The translation of women within the context of the Ottoman-Turkish women’s movement (1868–1935)

ABSTRACT

The Ottoman Muslim and Turkish women’s movement provides a unique study field for researchers to follow the traces of women’s change and the reconstruction of gender roles during the modernisation process initiated in the Ottoman Empire and continued in the transition period from a centuries-old empire to a nation-state, the Turkish Republic. It also sets a perfect example in terms of demonstrating how feminism can acquire different meanings when translated into different contexts. The article aims to approach the movement from the perspective of translation studies and views the change of women and their gender roles as a translation process. Investigating the translation of women within the relevant socio-cultural and political context based on two concepts of translation studies, rewriting and self-translation, the study suggests that women followed purposeful translation strategies in this process to expand their agency and authority in a patriarchal society over time. Presenting a short historical background of the movement with a discussion on women’s agency through two strategies, the act of translation and gradualism, the article assesses the dynamics of the movement through the example of Seniha Sami Moralı, an underrepresented woman and translator in history, who experienced the process firsthand.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender studies
• translation studies
• Ottoman-Turkish women’s movement
• self-translation
• rewriting
• gradualism
• women translators
• Seniha Sami Moralı

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments to strengthen the article. We also would like to express our deepest gratitude to TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye) for the PhD scholarship they give to the first author of the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 This article is based on the PhD dissertation of the first author written under the supervision of the second author in Yıldız Techical University, Istanbul, Türkiye.

2 Susan Bassnett and André Lefevere, eds., Translation, History and Culture (London: Pinter, 1990).

3 Edwin Gentzler and Maria Tymoczko, eds., Introduction to Translation and Power (Amherst and Boston, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 2022), xi–xxviii, xiii–xiv.

4 Ibid., xv.

5 Lori Chamberlain, ‘Gender and The Metaphorics of Translation’, Signs 13, no. 3 (1988): 454–72; Sherry Simon, Gender in Translation: Cultural Identity and the Politics of Transmission (1996; repr., London & New York: Routledge, 2005). Citations are to the last edition and Olga Castro, ‘(Re)Examining Horizons in Feminist Translation Studies: Towards a Third Wave?’, trans. M. Andrews, MonTI 1, (2009): 16–17.

6 Simon, Gender in Translation, x and Luise von Flotow, Translation and Gender: Translation in the Era of Feminism (Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing, 1997), 14.

7 Olga Castro and Emek Ergun, ‘Translation and Feminism’, in The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Politics, ed. Fruela Fernández and Jonathan Evans (New York: Routledge, 2018), 125–43, 134–7.

8 Olga Castro, ‘Introduction: Gender, Language and Translation at the Crossroads of Disciplines’, Gender and Language 7, no. 1 (2013): 5–12, 5.

9 Luise von Flotow and Joan Wallach Scott, ‘Gender Studies and Translation Studies. ‘Entre braquette’ – Connecting the Transdisciplines’, in Border Crossings. Translation Studies and Other Disciplines, ed. Yves Gambier and Luc van Doorslaer (Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2016), 349–73, 350.

10 André Lefevere, ‘Why Waste Our Time on Rewrites? The Trouble with Interpretation and the Role of Rewriting in an Alternative Paradigm’, in The Manipulation of Literature. Studies in Literary Translation, ed. Theo Hermans (London: Croom Helms, Ltd, 1985; New York: Routledge, 2014), 215–43. Citations are to the Routledge edition and André Lefevere, Translation, Rewriting, and the Manipulation of Literary Fame (London: Routledge, 1992).

11 Rainier Grutman, ‘Self-Translation’, in The Routledge Encyclopaedia of Translation Studies, ed. Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha (New York: Routledge, 2009), 257–9.

12 It should be noted that studies concentrating on Ottoman non-Muslim women or Muslim women from different classes or ethnicities have remained limited to this date. For some examples see, Elizabeth Frierson, ‘Mirrors Out, Mirrors In: Domestication and Rejection of the Foreign in Late-Ottoman Women’s Magazines (1875-1908)’, in Women, Patronage, and Self-Representation in Islamic Societies, ed. D. Fairchild Ruggles (New York: SUNY Press, 2000), 177–205; Lerna Ekmekçioğlu and Melissa Bilal, eds., Bir Adalet Feryadı: Osmanlı’dan Türkiye’ye Beş Ermeni Feminist Yazar, 1862-1933 (İstanbul: Aras Yayıncılık, 2006) and Vangelis Constantinos Kechriotis, ‘The Greeks of Izmir at the End of the Empire: A Non-Muslim Ottoman Community between Autonomy and Patriotism’ (PhD diss., Leiden University, 2005).

13 The Ottoman Reorganisation Reform.

14 The Second Constitutional Monarchy.

15 Nevin Yurdsever Ateş, ed., Introduction to Yeni Harflerle Kadın Yolu/ Türk Kadın Yolu (1925-1927) (İstanbul: Kadın Eserleri Kütüphanesi ve Bilgi Merkezi Vakfı, 2009), 17–59, 17.

16 Ibid.

17 Nicole A. N. M. Van Os, ‘Feminism, Philanthropy and Patriotism: Female Associational Life in the Ottoman Empire’ (PhD diss., Leiden University, 2013), 212–13, 485.

18 Ibid., 475 and Yurdsever Ateş, ‘Introduction’, 20–2.

19 We do not use the ‘wave’ metaphor to imply strict distinctions between diverse women’s movements/activisms in different historical periods in Türkiye. Instead, we adopt the periodisation proposed by Zihnioğlu to situate the Ottoman Muslim and Turkish women’s movement within political contexts and understand how their demands were intertwined with the modernist and nationalist agendas of the male reformers, which may also help to observe the continuity of these demands in consecutive stages. For discussions on the limitations of strict periodisations and the wave metaphor see, for example, Aksu Bora, ‘Feminizmin dalgaları’, in Modern Türkiye’de Siyasi Düşünce. Feminizm, ed. Feryal Saygılıgil and Naciye Berber (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2020), 506–11; Demet Gülçiçek, ‘Feminist Tarih ile İlişkilenmek: Dönemler, Tanımlar, Eklemeler’, in Feminist Eleştiri. Arayışlar ve Müzakereler, ed. Demet Gülçiçek and Emine Erdoğan (İstanbul: Metis, 2022), 105–25; Sevgi Adak and Selin Çağatay, ‘Revisiting Feminist Historiography on Women’s Activism in Turkey: Beyond the Grand Narrative of Waves’, Women’s History Review (April 2023). doi: 10.1080/09612025.2023.2198107.

20 Yaprak Zihnioğlu, Kadınsız İnkılap. Nezihe Muhiddin, Kadınlar Halk Fırkası, Kadın Birliği (İstanbul: Metis Yayınları, 2019), 21.

21 Ibid., 45.

22 Ibid., 46–53 (emphasis ours).

23 Ayşe Durakbaşa, Halide Edip. Türk Modernleşmesi ve Feminizm (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2021), 26 and Zafer Toprak, Türkiye’de Kadın Özgürlüğü ve Feminizm (İstanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları, 2015), 1, 4 (emphasis ours).

24 Toprak, Türkiye’de Kadın Özgürlüğü, 1.

25 Serpil Çakır, Osmanlı Kadın Hareketi (İstanbul: Metis Yayıncılık, 2016), 410 and Elif Mahir Metinsoy, ‘Kadın Tarihi Araştırmaları Açısından Türk Kadını Dergisi’, in Türk Kadını (1918-1919) (Yeni Harflerle), ed. Birsen Talay Keşoğlu and Mustafa Keşoğlu (İstanbul: Kadın Eserleri Kütüphanesi ve Bilgi Merkezi Vakfı, 2010), xx–xxxvii, xxvii.

26 All translations are ours unless stated otherwise.

27 Toprak, Türkiye’de Kadın Özgürlüğü, 257 (original emphasis).

28 Fatmagül Berktay, Tarihin Cinsiyeti (İstanbul: Metis Yayıncılık, 2010), 105.

29 Ibid., 92 and Fatma Kılıç Denman, ed., Introduction to Yeni Harflerle Kadın (1908-1909). II. Meşrutiyet Döneminde Bir Jön Türk Dergisi (İstanbul: Kadın Eserleri Kütüphanesi ve Bilgi Merkezi Vakfı, 2010), 1–29, 26.

30 Nicole A. N. M. Van Os, ‘Osmanlı Müslümanlarında Feminizm’, in Modern Türkiye’de Siyasi Düşünce. Cumhuriyet’e Devreden Düşünce Mirası. Tanzimat ve Meşrutiyet’in Birikimi, ed. Tanıl Bora and Mehmet Ö. Alkan (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2022), 335–47, 341–2.

31 Van Os, ‘Osmanlı Müslümanlarında’, 337 (emphasis ours).

32 Toprak, Türkiye’de Kadın Özgürlüğü, 18 and Van Os, ‘Osmanlı Müslümanlarında’, 344.

33 Çakır, Osmanlı Kadın Hareketi, 87.

34 Toprak, Türkiye’de Kadın Özgürlüğü, 1, 5, 15 and Yurdsever Ateş, ‘Introduction’, 30–1.

35 Zihnioğlu, Kadınsız İnkılap, 76–86.

36 Berktay, Tarihin Cinsiyeti, 93, 107.

37 Durakbaşa, Halide Edip, 24, 75 (emphasis ours).

38 The translations of the Ottoman-Turkish terms are suggested by the researchers.

39 Toprak, Türkiye’de Kadın Özgürlüğü, 30–1, 35–7, 45.

40 The works published in 1928 and earlier are transliterated from the Arabic script by the researchers.

41 Ebuzziya Tevfik, ‘Nisaiyyun’, Mecmua-i Ebuzziya no. 148 (1912): 225–36, 225 (emphasis ours).

42 Ibid., 229.

43 von Flotow and Scott, ‘Gender Studies and Translation’, 358.

44 Kılıç Denman, ‘Introduction’, 25 and Mahir Metinsoy, ‘Kadın Tarihi Araştırmaları’, xxiv, xxvii.

45 Durakbaşa, Halide Edip, 104; Kılıç Denman, ‘Introduction’, 24; Van Os, ‘Osmanlı Müslümanlarında’, 338 and Zihnioğlu, Kadınsız İnkılap, 98.

46 Berktay, Tarihin Cinsiyeti, 109; Mahir Metinsoy, ‘Kadın Tarihi Araştırmaları’, xxv; Toprak, Türkiye’de Kadın Özgürlüğü, 38 and Zihnioğlu, Kadınsız İnkılap, 99 (emphasis ours).

47 Durakbaşa, Halide Edip, 27, 75.

48 Lefereve, Translation, Rewriting, 5–8.

49 Lefevere, ‘Why Waste Our Time’, 226–33.

50 Grutman, ‘Self-translation’, 257.

51 Rainier Grutman and Trish van Bolderen, ‘Self-Translation’, in A Companion to Translation Studies, ed. Sandra Bermann and Catharine Porter (West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014), 323–32, 323 and Saliha Paker, ‘Reading Turkish Novelists and Poets in English Translation: 2000–2004’, Translation Review 68, no. 1 (2004): 6–14.

52 von Flotow, Translation and Gender, 5.

53 Theo Hermans, ‘The Translator’s Voice in Translated Narrative’, Target 8, no. 1 (1996): 23–48, 44.

54 Castro, ‘(Re)Examining Horizons’, 8.

55 Emek Ergun, ‘Translational Beginnings and Origin/izing Stories. (Re)Writing the History of the Contemporary Feminist Movement in Turkey’, in Translating Women. Different Voices and New Horizons, ed. Luise von Flotow and Farzaneh Farahzad (New York and London: Routledge, 2017), 41–55, 51 and Emek Ergun, ‘Türkiye’de Feminizmin Çeviri Kokan Tarihi’, in Modern Türkiye’de Siyasi Düşünce. Feminizm, ed. Feryal Saygılıgil and Nacide Berber (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2020), 687–98, 687, 695.

56 For details, see Ayşe Banu Karadağ, ‘Çeviri Tarihimizde “Gözle Görülür” Bir Mütercime: Fatma Aliye Hanım’, Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 2, no. 37 (2013): 1–16 and Ayşe Banu Karadağ, ‘Tanzimat Dönemi’nden İkinci Meşrutiyet Dönemi’ne Kadın Çevirmenlerin Çeviri Tarihimizdeki “Dişil” İzleri’, Humanitas no. 2 (2013): 105–26.

57 Van Os, ‘Feminism, Philanthropy’, 251 and Yurdsever Ateş, ‘Introduction’, 20.

58 Çakır, Osmanlı Kadın Hareketi, 60–1.

59 Toprak, Türkiye’de Kadın Özgürlüğü, 34.

60 Van Os, ‘Feminism, Philanthropy’, 62, 90–3.

61 Berktay, Tarihin Cinsiyeti, 89–90.

62 Durakbaşa, Halide Edip, 120–1; Kılıç Denman, ‘Introduction’, 25 and Yurdsever Ateş, ‘Introduction’, 23.

63 Van Os, ‘Feminism, Philanthropy’, 298–9.

64 See Van Os, ‘Feminism, Philanthropy’ for a comprehensive discussion of female associations and employment during the war period.

65 Sevdagül Kasap, ‘Beyaz Konferanslar’, in Modern Türkiye’de Siyasi Düşünce. Feminizm, ed. Feryal Saygılıgil and Naciye Berber (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2020), 27–32, 29.

66 Yurdsever Ateş, ‘Introduction’, 29 (emphasis ours).

67 Çakır, Osmanlı Kadın Hareketi, 172-8.

68 Nükhet Sirman, ‘Kadınların Milliyeti’, in Modern Türkiye’de Siyasi Düşünce. Milliyetçilik, ed. Tanıl Bora (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2008), 226–44, 234.

69 Kasap, ‘Beyaz Konferanslar’, 30.

70 Zihnioğlu, Kadınsız İnkılap, 94.

71 Toprak, Türkiye’de Kadın Özgürlüğü, 218.

72 Çakır, Osmanlı Kadın Hareketi, 408.

73 Toprak, Türkiye’de Kadın Özgürlüğü, 370.

74 Toprak, Türkiye’de Kadın Özgürlüğü, 463–6 and Zihnioğlu, Kadınsız İnkılap, 122–35, 147–50, 169–71.

75 Toprak, Türkiye’de Kadın Özgürlüğü, 461–503 and Zihnioğlu, Kadınsız İnkılap, 225–48.

76 Yurdsever Ateş, ‘Introduction’, 41.

77 For example, in 1928, Çeyrekbaşı expressed that ‘pursuing political rights is a dream’. Zihnioğlu, Kadınsız İnkılap, 205. However, she underlined women’s desire to become members of parliament in 1934, at a time when the government had been laying the groundwork for women’s political rights. Toprak, Türkiye’de Kadın Özgürlüğü, 442, 444-53.

78 Seniha Rauf’s Speech at the Peace Conference in the Mutualité Hall in Marseille, 22 March 1933, Document no. 001636440019, Taha Toros Archive, Private Collections, Marmara University, İstanbul, Türkiye (hereafter cited as Speech at the Peace Conference, Taha Toros Archive).

79 Hermans, ‘Translator’s Voice’, 44 (emphasis ours).

80 Ibid., 27.

81 Rosemary Arrojo, ‘Writing, Interpreting and the Power Struggle for the Control of Meaning: Scenes from Kafka, Borges, and Kosztolanyi’, in Translation and Power, ed. Maria Tymoczko and Edwin Gentzler (Amherst and Boston, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 2002), 63–79, 78.

82 Lefereve, ‘Why Waste Our Time’, 235–6 (emphasis ours).

83 Bora, ‘Feminizmin Dalgaları’, 509.

84 Following the transition to a multi-party system, the Türk Kadınlar Birliği was re-founded in 1949. Other women’s organisations were founded in the following years and some of these organisations included women who had fought for women’s rights during the years of the national struggle and the early republican period. For details see, Adak and Çağatay, ‘Revisiting Feminist Historiography’, 9–15.

85 The Ottoman-Turkish women’s movement was not discovered until the 1980s as the related documents were published in the Arabic script and the new history books did not include it. Upon discovering women’s resources in the Arabic script and initiating a transliteration and intralingual translation process, Turkish feminists unearthed their predecessors’ heritage. See, for instance, Çakır, Osmanlı Kadın Hareketi and Aynur Demirdirek, Osmanlı Kadınlarının Hayat Hakkı Arayışının Bir Hikâyesi (Ankara: Ayizi Kitap, 1993).

86 Until the adoption of the Surname Law in 1934, her legal name was Seniha Rauf, which relates to her husband although she mostly signed her works as Seniha Sami with a refence to her father’s name. In 1935, she chose ‘Moralı’ as her legal surname; however, she continued signing ‘Sami’ in her works, as well.

87 Bora, ‘Feminizmin Dalgaları’, 511.

88 Demet Gülçiçek, ‘Feminist Tarih’, 118–19.

89 Zihnioğlu, Kadınsız İnkılap, 40.

90 Castro, ‘(Re)Examining Horizons’, 8 (emphasis ours).

91 The National Library Catalogue reveals only ten books translated by Seniha Sami Moralı. In this study, however, a significant number of other translations, short stories, articles and serial novels published in different periodicals have been discovered. The primary source of information that facilitated access to these lost works is the Taha Toros Private Archive located at the Marmara University Library. The archive contains 127 documents directly related to Moralı along with numerous documents regarding her family. The examination of these documents has provided clues about where her lost works might have been published, thereby enabling us to access them through various library archives.

92 One novel and five complete translations of literary works were not published.

93 Seniha Sami, ‘Dün ve Bugün’, Hayat 4, no. 92 (1928): 281–2, 281.

94 Sami, ‘Dün ve Bugün’, 281 (emphasis ours).

95 Seniha Sami, ‘Ruhumu Tatmin Etmiyordu’, Muhit, no. 14 (1929): 1086–8, 1086–7 (emphasis ours).

96 Ibid., 1088 (emphasis ours).

97 Sami, ‘Dün ve Bugün’, 281 and Seniha Sami, ‘Üç Kat Müstacel’, Muhit, no. 12 (1929): 916–20; 919.

98 Manuscript of memoirs by Seniha Sami Moralı, n.d., Document no. 001550265007, Taha Toros Archive, Private Collections, Marmara University, İstanbul, Türkiye (hereafter cited as Manuscript, Taha Toros Archive).

99 Seniha Rauf’s Speech at the Reception Held at the Hôtel de Ville in Marseille, 18 March 1933, Document no. 001636440019, Taha Toros Archive, Private Collections, Marmara University, İstanbul, Türkiye (emphasis ours).

100 Speech at the Peace Conference, Taha Toros Archive (emphasis ours).

101 Fanny Davis, The Ottoman Lady. A Social History from 1718–1918 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986), 54.

102 Manuscript, Taha Toros Archive.

103 Ibid. and The Copy of Seniha Sami Moralı’s Personnel File in the Ministry of National Education, ca. 1950, Document no. 001636003019, Taha Toros Archive, Private Collections, Marmara University, İstanbul, Türkiye.

104 Seniha Sami Moralı, ‘Türk Kültürüne Büyük Hizmetleri Dokunan Bir Devlet Adamı: Subhi Paşa’, Hayat Tarih Mecmuası, no. 11 (1968): 69–74, 71.

105 Seniha Sami Moralı, ‘Hatıralar 3: Arkeoloji Müzesi, Suriye ve Lübnan ile Kanlıca Körfezine Dair’, Hayat Tarih ve Edebiyat Mecmuası, no. 4 (1978): 56–61, 57.

106 Seniha Sami Moralı, ‘Hatıralar 2: Meşrutiyet, Dolmabahçe Sarayı ve Ankara’nın İlk Günlerine Dair’, Hayat Tarih Mecmuası, no. 3 (1978): 58–65, 58.

107 Aslı Davaz, Eşitsiz Kız Kardeşlik. Uluslararası ve Ortadoğu Kadın Hareketleri, 1935 Kongresi ve Türk Kadınlar Birliği (İstanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 2014), 423.

108 Manuscript, Taha Toros Archive. Moralı (then known as Seniha Rauf) attended five international conferences organised by the Alliance and delivered speeches specifically on peace. See, Speeches delivered by Seniha Sami Moralı at international conferences, n.d., Document no. 001636437019, Taha Toros Archive, Private Collections, Marmara University, İstanbul, Türkiye. She was frequently featured in newspaper and magazine articles published after the conferences and her speeches were also published in these platforms. For instance, see ‘Turquie. Délégueé Mme. Seniha Rauf’, The International Women’s News. Jus Suffragi 23, no. 10 (1931): 163. Upon the decision of the Alliance to hold the 12th Congress in Istanbul in 1935, she played an active role in organising the congress and hosting the guests. For more information about the congress, see Davaz, Eşitsiz Kızkardeşlik and Toprak, Türkiye’de Kadın Özgürlüğü.

109 Manuscript, Taha Toros Archive.

110 Ibid.

111 Davaz, Eşitsiz Kızkardeşlik, 323.

112 Kadın Birliği Murahhası Belgrad’a Gidiyor (1931, April 20). Vakit, 3.

113 Seniha Sami Moralı, ‘Hatıralar 1: Sultan Abdülhamid Devrine Ait Hatırladıklarım’, Hayat Tarih Mecmuası, no. 2 (1978): 62–8, 67.

114 Clipping from Le Journal d’Orient, ‘Le thé a l’Union des Dames Turques’, 24 October 1931, Document no. 001511038006, Taha Toros Archive, Private Collections, Marmara University, İstanbul, Türkiye.

115 Karadağ, ‘Çeviri Tarihimizde’, 12–13.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Safiye Gül Avcı Solmaz

Safiye Gül Avcı Solmaz is an instructor at the Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies (English) at Siirt University. She is also a PhD candidate in Interlingual and Intercultural Translation Studies PhD programme at Yıldız Technical University. Her research interests lie in translator studies, translation history, women's history and gender studies.

Ayşe Banu Karadağ

Ayşe Banu Karadağ is a Professor of the Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies (French) at Yıldız Technical University. She has extensively published in the field. Her research interests lie in translation history, translator studies, power and ideology in translation, intralingual translation and translation theories.