AI Summary & Key Takeaways
AI InsightThe article therefore argues for consistent paratextual transparency as a fundamental requirement for methodologically robust translation criticism.
📌 3 Key Takeaways
Abstract
New editions of literary translations raise methodological and ethical concerns when textual modifications are introduced without paratextual disclosure. An analysis of the Turkish editions of Wolfgang Borchert’s An diesem Dienstag (This Tuesday), translated by Kâmuran Şipal and published by various houses, reveals silent revisions that alter semantic nuances and obscure the attribution of authorship. Assuming that textual intention plays a central role in literary translation and that any critical evaluation must be tied to the version of the target text actually produced by the translator, the comparative analysis demonstrates how nontransparent interventions can distort the reconstruction of translational intentionality. Methodologically, the study employs a systematic text-comparative approach that identifies formal, stylistic, and semantic divergences at a key passage significant for the coherence of the text as a whole, interpreting these within the framework of function-oriented translation theory. By incorporating paratextual elements in C. Nord’s sense, the study examines whether editorial interventions are explicitly marked or remain concealed. The analysis shows that even seemingly minor alterations in new editions can substantially influence the scholarly evaluation of a translation and raise ethical as well as copyright-related questions. The article therefore argues for consistent paratextual transparency as a fundamental requirement for methodologically robust translation criticism.