Literature to comics: Translation of the classics into comics

This study questions the comics translations of literary works, especially the classics. The translation process of a purely verbal expression into comics, broadly described as a combination of image and writing, is discussed. In order to ground the comics translations of literary works, comics and comics traditions that are directly related to the translation process have been analyzed. Comics are not considered as a sub-genre, commercial product or a secondary work aimed at entertaining or educating children, but as a creative expression form on its own with a multimodal nature that can appeal to all kinds of target audiences. Then, it was remarked that the concepts of text and translation are interconnected; when reconsidered, new relations can be achieved through a consistent approach. In addition, the importance of multimodalty has been reinforced in translation research by emphasizing the multimodal feature of comics and qualifying each mode as a part of the process that creates meaning. The French and Turkish literary systems were primarily taken into account to highlight how the comics translations of literary works gain value in different systems. However, the relations in the English-speaking world and its literary tradition have also been the subject of the study when required, as the interaction between the systems is inevitable. Therefore, André Lefevere's approach, which prioritizes power relations, influences the translation process, and gives importance to the persons or institutions that affect the target text, has formed the primary theoretical basis of the study. Focusing on the comics of Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time, rewritten by Stéphane Heuet, we have tried to clarify the underlying reasons for the comics translations of the classics in the framework of the role of professionals inside the literary system and the role of persons or institutions outside the literary system, and the poetics. In this study, without denying the authors' and alternative publishing houses' contributions, it has been revealed that in the Western world, translation process of the classics into comics mainly occurs due to the constantly changing and evolving nature of the comics. In Turkey, on the other hand, it has been observed that the evolution in the dominant literary systems has an impact on the process of comics translations of the classics and that the publishing houses have diversified their publishing ranges.