Translation Bureau as the Harbinger of Modernism

Abstract

This paper deals with the journey of modernism from the West to the East and questions the reception of it in the foundation years of Turkish Republic. While Modernism has emerged as a result of scientific, technological and economic revolutions in the West, Turkey has imported modernism without though through any stages of these revolutions. Accordingly, this paper mainly aims to discuss the paradoxical relationship with Turkey and Europe within the framework of modernism. If modernism is acknowledged as an epoch between the years 1890 and 1930’s, its reception through translation activity by state run Translation Bureau coincides to 1940’s Accordingly it is divided into six sections: Etymology of Modernism; The Repercussions of Modernism on Literature; The Relationship between Modernism and Translations; Modernism vs Orientalism; The Reception of Modernism; Translation Bureau as the harbinger of Modernism and The Impact of Translation Activity. In conclusion, this paper studies in what way the notion of modernism has transformed, evolved and gained new dimensions in face of spatial and temporal distances.