Discourse Levels in Poetry Translation: The Case of Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice”. Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, no. 16, Aug. 2026, pp. 274-9, doi:10.47948/efad.1976927.
Vancouver
1.Elif Yılmaz. An Analysis of Narrative and Discourse Levels in Poetry Translation: The Case of Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice. KMU EFAD. 2026 Aug. 1;(16):274-9. doi:10.47948/efad.1976927

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