TURKISH TRANSLATIONS OF AESOP’S FABLES

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Sabancı University Program for Undergraduate Research (PURE)Summer 2017-2018TURKISH TRANSLATIONS OF AESOP’S FABLESFatma Nur Öztürkozturk.nur@metu.edu.trForeign Language Education / Faculty of Education, Junior (3rd Year)Onur Balonurbal101@gmail.comEnglish Language and Literature / Faculty of Arts and Science, Senior (4th Year)Dr. Mehmet KuruSabancı University / Foundation Development DirectorateAbstractBased on the relevant sources collected from the extensive archives of various libraries, thepurpose of this project was to ascertain the significance of Turkish translations of Aesop’s fables inthe Ottoman Empire by analyzing their place in the life of the orientalists and dragomans.Accordingly, the collected data on the intellectual and educational backgrounds of these peopleshow that these translations were among the primary sources used to improve their language skillsin Ottoman Turkish, which could be found in the shelves of Ecole des Enfants de langue (Hitzel,1995, p. 95). Based on this information, the project aimed to evaluate and examine these literaryworks within the framework of current language learning theories and methods. The use of thebilingual (parallel) texts to introduce these fables in Ottoman Turkish is reminiscent of the"Grammar-Translation Method". Thus, the project gives us a valuable clue about how to use thepedagogical method of translation more effectively and Aesop’s fables in today’s languageclassrooms. Finally, we looked into the sources of these fables by reading and matching them tothose found in English sources, and from there matching them with the Perry and Chambry indexesmost importantly, along with all the other sources of the fables which are currently known. This willhelp us, and researchers to come, designate these fables, perhaps looking into the ways in whichthey came to be found in the Ottoman Empire, and perhaps looking into the translation methods andthe discourse.Keywords: Aesop, foreign language education, bilingual texts, Ottoman translation, Perry Index

BAL, ÖZTÜRKTable of ContentsTURKISH TRANSLATIONS OF AESOP’S FABLES . 11Introduction . 32Aesop’s Fables in Language Learning . 532.1Using Fables in ESL Classroom . 62.2Grammar-Translation Method . 62.2.1MS. Cod. Or. 1289 - Hikayat-i Esepos / 1703 . 72.2.2BnF 676 – Choix de Fables / 1826 . 8Indexing the Ottoman Turkish Translations . 103.1The Three Most Important Modern Editions . 103.1.1Gibbs . 103.1.2Perry . 103.1.3Chambry . 103.2The Greek Sources . 113.2.1Aphthonius . 113.2.2Babrius. 113.2.3Syntipas . 113.3Latin Sources . 113.3.1Avianus . 113.3.2Ademar . 113.3.3Odo . 113.3.4Phaedrus . 123.3.5Romulus. 123.3.6Walter . 123.43.4.1Latin-German Edition. 123.5Steinhowel . 123.5.1Caxton . 123.5.2Jacobs . 123.5.3L’Estrange . 123.5.4Townsend . 133.64The English Collections . 12Why Index the Translations, and How . 13Conclusion and Future Work. 14References . 152

TURKISH TRANSLATIONS OF AESOP’S FABLES1IntroductionAesop was, according to the 5th century BC Greek historian Herodotus, a real historical figurewho lived on the Samos island in the Aegean Sea, and came from Thrace, though there arecompeting ancient sources who claim that his true origin is Phrygia (Gibbs, 2008, p, IX). Aesopcan be considered one of the most influential of Greek storytellers, as from 5th century BC onward,through the Middle Ages up to our own day, he never suffered any decline in his popularity, andall ages have appreciated him in different ways, as proverbial stories laying down the foundationsof contemporary morals for the Greeks, as devices of rhetoric which could be incorporated intosermons in the Middle Ages, and as children’s stories in the last few centuries (Gibbs, 2008, pp.IX-XII). Exerting this much influence on the world throughout the ages, it would’ve beenimpossible for Aesop’s fables not to have made their way into the Ottoman Empire, and they indeedhave. The when, the how, and the why being the driving questions of our project.It is commonly believed that the great reforms in the Tanzimat era (1839-76) played asignificant role in the development of translation activities from Western languages in OttomanEmpire, which showed an increase through the establishment of Tercüme Odaları (TranslationChambers). On the other hand, it is very possible to come across the Turkish translations of Aesop’sFables written before this period on the dusty shelf of historical archives in various libraries,including Leiden University Library, Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF), John RylandsLibrary, and Bodleian Library.a) MS. Cod. Or. 1289 - Hikayat-ı Esepos 1703 - İzmir / Johannes Heyman1) Leiden University Libraryb) MS. Cod. Or. 1589 - Kitab-ı emsal" 1746- Tripoli / copyist Denis DominiqueCardonnec) BnF 453 - Early 17th century2) Bibliothèque Nationale deFrance (BNF)d) BnF 676 - Early 19th centurye) MS Turkish 135 - dated 17613) John Rylands Library (TheUniversity of Manchester)f) MS Turkish 152 - Istanbul - undated copyg) MS Turkish 2109 - 1752 (?)4) Bodleian Library (OxfordUniversity)h) MS Ind. Inst. Turk 30/3Table 1. Copies of Turkish translations of Aesop’s fables found in various libraries 1There were even some texts from the Tanzimat Era which were previously not examined, forexample, the work called The Life of Aesop written by Ebuzziya Tevfik Bey, who published thebrief biographies of several philosophers, writers, and poets. Before analyzing this book, we didnot know the primary source which he had used to write such a biography about Aesop, as he hadnot indicated any. To find out the original version of the work, we compared and contrasted it withthe other works written about the life of Aesop. Those are The Life of Aesop by Maximus Planudesin 14th century and the preface of La Fontaine’s Fables written in 17th century, which is actually atranslated and shortened version of Planudes’ 14th century edition. Although there are a lot ofsimilarities between these three works, we realized that Ebuzziyya’s work was a direct translationof La Fontaine’s work despite some additions and omissions2.1In the preface of Choix de Fables written in 1826, L. Victor Letellier claimed that the fables in his book had been copiedfrom an original manuscript written in Constantinople (İstanbul).2Amodern Turkish translation of Vitae Aesopi, The Life of Aesop, can be found in the preface to Nurullah Ataç’s editionof Aisopos Masalları, the preface being translated by Samih Rıfat from La Fontaine’s.3

BAL, ÖZTÜRKFigure 1. Comparison of Ebuzziyya Tevfik’s the Life of Aesop with La Fontaine’s and Planudes’s worksFurthermore, it is generally accepted that the book titled Kıssadan Hisse by Ahmet MithatEfendi written in 1870 is the first work which contains the translations of Aesop’s fables fromEuropean languages into Ottoman Turkish (Kayhan, Mohammadzadeh, & Atmaca, 2017);however, the newly discovered copies dating from the early 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries offer acontradictory, and solid, proof against this claim. Based on these valuable sources, which wereacquired and copied by the contemporary orientalists during their journeys to Ottoman Empire, thepurpose of this project was to ascertain the significance of Turkish translations of Aesop’s fablesby analyzing their place in the life of the orientalists and dragomans, who had an influential positionin diplomatic translations and interpretations.Dragomans, who were very fluent in Western and Oriental languages, and had great culturalawareness, can be considered as the little angels of the diplomats, establishing a regular relationbetween the Ottoman Empire and other states. Due to the vast territories commanded by theOttoman Empire as a result of the policy of Cihan Hakimiyeti, meaning the desire to conquer theentire known world, the Ottoman State was in need of lots of translators to maintain commercialand economic diplomacy, which put them into a very important position in the internationalrelations (Meral, 2013, p. 106). At first, these translators were chosen among the Greek Orthodoxfamilies settled in the Phanar (Fener) district in Constantinople because of their good languageskills thanks to their high-level education in Europe. As the high-ranking members of the State,these people enjoyed some official privileges traditionally not given to non-Muslim communities.However, in the later periods, their considerable knowledge of the private information and darksecrets of Ottoman Empire caused some anxieties and fears, which made their position a risky andcritical one (Meral, 2013, p. 115). Because of the insecure atmosphere, Western countries decidedto educate their own translators, which resulted in the establishment of new language schools likeEcole des Enfants de langue by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the Minister of Finances of France, to teachFrench, Turkish, Persian, and Arabic to very young children, later called “Jeunes de langue” (diloğlanları) (Hitzel, 1995, p. 9). Furthermore, although it is possible that these fables could have beenused as an educational tool to teach values of the State and impart moral lessons, the collected dataon the social and intellectual background of these dragomans and a textual analysis on these copiesshow that Turkish translations of Aesop’s fables were among the primary sources used to improvetheir language skills in Ottoman Turkish, which could be found in the shelves of the school (Hitzel,1995, p. 95). When we evaluate this information within the framework of the current languagelearning theories and methods, the use of the bilingual (parallel) texts to introduce these fables inOttoman Turkish is reminiscent of the "Grammar-Translation Method".Grammar-Translation Method, also known as the Prussian Method or Classical Method, is oneof the traditional approaches to foreign language teaching, which was very popular from the 17th to19th centuries and originally used to teach classical languages in the belief that they would increase4

TURKISH TRANSLATIONS OF AESOP’S FABLESintellectual and mental capacity (Richards & Rodgers, 1986, p. 2). In the later years, as thecurriculum of bilingual and multilingual schools in Europe began to include modern languages,these languages were also taught by using the principles of the same method such as bilingualdictionaries, deductive grammar teaching, and translation studies. However, the collected data onthe early manuscripts of Turkish translations of Aesop’s fables in Ottoman Empire show thatorientalists and dragomans benefited from the major characteristics of the Grammar-TranslationMethod in order to learn and read Ottoman Turkish. Since this method primarily puts emphasis onthe written expression rather than oral communication to learn languages by reading literary texts,it seems appropriate to their needs and purposes, which were to help to maintain the internationalrelations between Ottoman Empire and other countries through translation. Accordingly, theproject gives us a valuable clue about how to use the pedagogical method of translation and Aesop’sfables more effectively in today’s language classrooms.Beside the use of these fables in language learning, they could be used as an effective tool todevelop the morality of adults and children. As for why Aesop’s fables enjoyed popularity in theMiddle Ages, and other important Greek figures, such as Homer, Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus,and Aristophanes had to lie dormant till Renaissance, we argue it was because of the rise of theChristian Church in the Roman Empire, which made illegal the operation of theatres in the year533 AD (Wild, 2010). The plays produced by the Greek playwrights were abundant with paganelements, and didn’t present the reader or the watching audience with clear morals, whereas thePagan elements in Aesop must have seen negligible, and because of their moralistically didacticnature, were easy to incorporate into the Christian belief, figures like Odo, indeed, making them apart of his sermons (Gibbs, 2008, p. XXVIII). Even when theatre began to rise again, they roseinside the Church, with morality, miracle, and mystery plays, which were about events which tookplace in the Bible, meant to educate and moralise the illiterate audiences (Wild, 2010). It’s onlynatural in such a climate Aesop was revered as he was.As per one of our project objectives, we also read the various fables found in the newlydiscovered manuscripts, dating back to the very beginning of the 17th century, then traced themback to all the major indexes and sources we could find. Some of these important ones are the Perryand Chambry indexes, along with Gibbs’ modern translations into English. Briefly, Perry was a20th-century professor who published an edition of all Aesop fables known to him at the time, withthe fables in the order of their language (Greek then Latin), date, source, and the alphabet. Chambrylikewise was a 20th-century scholar, who made a compilation of Aesopic fables for the BellesLettres series, whose order of the fables is followed in many modern Turkish translations, andGibbs is the most important Aesop scholar alive today. The other sources are Greek, Latin, andEnglish, most of which date back to the antiquity, while some to the Medieval Ages and 17th to 18thcentury.By evaluating these newly discovered fables in Ottoman Turkish from the perspectivesmentioned above, it was our aim to contribute to the studies of Aesop at large.2Aesop’s Fables in Language LearningLanguage is the heart of nations; the glue holding together all the diverse cultures. As one ofthe most powerful multicultural empires of the time, the Ottoman Empire incorporated lots oflanguages and ethnicities. However, since Muslims living in the empire rejected to learn Westernlanguages, viewing the process as a “sinful activity”, there was a conspicuous absence of languageskills among them (Lewis, 2000). Accordingly, the profession of translation and interpretation wasmore common among non-muslim communities in the State, so there was a strong demand for themto learn and be fluent in Ottoman Turkish, Persian, and Arabic, and as there were insufficientinstitutions in the Ottoman Empire to serve this end, new schools were founded. As mentionedabove, after finishing their training, the students who had education in these new multilingualschools were called “Jeunes de langue” (dil oğlanları), and they were the first people to translate5

BAL, ÖZTÜRKOttoman texts into European languages. The collected data has shown that these works consistedof literary translations as well as political texts, including Nasreddin Hodja’s stories, Kalila andDemna, and Aesop’s fables. For this project, we have analyzed the significance and place ofTurkish translations of Aesop’s fables in the curriculum of these schools, and we have evaluatedthese translations within the framework of current language learning theories and methods.2.1Using Fables in ESL ClassroomTo understand the underlying reason for the use of Aesop’s fables in the language learning,instead of academic or scientific texts, we need to think about the distinctive characteristics of thesefolktales to find out a reasonable and sensible answer.Fables, short stories including animal characters to give a moral lesson, have specific linguisticand stylistic features, which puts them into a different category from other stories. They aredominated by common words, onomatopoeia, and repeated grammar structures, etc., which makesthe process of the language learning easier and enjoyful (Lwin, 2015, p. 74). Since these storiesprovide learners with a great opportunity to come across a variety of words in different contexts,they help them to develop their vocabulary repertoire in a short time. For example, antonyms andsynonyms, which are often used in these folktales, are efficient ways to extend the mental lexicon.Furthermore, it is generally accepted that these stories focus on basic grammar structures likesimple present tense or past tense, which provides frequent repetition. Accordingly, thecomprehension of these grammatical expressions starts to increase, which also enhances thestudents’ self-confidence and mood. This creates a relaxed atmosphere reducing their affectivefilter, which otherwise blocks students’ ability to learn the foreign language as a result of theiranxieties and fears.Thus, the use of fables in a language classroom could build a positive environment, whichincreases the speed and quality of learning and teaching.2.2Grammar-Translation MethodThe method of foreign language teaching is affected by even a minor change in the needs ofthe students, the classroom atmosphere, and the proficienc

1 In the preface of Choix de Fables written in 1826, L. Victor Letellier claimed that the fables in his book had been copied from an original manuscript written in Constantinople (İstanbul). 2 A modern Turkish translation of Vitae Aesopi, The Life of Aesop, can be found in the preface to Nurullah Ataç’s edition

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