Mehmet Hakkı Suçin
Abstract
This article evaluates two Turkish translations of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 66, by Can Yücel and Talât Sait Halman, and Mehmet Hakkı Suçin’s Turkish translation of the Muʿallaqa of Imruʾ al-Qays, within the framework of André Lefevere’s seven strategies of poetry translation and the concept of “poeticity”.
The analysis shows that form and content constitute an inseparable whole in poetry translation, but that translators strike the balance between the two in different ways. Can Yücel’s translation of Sonnet 66 approaches the strategy of the version, freely reinterpreting the source text, whereas Talât Sait Halman stays closer to the formal features of the original, using partly metrical and largely rhymed translation strategies. Suçin’s translation of the Muʿallaqa combines partly rhymed translation with elements of the version, seeking a balance between the formal and semantic levels of the poem.
The article proposes “poeticity” as a concept for evaluating poetry translation. Poeticity is defined as an umbrella concept comprising balance of content, the parameters of Time–Space–Tradition (TST), feeling and harmony, communicative value, poetic sensibility, and linguistic and aesthetic balance. This approach holds that poetry translation cannot be judged solely on formal fidelity or on the transfer of meaning alone.
The results show that, although the three translators use different strategies, each recreates poeticity in the target text in a different way. The article also compares its findings with those of an earlier study on the same subject and discusses the methodological, terminological and interpretive problems of that study.
Keywords: poetry translation · André Lefevere · Time–Space–Tradition (TST) · poeticity · Shakespeare · Sonnet 66 · Imruʾ al-Qays · Muʿallaqa · Can Yücel · Talât Sait Halman · Mehmet Hakkı Suçin
Cite this work
Chicago
Suçin, Mehmet Hakkı. “Şiir Çevirisinde Stratejik Seçimler ve ‘Şiiriyet’: Shakespeare ve İmru’ul-Kays Çevirilerinin Değerlendirilmesi” [Strategic Choices and “Poeticity” in Poetry Translation: An Evaluation of Shakespeare and Imruʾ al-Qays Translations]. Istanbul Journal of Arabic Studies 8, no. 1 (2025): 95–136. https://doi.org/10.51802/istanbuljas.1667250.
APA
Suçin, M. H. (2025). Şiir çevirisinde stratejik seçimler ve “şiiriyet”: Shakespeare ve İmru’ul-Kays çevirilerinin değerlendirilmesi [Strategic choices and “poeticity” in poetry translation: An evaluation of Shakespeare and Imruʾ al-Qays translations]. Istanbul Journal of Arabic Studies, 8(1), 95–136. https://doi.org/10.51802/istanbuljas.1667250
Publication details
Istanbul Journal of Arabic Studies
Volume: 8
Issue: 1
Year: 2025
Published: 20 June 2025
Pages: 95–136
DOI: 10.51802/istanbuljas.1667250
Type: Peer-reviewed research article
Language of the text: Turkish