In the search of the scientific field transformation through translation "The reform of Istanbul University"

Darülfünun, one of the significant educational institutions of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th and 20th centuries, was closed down for some reasons such as the lack of internal regulation and the unity among the professors and the isolation itself. Instead, it was planned to establish Istanbul University in 1933 under the leadership of Atatürk. Accordingly, the negotiations were initiated with scientists who fled their country with the change of government in Germany for the reforms needed in the academic field and the deficiencies in the teaching staff in our country. In the process of interaction and communication of the actuator with different languages and cultures, the need for translation is inevitable. Similarly, the need for translation during the reform process made its impact felt. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the preparations for the reform in the historical perspective, how the Turkish academics provided the support of oral and written translation to the foreign professors, acquired their foreign language acquisitions, how their habitus and capitals developed in the context of Bourdieu, and the positive and negative aspects of the translations were made, including the opinions of foreign professors. Accordingly, it was tried to determine which departments were established at the new university, who came to our country as the teaching staff, what innovations they brought to the scientific field, what scientific activities they carried out, and the prominent of Turkish academicians who provided the support of oral and written translation to the foreign professors. At the end of this study, it was observed that studies for the production of written scientific works in a new language were carried out, the scientific works written by foreign professors in their own language were translated into Turkish by Turkish academicians, the Turkish academics giving translation support had a habitus and this process contributed to their development in terms of the type and volume of their capitals in the scientific field. Turkish academicians provided written translation support by translating the scientific works during this period and exam questions written by foreign professors, and oral translation support by providing communication between foreign professors and students in classes. In this way, Turkish academicians gained the translator's identity and almost became a communication expert through their translations, had many capitals such as translator capital, social and cultural capital in the context of Pierre Bourdieu, turned into pioneering names in the academic field with many identities such as the head of department and the author's identity by giving scientific works in their own fields in the future. Within the scope of this study, Ömer Celal Sarç, Sabri Fehmi Ülgener, Türkan Rado and Aykut Kazancıgil who became pioneers thanks to their habitus, translators and social capitals were included in the examples of Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Medicine.