The Role of Translation in Forming Ideological Memory: Germinal

Ideology, having fundamental role to form the nations’, enters in international circulation via translation. At this point, the role of translation in forming collective memory comes into mind. The social, economical and ideological change occured in Europe especially just after Industriel Revolution and reaches at  a point which can totally determine the destiny of the whole World. Ottoman Empire was also effected from these changes and socialism started to be known and to be discussed in Ottoman Empire through the reading from foreign resources and translations.

Germinal written by French author Emile Zola is a novel which illustrates the hard working conditions of mine workers in Montsou -a small mine town- their hopelessness, their effort to be become an organisation against the capital and their attempt to strike.

The novel considered as a socialist novel because of its aspects which try to provide a new social, political approach to French workers’ situation and the novel deals with the social problems of the period, workers’ working conditions and their struggle against the capital.

Germinal having an important role with its emphasis on socialism in Turk’s memory was translated to Turkish many times. Beside this a very short time ago, after a mine disaster occured in Soma in 2014, it again came into minds and lots of authors wrote about it in newspapers.

In this study, the role of translation studies during the process when socialism, which forms the basis of workers’ problems after Industriel Revolution in Europe, started to take its place in Turk’s mind will be examined. Also the role of the translation to direct the culture will be examined and its effects on target culture will be handled.