Speaker
Description
The climate crisis is not only a scientific phenomenon but also a communicative emergency in which translation can either widen or narrow the gap between knowledge and action. While “translation” is frequently used metaphorically in climate discourse, as knowledge transfer or behavior change, its interlingual and intercultural dimensions remain underexamined in practice (see Susam-Saraeva, 2023). This study aims to investigate the role(s) of translation in the climate crisis, focusing on the packaging that surrounds translated texts and shapes their reception. In line with this aim, this study examines Yeni İnsan Publishing House and the Yuvam Dünya Kitaplığı as translational agents that bring global ecological texts into Turkish. Founded in 2007, Yeni İnsan focuses on the philosophical, political, and cultural dimensions of ecological crisis, with attention to its historical and educational contexts. Together with Yuvam Dünya, a civil society initiative, Yeni İnsan runs a climate book series in translation. Focusing especially on the translated children’s books within the series, this study examines how the global climate crisis is recontextualised for readers in Türkiye. It adopts Alvstad et al.’s (2017) concept of “contextual voices” to analyse series notes, editorial prefaces, publisher webpages, and campaign/press materials that accompany translations. Findings indicate that editorial and framing choices aim to help readers orient themselves, ease uncertainty, and identify practical responses in the context of the climate crisis. The study highlights the role of translation as guidance in times of crisis, making climate knowledge clear and accessible to local audiences, and helping to turn it into concrete steps.
| Keywords | climate crisis, translation and ecology, contextual voices, paratexts |
|---|---|
| halise.gulmus@marmara.edu.tr |