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Journals / Kafkas Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi / 2026 / Sayı: 37

TRANSLATING HISTORY BEYOND LANGUAGE: OTTOMAN ISTANBUL IN ASSASSIN’S CREED REVELATIONS

DIL ÖTESINDE TARIHI ÇEVIRMEK: ASSASSIN’S CREED REVELATIONS’TA OSMANLI İSTANBUL’U

Osman Rüçhan Şeker(Kafkas Üniversitesi)0000-0002-6857-6300
A. Şirin Okyayuz(HACETTEPE ÜNİVERSİTESİ, EDEBİYAT FAKÜLTESİ)0000-0001-7512-2764
Pages
87–108
Publication Date
2026-06-04
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The study contributes to Translation Studies by situating video games outside the localization paradigm and demonstrating how historical representation can be examined through an integrated, interdisciplinary method within the field.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This study examines how Assassin's Creed: Revelations “translates” the Ottoman past beyond language.
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Key Findings & Data:Departing from localization and interlingual approaches that dominate video game research in Translation Studies, it analyzes the representation of Ottoman Istanbul through a framework defined as extralinguistic translation, anchored in multimodal translation, intersemiotic translation, and rewriting.
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Conclusion & Impact:The study contributes to Translation Studies by situating video games outside the localization paradigm and demonstrating how historical representation can be examined through an integrated, interdisciplinary method within the field.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:çok düzgülü çeviri · göstergelerarası çeviri · yeniden yazma

Abstract

This study examines how Assassin's Creed: Revelations “translates” the Ottoman past beyond language. Departing from localization and interlingual approaches that dominate video game research in Translation Studies, it analyzes the representation of Ottoman Istanbul through a framework defined as extralinguistic translation, anchored in multimodal translation, intersemiotic translation, and rewriting. In this regard, five purposively selected representational units are examined. Each unit is first mapped through Delabastita and Chiaro’s multimodal approach, then analyzed through Peirce's icon, index, and symbol relations, and finally evaluated as rewriting through Said's Orientalism. The findings suggest that Ottoman Istanbul is constructed through a selective organization of recognizable visual and audial signs rather than a neutral accumulation of historical details. Visual-nonverbal elements carry the main representational weight, while audial elements reinforce the atmosphere of social, cultural, and religious life. Read together, the selected units point toward spectacle, selective exoticization, and partially eroticized representation. This indicates that the game's historical rewriting carries ideological implications shaped by inherited representational conventions. The study contributes to Translation Studies by situating video games outside the localization paradigm and demonstrating how historical representation can be examined through an integrated, interdisciplinary method within the field.

Özet

Bu çalışma, Assassin's Creed: Revelations oyununun Osmanlı geçmişini nasıl dilin ötesinde “çevirdiğini” incelemektedir. Çalışma, Çeviribilim alanındaki video oyunu incelemelerinde merkezi bir yer tutan yerelleştirme ve dillerarası çeviri odaklı yaklaşımların ötesine geçerek, çok düzgülü çeviri, göstergelerarası çeviri ve yeniden yazma kavramlarına dayanan “dil dışı” bir çeviri anlayışı çerçevesinde oyundaki Osmanlı İstanbul’u temsilini analiz etmektedir. Bu doğrultuda, amaca yönelik örnekleme yoluyla seçilen beş temsil birimi önce Delabastita ve Chiaro’nun çok düzgülü yaklaşımıyla haritalandırılmakta, ardından Peirce'in ikon, indeks ve sembol ilişkileri aracılığıyla analiz edilmekte ve son olarak Said'in Oryantalizm'i üzerinden yeniden yazma kapsamında değerlendirilmektedir. Bulgular, Osmanlı İstanbul'unu temsil eden tarihsel detayların sadık bir biçimde aktarılmasından ziyade, bilinçli seçimlere dayanan görsel ve işitsel göstergeler kullanılarak kurgulandığına işaret etmektedir. Görsel-sözel olmayan unsurlar temsil açısından ana ağırlığı taşırken, işitsel unsurlar sosyal, kültürel ve dini yaşamın atmosferini pekiştirmektedir. Seçilen birimler bir arada okunduğunda, gösteri, seçici egzotizasyon ve kısmi olarak cinselleştirilmiş bir temsile işaret etmektedir. Bu durum, oyundaki tarihsel yeniden yazımın, geleneksel temsil kalıplarıyla şekillenen ideolojik izler taşıdığını göstermektedir. Çalışma, video oyunlarını yerelleştirmenin ötesinde bir inceleme nesnesi olarak konumlandırarak ve tarihsel temsilin disiplinlerarası entegre bir yöntemle Çeviribilim içerisinde nasıl incelenebileceğini göstererek alana katkıda bulunmaktadır.

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Cite This Article

Şeker, O. R., Okyayuz, A. Ş. (2026). TRANSLATING HISTORY BEYOND LANGUAGE: OTTOMAN ISTANBUL IN ASSASSIN’S CREED REVELATIONS. Kafkas Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, Sayı: 37, 87–108. https://doi.org/10.56597/kausbed.1856673

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