On Translation of Ottoman Poetry 1: My Mistake

Year 2026, Issue: 10 , 137 - 151 , 22.04.2026

Victoria Rowe Holbrook

https://doi.org/10.64957/nesir.1934515

https://izlik.org/JA95GX37EP

Abstract

This is the first in a series of articles I plan to write about translation of Ottoman poetry into English. They will serve as an introduction to reading the poetry and offer fruits of research new to scholarship. All writing is rooted in a certain metaphysics, and as with the oldest literary languages—Chinese, Sanskrit, and Greek—verse was for centuries the major site for philosophy in Turkish, Persian, and Arabic. While the reimagining of a text in a new cultural setting has often been the norm for translation of literature, I argue that to face the challenge of a text’s metaphysics is primary and requires a mode of textual analysis that is cognizant of the historical context. I explain what I call “long meaning,” and review how categories that emerged from the European Enlightenment contributed to the loss of this way of thinking. I give the example of a mistake I made in translating a work of mesnevi verse, and further explain my approach to translation through the example of a gazel lyric.

Keywords

Poetry , verse , philosophy , metaphysics , Ottoman , Plato , Enlightenment , Oneness of Being

Supporting Institution

The author declares that no specific funding was received for this research.

Thanks

I thank Professor Dr. Mücahit Kaçar for reading a draft of this article and assuring me I was on the right track. This work did not involve the use of any AI-assisted tools. The entire content was produced by the author, and its accuracy has been confirmed.

Osmanlı Şiirinin Çevirisi Üzerine 1: Benim Hatam

https://izlik.org/JA95GX37EP

Abstract

Bu makale, Osmanlı şiirinin İngilizceye çevirisi üzerine yazmayı planladığım bir dizi çalışmanın ilkidir. Bu çalışmalar, şiiri okumaya yönelik bir giriş sunmayı ve mevcut literatüre yeni katkılar sağlamayı amaçlamaktadır. Her yazı belirli bir metafiziğe dayanır ve Çin, Sanskritçe ve Yunanca gibi en eski edebî dillerde olduğu gibi, Türkçe, Farsça ve Arapçada da şiir yüzyıllar boyunca felsefenin başlıca mekânı olmuştur. Bir metnin yeni bir kültürel bağlamda yeniden tasavvur edilmesi, edebiyat çevirisinde çoğu zaman yaygın bir yaklaşım olsa da, ben bir metnin metafiziğiyle yüzleşmenin öncelikli olduğunu ve bunun tarihsel bağlamın bilincinde olan bir metin çözümleme biçimini gerektirdiğini savunuyorum. “Uzun anlam” olarak adlandırdığım kavramı açıklıyor ve Avrupa Aydınlanması’ndan doğan kategorilerin bu düşünme biçiminin kaybına nasıl katkıda bulunduğunu inceliyorum. Mesnevi nazım biçiminde yazılmış bir eseri çevirirken yaptığım bir hatayı örnek olarak sunuyor; ayrıca bir gazel örneği üzerinden çeviri yaklaşımımı ayrıntılandırıyorum.

Keywords

Şiir , nazım , felsefe , metafizik , Osmanlı , Platon , Aydınlanma , Vahdet-i Vücûd

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