Translation activities and modernization in Tanzimat era and Early Republican Period: The relationship between modernization and translation in the examples of Encümen-i Daniş and Translation Bureau

The Tanzimat Edict represents an important threshold in terms of both Turkish modernization history and institutional translation history. Contrary to previous attempts, the modernization moves of this period were not limited to certain areas but spread to almost every layer of the society. In terms of translation history, it can be seen that translation institutions whose foundations were laid during the Tulip Era, increased their number in line with different purposes, with the initiative of different groups and in a way to support modernization efforts. Modernization and Westernization efforts have almost become a state policy with the establishment of the Republic of Turkey. Many initiatives that were planned to be made during the Tanzimat Era but could not be realized due to specific reasons of the period were realized in the early Republican period. Likewise, institutional translation activities reached an unprecedented level in this period. The aim of this study is to determine whether there is a direct relationship between modernization efforts and translation activities, based on the examples of Encümen-i Daniş established in the Tanzimat Era and the Translation Bureau established in the early Republic period. This is the original contribution to the translation studies. Translation institutions have not only been evaluated within themselves, but have been placed on the historical, social, and cultural ground in relation to the concept of modernization and Westernization. Since these institutions have a direct connection with the developments in their own period, background information about the Tanzimat and early Republic periods is presented in the relevant parts of the study. In order to determine the link between modernization and translation, both institutions were examined in detail in terms of their purposes, structures, activities, members, and effects. In addition, since the thesis assigns a social and historical role to translation, it is built on the polysystems theory, which is the most suitable theory for this purpose. Our research has revealed that there is a direct link between translation and modernization efforts and that both Encümen-i Daniş and Translation Bureau are used as tools to support modernization efforts. Keywords: modernization, Westernization, polysystem theory, Tanzimat Era, Encümen-i Daniş, early Republican period, Translation Bureau.