Cover not available
Part of
Humour in Self-Translation
Edited by Margherita Dore
[Topics in Humor Research 11] 2022
► pp. 87–112

Chapter 5
“Humourizing” the theatre of the absurd through reworking and (self-)translation

Turkish theatrical tradition in search of its own voice

ORCID logo | İstanbul Yeni Yüzyıl University
The introduction of written dramatic forms to the oral, performative, and improvisational Turkish theatrical tradition was made through translations, a.k.a. reworkings, of Western canonical works. Reworkings of these works were followed by the production of indigenous texts in the Ottoman, and later Turkish Republican, period(s) and were inherently characterised by “a search of the own voice of the Turkish theatre,” in terms of its dramatic and performative aspects. This search was naturally based on a tension between the very dissimilar Western and Turkish theatrical canons and traditions, a tension which required the possibilities of successfully integrating them. The present research aims at illustrating how the theatre of the absurd was “humourised” by means of the reworkings and recanonisations of actor/director Ferhan Şensoy and the theatre company Tiyatrotem. The research concludes by the discussion of how this act of “humourising” contributed both to the release of this intercanonical tension and to the creation of “the own voice.”
Keywords: theatre of the absurd, reworking, self-translation, translation of humour, translational recanonisation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Humour, reworking, and self-translation in a translational recanonisation context
    • 2.1A recanonisational approach to the use of humour within the aesthetics of the theatre of the absurd
    • 2.2Self-translation as reworking and recanonisation
  • 3.Creation of tension between canons in an Ottoman-Republican target context
  • 4.Case study: Reworkings and recanonisations of Waiting for Godot, Ubu Roi and Ubu Enchaîné
    • 4.1Self-translation as reworking: Ferhan Şensoy’s multilingual self-translations of Waiting for Godot
    • 4.2Translation within a self-translation: Tiyatrotem’s reworkings of Ubu Roi and Ubu Enchaîné
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 13 October 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/thr.11.05erg
References (43)
References
And, Metin. (1979). The Turkish folk theatre. Asian folklore studies, 38 (2), 155–176. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (1992). Başlangıcından 1983’e Türk tiyatro tarihi. İstanbul: İletişim.Google Scholar
Aracı, Ebru. (2012). Ferhan Şensoy’un metinlerinde geleneksel halk tiyatrosunun çağdaşlaştırılma biçimleri. MA thesis, İstanbul University.
Berk, Özlem. (2007). Batılılaşma ve Çeviri. In Tanıl Bora, Murat Gültekingil (Eds.) Türkiye’de Siyasi Düşünce: Modernleşme ve Batıcılık. (pp. 511–520). İstanbul: İletişim.Google Scholar
. (2006). Translating the “West”: The position of translated western literature within the Turkish literary polysystem. Review of literatures of the European Union, 4, 1–18.Google Scholar
Carlson, Marvin. (2013). The Arab Aristophanes, Comparative drama, 47 (2). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carlson, Marvin & Ümit, Nazli Miraç (Eds.). (2019). Letâif-i hayâl: Turkish traditional theatre: Karagöz puppet plays. Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Publications.Google Scholar
Clévy, Marianne & Dolmieu, Dominique (Eds.) (2001). De l’Adriatique à la mer noire. Ecritures théatrales. Climats.Google Scholar
Dinçel, Burç İdem. (2019). Translating the tragic: Mimetic transformation of attic tragedies on the contemporary stage. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation) Trinity College, Dublin.
Ergil, Başak. (2016). Türkiye kültür ve yazın dizgesinde absürd tiyatronun aktarımı. PhD dissertation, İstanbul University.
. (2020). Batı kanonu hayal perdesinde: Tiyatrotem yeniden yazımı ve yeniden çevirilerinde “absurd”, “tragedya” ve “komedya” kavramlarının dönüşümü. Dünya dilleri, edebiyatları ve çeviri çalışmaları dergisi, (1), 26–58.Google Scholar
. (2021). Song translation as creative mediation and translational recanonization: A genealogical odyssey from Plutarch through Cavafy to Müslüm Gürses. In Didem Tuna, Mesut Kuleli (Eds.). Interdisciplinary debates on discourse, meaning and translation. İstanbul: Anı.Google Scholar
Esslin, Martin. (2014). The theatre of the absurd. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Genette, Gérard. (2001). Paratexts: thresholds of interpretation. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jarry, Alfred. (1896). Ubu Roi. Paris: Édition de Mercure de France.Google Scholar
. (1900). Ubu Enchaîné. Paris: Éditions de la revue blanche.Google Scholar
. (2004). Kral Übü. İstanbul: MitosBoyut.Google Scholar
. (2010). Zincire vurulmuş Übü. İstanbul: MitosBoyut.Google Scholar
Karaboğa, Kerem. (2002). Absürd’den Geleneksel’e Genç Oyuncular Deneyimi: Tavtati Kütüpati ve Vatandaş Oyunu. Tiyatro Araştırmaları Dergisi, 13. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Karacabey-Çelik, Süreyya. (2007). Beckett ve estetik şok. Tiyatro araştırmaları dergisi, 23.Google Scholar
Kocabaşoğlu, Uygur. (2007). Sunuş. In Tanıl Bora, Murat Gültekingil (Eds.) Türkiye’de Siyasi Düşünce: Modernleşme ve Batıcılık. (pp. 13–17). İstanbul: İletişim.Google Scholar
Kovala, Urpo. (1996). Translation, paratextual mediation and ideological closure, Target 8 (1), 119–147. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lefevere, André. (1992). Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame. Londra ve New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Manok, Yervant Baret. (2013). Doğu ile Batı arasında San Lazaro sahnesi: Ermeni Mıkhitarist Manastırı ve ilk Türkçe oyunlar. İstanbul: bgst.Google Scholar
Noonan, Will. (2014). Absurdist humour. In Salvatore Attardo (ed.) Encyclopedia of humor studies, (pp. 1–4). Los Angeles, London: Sage.Google Scholar
Özcan, Ceren. (2018). Çağdaş tiyatroda anlatı: Tiyatrotem üzerine bir inceleme. İstanbul: MitosBoyut.Google Scholar
Özsoysal, Fakiye, Pekman, Yavuz, Firidinlioğlu, Nilgün. (2008). Türkiye’de Ionesco ve Sahnelemelerden Örnekler” İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği ve Dramaturji Bölümü Dergisi, 12, 102–122.Google Scholar
Paker, Saliha. (2015). On the poetic practices of ‘a singularly uninventive people’ and the anxiety of imitation: A critical re-appraisal in terms of translation, creative mediation and “originality”. In Gürçağlar, Ş. T., Paker, S., and Milton, J. (Eds.) Tradition, tension and translation in Turkey, (pp. 27–52). John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pekman, Yavuz. (2002). Çağdaş tiyatromuzda geleneksellik. İstanbul: MitosBoyut.Google Scholar
. (2011). Geçmişten Günümüze İstanbul Tiyatroları II. Istanbul: YKY.Google Scholar
Salem, Al-Mokhtar. (2020). The Image in the mirror: Hamlet’s journey back home through Arabic adaptations and their translations. PhD dissertation, İstanbul Yeni Yuzyil University.
Selen, Ayşe, Aktaş, Şehsuvar & Sarıkartal, Çetin. (2009). Âlem buysa kral Übü. In Tiyatrotem Oyunları, (pp. 67–102). İstanbul: MitosBoyut.Google Scholar
Selen, Ayşe & Aktaş, Şehsuvar. (2014). Gündüz niyetine. İstanbul: MitosBoyut.Google Scholar
Şener, Sevda. (2003). Tiyatromuzun kendi sesini arama süreci. In Gelişim sürecinde Türk tiyatrosu, (pp. 9–21). İstanbul: Alkım.Google Scholar
Şensoy, Ferhan. (1996). Güle Güle Godot. İstanbul: Ortaoyuncular.Google Scholar
Tahir-Gürçağlar, Şehnaz. (2002). What texts don’t tell: The uses of paratexts in translation research. In Theo Hermans (Ed.) Crosscultural transgressions, (pp. 44–61). Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Tahir-Gürçağlar, Şehnaz, Paker, Saliha, Milton, John. (2015). Introduction. In Gürçağlar, Ş. T., Paker, S., and Milton, J. (Eds.) Tradition, tension and translation in Turkey, (pp. 1–24). John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tekeli, İlhan. (2007). Türkiye’de siyasal düşüncenin gelişimi konusunda bir üstanlatı. In Tanıl Bora, Murat Gültekingil (Eds.) Türkiye’de Siyasi Düşünce: Modernleşme ve Batıcılık. (pp. 19–42). İstanbul: İletişim.Google Scholar
Tiyatrotem (n.d.). Anlatı geleneğinden çağdaş tiyatroya. [URL]
Tiyatrotem: Gündüz Niyetine. Vimeo, uploaded by Ayşe Selen, 2014. [URL]
Uslu, Mehmet Fatih. (2015). İstanbul’da modern tiyatronun doğuşu ve gelişimi. In Yılmaz, C. (Ed.), Büyük İstanbul Tarihi (pp. 528–539). İstanbul: İSAM.Google Scholar
Üç Kurşunluk Opera: Ortaoyuncular 1995. Youtube, uploaded by Ortaoyuncular, 12 June 2021. [URL]
Venuti, Lawrence. (2013). Translation changes everything. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

ERGİL, Başak
2023. World Classics in Turkish Theatrical Tradition and Back in World Canons: Ferhan Şensoy’s Translational Recanonization Practices. Söylem Filoloji Dergisi :Çeviribilim Özel Sayısı ► pp. 10 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.