Translating a Comic Allegoric and Realistic "in-yer-face" play into Turkish: Anthony Neilson's The Wonderful World of Dissocia

Abstract

The translation of Anthony Neilson's two-act in-yer-face play The Wonderful World of Dissocia into Turkish brings forth various struggles for the translator. Translation of plays has a hesitant nature; the missions of translating a literary text and translating a text written for the stage overlap each other. The translator aims to be loyal to the original "literary" text but in the case of a text that is primarily written for the stage, the responsibility of conveying the message of each sentence, by referring to the target culture if needs be, becomes a dominant one. The linguistic and textual features of above named in-yer-face play, the comic allegoric elements it includes, and the linguistic and symbolic conflict between the two acts lead the translator to a different translation experience. Yet also, the contemporary and daily usage of language, as well as the poetic cues that are constructed with a vocalic conformity make the translation process a challenging one. The aim of this article is to comment upon the difficulties, challenges and the authentic experience that the translation of this contemporary play brings forth.