Analysis of an immigrant novel and its Turkish translation from the standpoint of translation studies

Translation has always been a part of cultural and social change and it has sometimes been seen as a tool of oppression and sometimes one that liberates the voice of others, those who are overlooked and underrated by dominant cultures. Those living in minority or immigrant groups have used language as a representation of their experiences and tried to be understood and accepted. One of the most representative examples of such an endeavor is included in this dissertation as a case study. It is a bilingual novel by Junot Diaz titled The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao that won the Pulitzer Award in 2008. The translation of this novel is by Püren Özgüren with the title of Oscar Wao'nun Tuhaf Kısa Yaşamı published in 2009. The source text uses code-switching and bilingualism as strategy to represent the complex and exotic nature of immigrant experience. The source and the target text are analyzed and described in this dissertation under the light of cultural perspective in translation studies and the term cultural translation.