Review of Queer in Translation: Sexual Politics under Neoliberal Islam by Evren Savcı (Duke University Press)

Evren Savcı’s Queer in Translation presents an alternative, both in methodology and analysis, to the Orientalist analytical frameworks typical of Western scholars studying queer politics in Middle Eastern regions. Specifically, Savcı analyzes the rise of Turkey’s Adalet ve Kalınma Partisi (AKP; in English, the Justice and Development Party) to show how the AKP’s increased securitization and oppression of marginalized communities—including, but not limited to, Turkey’s LGBTQ community—is the result of the marriage of Islam and neoliberalism. Savci produces compelling case studies that reveal how Turkey’s weaponization of religion, morality, and capitalism serve to secure the nation against dissenting citizens. From the discourse surrounding the complicated murder of a gay Kurdish man, to unlikely solidarities between religious hijabi women and LGBTQ activists, and the public commons that became Gezi Park, Savci’s critical translation methods reveal how the language to construct and resist securitization in Turkey are far more nuanced than simple attribution to solely Islamist extremism or Western neoliberal influence.

F.L. de Castelnau’s collection of fishes from the Cape of Good Hope described by Pieter Bleeker

The Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker described 34 species, including a new genus and five new species from a collection of fishes sent to him from the Cape of Good Hope by the French explorer, naturalist and diplomat, F.L. de Castelnau in 1858. A careful search of the Naturalis collection in Leiden found almost all the specimens received by Bleeker from Castelnau, including hitherto unrecognised types. Based on examination of this collection and a critical translation of Bleeker’s 1859 paper on the fishes of the Cape of Good Hope it has been possible to resolve the taxonomic status of Bleeker’s genus Pagrichthys (Pagrichthys castelnaui Bleeker, 1859, type by monotypy), previously considered a synonym of Sparus Linnaeus, 1758 but here regarded as a synonym of Lithognathus Swainson, 1839. The identity of the various species described by Bleeker, and type status of his new species are clarified: Cantharus castelnaui Bleeker, 1859 is a synonym of Pachymetopon blochii (Valenciennes, 1830); Pagrichthys castelnaui Bleeker, 1859 is a synonym of Lithognathus lithognathus (Cuvier, 1829); Seriola capensis Bleeker, 1859 (not previously recognised as a valid species) is a synonym of Seriola lalandi Valenciennes, 1833; Clinus dubuis Bleeker, 1859 (based on a misspelling of Castelnau’s ms name dubius) is a valid name, and a synonym of Clinus superciliosus (Linnaeus, 1758); and Clinus dorsalis Bleeker, 1859 is valid as Muraenoclinus dorsalis (Bleeker, 1859).

Simin Daneshvar and Shahrnush Parsipur in Translation

Contemporary Iranian women writers contribute to the Iranian literary tradition by writing about women’s roles during the political upheavals leading up to and after the 1979 Revolution. In Simin Daneshvar’s Savushun and Shahrnush Parsipur’s Women without Men, the authors meticulously employ colloquial sexist diction to expose the connection between sexism and violence against women. The portrayal of such violence relies on language that illustrates the authors’ concerns and their commentary on the status of women. In this situation, literary criticism of the novels demands an approach that discusses feminism, language, and translation as interrelated. This article analyzes issues introduced in the translation of Savushun and Women without Men where translation choices have an impact on important elements of the original novels. By revealing how translation can minimize important culturally bound elements of Daneshvar’s and Parsipur’s feminist awareness and agency, it provides an example with relevance for critical translation studies.

Corpus-based Critical Translation Studies: Research Areas and Approaches

This paper discusses the origin, features, research areas, and approaches, as well as the implications, of corpus-based critical translation studies (CCTS), with a view to establishing a theoretical framework. It is argued that CCTS, born of corpus-based translation studies and critical translation studies, will serve to unveil ideological factors behind the translated texts and the process involved. The birth of CCTS has not only revolutionized the methodology of critical translation studies, but has also broadened its scope.