The Bounds of Translatorial Perspective in the Turkish Translation of Rita Mae Brown’s Rubyfruit Jungle

Year 2023, Volume: 33 Issue: 2, 437 - 456, 25.12.2023

Göksenin Abdal

https://doi.org/10.26650/LITERA2023-1301814

Abstract

Queer translation brings new possibilities for expanding the definitions of gender identities and sexual orientations in the contexts of language. By adding alternative meanings to sexual expressions outside the heterosexual matrix, this type of translation has the potential to deconstruct the given categories of gender and sexuality in patriarchal culture. This is further enhanced by the collective ventures of literary agents publishing literary texts with queering perspectives in defiance of the aggression, stigmatization, and discrimination against sexually marginalized identities in society. This study aims to find answers to the question of how translatorial decisions affect the outlook of queerness in Yakut Orman, Dılşa Ritsa Eşli’s 2021 Turkish translation of Rita Mae Brown’s (1973) Rubyfruit Jungle, which is considered a reference book for queer literature in the Western world. This study is comprised of three parts. The first part provides an outline of the queer translation approach as a novel critique of the reflections of heteronormativity within translation practices in the target language, literature, and culture system. The second part presents a brief analysis of the implicit and explicit references to queerness in Rubyfruit Jungle, while the third part focuses on how the notion of queerness has been recreated in its Turkish translation Yakut Orman within the context of Démont’s (2018) conceptualization of queer translation. Ultimately, Eşli is revealed to have given accurate depictions of the queer identity in some areas, but Eşli’s queering perspective failed to reach its full potential due to the intense use of Démont’s misrecognizing translation with the implication of the hegemonic heterosexual and/or male gaze in the Turkish version, resulting in a limited representation of queerness in the target context.

Keywords

Rita Mae Brown, Rubyfruit Jungle, Yakut Orman, Umami Kitap

References

• Baer, B. J. (2018). Beyond either/or: Confronting the fact of translation in global sexuality studies. In B. J. Baer & K. Kaindl (Eds.), Queering translation, translating the queer theory, practice, activism (pp. 38-57). New York, NY: Routledge. google scholar
• Baker, P. (2002). Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang. London, the UK & New York, NY: Continuum. google scholar
• Bassi, S. (2017). Displacing LGBT: Global Englishes, activism and translated sexualities. In O. Castro & E. Ergun (Eds.), Feminist Translation Studies: Local and Transnational Perspectives (pp. 235-248). New York, NY: Routledge. google scholar
• Bassnett, S., & Lefevere, A. (1990). Translation, History and Culture. London, the UK: Printer Publishers. google scholar
• Breen, M. S. (2012). Homosexual identity, translation, and Prime-Stevenson’s Imre and the Intersexes. Comparative Literature and Culture, 14(1), 1-9. google scholar
• Brown, R. M. (1973). Ruby-Fruit Jungle (4th Edition). Plainfield, VT: Daughters, Inc. google scholar
• Brown, R. M. (2015). Ruby-Fruit Jungle. New York, NY: Bantam Books. google scholar
• Brown, R. M. (2021). Yakut Orman (Dılşa Ritsa Eşli, Trans.). Istanbul, Turkey: Umami. google scholar
• Burton, W. M. (2010). Inverting the text: A proposed queer translation praxis. In other words: the journal for literary translators, 36, 54-68. google scholar
• Chamberlain, L. (1988). Gender and the metaphorics of translation. Signs, 13(3), 454-472. google scholar
• Chan, L. T. (2018). Transgenderism in Japanese manga as radical translation: The journey to the West goes to Japan. In B. J. Baer & K. Kaindl (Eds.), Queering translation, translating the queer theory, practice, activism (pp. 96-111). New York, NY: Routledge. google scholar
• Cooper, S. (2019). ‘Us each other’s people now’: A critical analysis of the “queer’ happy endings that subvert and reject the American heteronarrative in Rubyfruit Jungle and the Color Purple. Assuming gender, 8(1), 2-21. google scholar
• Demont, M. (2018). On three modes of translating queer literary texts. In B. J. Baer & K. Kaindi (Eds.), Queering translation, translating the queer theory, practice, activism (pp. 157-171). New York, NY: Routledge. google scholar
• Elliott, J. (2006). Popular feminist fiction as American allegory: Representing national time. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. google scholar
• Flotow, L. V. (1991). Feminist translation: Contexts, practices and theories. TTR, 4(2), 69-84. google scholar
• Gairola, R. K. (2017). A manifesto for postcolonial queer translation studies. In O. Castro & E. Ergun (Eds.), Feminist Translation Studies: Local and Transnational Perspectives (pp. 70-79). New York, NY: Routledge. google scholar
• Godard, B. (2022 [1984]). Language and sexual difference: The case of translation. In E. C. Karpinski & E. Basile (Eds.), Translation, semiotics, and feminism: Selected writings of Barbara Godard (pp. 10-17). New York, NY: Routledge. google scholar
• Harvey, K. (2000). Gay community, gay identity and the translated text. TTR, 13(1), 137-165. google scholar
• Hermans, T. (1985) Introduction. The Manipulation of Literature: Studies in Literary Translation (pp. 3-8). London, the UK: Croom Helm. google scholar
• Keenaghan, E. (1998). Jack Spicer’s pricks and cocksuckers, The translator, 4(2), 273-294. google scholar
• Lorig, J. (2020). ‘Just a couple of queer fish’: The queer possibilities of Rita Mae Brown’s Rubyfruit Jungle. Contemporary Women's Writing, 14 (2-3), 315-332. google scholar
• Savcı, E. (2020). Queer in translation: Sexual politics under neoliberal Islam. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. google scholar
• Saxey, E. (2005). Lesbian bastard heroes: The uses of illegitimacy for modern lesbian fiction and identity. Women: A cultural review, 16(1), 33-51. google scholar
• Spurlin, W. (2014). Introduction, the gender and queer politics of translation: New Approaches. Comparative literature studies, 51(2), 201-214. google scholar
• 5Harfliler. (2021, 13 October). Kuir ve Feminist Bir Aradalıkları Çoğaltmak İçin Bir Yeni Adres: Umami Kitap [Web log post]. 5Harfliler. Retrieved from https://www.5harfliler.com/kuir-ve-feminist-bir-aradaliklari-cogaltmak-icin-bir-yeni-adres-umami-kitap/ google scholar
• Ak, N. B.; Çoban, G. (2022, 18 July). Kuir Edebiyata Selam [Web log post]. Artdog Istanbul. Retrieved from https:// artdogistanbul.com/kuir-edebiyata-selam/ google scholar
• Bantmag. (2021, 3 October). Hoşgeldin Umami Kitap! [Web log post]. Bantmag. Retrieved from https://bantmag. com/hos-geldin-umami-kitap/ google scholar
• Biner, İ. C. (2021, 18 November). Kuir ve feminist bir ağ: Umami Kitap. Gazete Duvar. Address: https://www. gazeteduvar.com.tr/kuir-ve-feminist-bir-ag-umami-kitap-haber-1542022. google scholar
• Erdem, A. M. (2019). İbne, gey, lubunya: A queer critique of LGBTI+ discourses in the new cinema of Turkey. CUNY academic works. Address: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3100. google scholar
• Göregenli, M. (2009). Gruplararası ilişki ideolojisi olarak homofobi. In Kaos GL (Ed.), Anti-Homofobi Kitabı: Uluslararası Homofobi Karşıtı Buluşma (pp. 9-16). Address: https://kaosgldernegi.org/images/ library/2009antihomofobi-kitap.pdf. google scholar
• Kaos GL. (2020). Sıkça Sorulan Sorular. Address: https://kaosgldernegi.org/images/library/2020sss10x14-web.pdf google scholar
• Karaahmet, Y. (2019, 12 July). Lubunya [Web log post]. 60 Pages. Retrieved from https://www.60pages.com/ longreads/lubunya/ google scholar
• Kelavgil, A. (2021, 21 May). Lubunca üzerine notlar [Web log post]. Kaos GL. Retrieved from https://kaosgl.org/ gokkusagi-forumu-kose-yazisi/lubunca-uzerine-notlar google scholar
• Kuleci, E. E. (2022, 15 February). Kuir feminist yayınevi, Yakut Orman, mini bir festival [Web log post]. Aposto. Retrieved from https://aposto.com/i/kuir-feminist-yayinevi-yakut-orman-mini-bir-festival google scholar
• Mutluer, N. (2015, 2 June). “Millî olmak’: Cinselliğimizin milliyetçi sınırı [Web log post]. Altüst. Retrieved fromhttps://www.altust.org/2012/06/milli-olmak-cinselligimizin-milliyetci-siniri/. google scholar
• Sebahat, J. (2022, 22 December). Yakut Orman: “İşin bu kısmı bitti”. K24. Address: https://t24.com.tr/k24/yazi/ yakut-orman-isin-bu-kismi-bitti,4029 google scholar
• Tar, Y. (2021, 23 October). Bahtının rüzgarına kapılmak: Yakut Orman [Web log post]. Kaos GL. Retrieved fromhttps://kaosgl.org/gokkusagi-forumu-kose-yazisi/bahtinin-ruzgarina-kapilmak-yakut-orman google scholar