English Translations of Birhan Keskin: A Metaphor-Based Approach to Poetry Translation

Abstract

For several years, poetry translation has been one of the most debated fields of translation studies. It has posed numerous challenges for theoretical and practical discussions, which has paved the way for fruitful and inspiring studies to be conducted in translation studies. This article aims to examine poetry translation from a different point of view and theoretical background, which specifically focuses on the metaphors that poems are traditionally laden with. In doing so, the article attempts to present an integrated approach toward analysis of poetry translation by adopting the four concepts of the metaphor theory proposed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson-ontological metaphor, structural metaphor, orientational metaphor, and conceptual mapping-along with the concept of rewriting developed by Andre Lefevere. The results of the analysis indicate that translation as an act of metaphor-based rewriting bears the fingerprints of the translator and that the poems of Birhan Keskin have been recontextualized in the target language/ literature/culture by the translator's decisions regarding metaphors.