"Writers like Pamuk": (un)translatability and the unbearable lightness of pigeonholing an author.

Even before he earned the Nobel Prize, there was a common recognition that Orhan Pamuk, well-known Turkish author, belonged to the canon of world literature. Despite the fact that certain topics addressed in his novels are profoundly particular to Turkey and Turkish culture, he captured the attentio...

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Publicado en:Neohelicon Vol. 52; no. 1; pp. 117 - 133
Autor principal: Yılmaz, Barış
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Jun2025
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: "Writers like Pamuk": (un)translatability and the unbearable lightness of pigeonholing an author.
      aug:
        au: Yılmaz, Barış
        affil: https://ror.org/01pnej532 Department of Altaic Studies, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
      su:
        Pamuk, Orhan, 1952-
        Translations
        Literature
        Nobel Prizes
        Turkish authors
      sug:
        subj:
          Pamuk, Orhan, 1952-
          Translations
          Literature
          Nobel Prizes
          Turkish authors
      keyword:
        Communication and Culture Cultural Studies Literary Studies
        Language
        Nobel prize
        Orhan Pamuk
        Translation
        Untranslatable
        World literature
      ab: Even before he earned the Nobel Prize, there was a common recognition that Orhan Pamuk, well-known Turkish author, belonged to the canon of world literature. Despite the fact that certain topics addressed in his novels are profoundly particular to Turkey and Turkish culture, he captured the attention of readers and literary circles throughout the world somehow? But how? According to the concept of untranslatability, it is challenging to properly translate a literary work into a foreign language due to cultural, linguistic, or semantic differences. Does the fact that "writers like Pamuk" have established a place in global literary market through their translated works, imply that they are more fortunate or more strategic than their peers in overcoming this presumed challenge? But who are those "writers like Pamuk," if we may use the stereotypical phrase in the comparative literature discipline to compare, or rather pigeonhole, a vague group of contemporary authors? Pamuk's reception in the global literary world has often overshadowed his engagement with techniques and traditions intrinsic to Turkish literature such as nazire, as well as his dialogue with earlier Turkish works. In this article, I will investigate the role of transnational and translational politics in framing Pamuk's works as emblematic of global postmodernism, sometimes at the expense of acknowledging their authentic engagement with Turkish literary traditions. By doing so, I aim to shed light on the challenge of world literature for writers whose cultural and aesthetic roots are misrepresented or overlooked in their journey to reach a broader, global audience.
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