Style in Translation: Peri̇han Mağden in English

Abstract

Preserving style in translation is not an easy task. Such a task tends to get even more difficult when the author of the source text combines a variety of genres and fuses them with their unique language. The present study provides a comparative stylistic analysis of Perihan Mağden’s Haberci Çocuk Cinayetleri and Richard Hamer’s translation thereof: The Messenger Boy Murders. The study begins with a critical discussion of what style is at the micro level. Reviewing Jean Boase-Beier’s definition of style, the study underscores two notions relevant to the intersection of style and translation: maximum relevance and optimum relevance. Linking such a definition of style at the micro level to an understanding of glocalization at the macro level, the study reviews Victor Roudometof’s interpretation of the concept and discusses its relevance to a deeper understanding of the importance of style in translated works. The descriptive analysis in the final part is carried out focusing on hybrid lexical and generic aspects the interplay of which constitutes Perihan Mağden’s unique style in the novel as well as its translation into English.