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Ahmet Midhat’s Hulâsa-i Hümâyunnâme

A curious case of politics of translation, “renewal,” imperial patronage and censorship

image of Ahmet Midhat’s <i>Hulâsa-i Hümâyunnâme</i>

The Kelile and Dimne stories originally written in Sanskrit have been translated into various languages through the centuries. This book on ethics and politics, penned with the purpose of providing guidance to rulers by means of animal stories has been reshaped in each translation, sometimes bearing different titles, depending on the cultural context of the target languages while its essence and teachings remained the same. Ahmet Midhat Efendi’s Hulâsa-i Hümâyunnâme, commissioned by Sultan Abdülhamit II, printed in 1888, but banned from publication, is an interesting case in point. It was based on the illustrious 16th-century translation, the Hümâyunnâme, by Ali bin Salih Çelebi, which he presented to Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. This essay draws on a comparative study of both translated texts, focusing on Ahmet Midhat’s work as a “renewed” version of the source text, written in the plainer style of 19th-century Ottoman Turkish prose. It also probes into the question of why this work was banned.

References

  1. Ahmet Midhat Efendi
    1304/1888 Hulâsa-i Hümâyunnâme [Summary]. Istanbul: Matbaa-i Âmire.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Ali bin Salih Çelebi
    1251/1835 Hümâyunnâme. Bulak.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Akün, Ömer Faruk
    1986 “Vasi Alisi.” Inİslâm Ansiklopedisi. Vol. 13, 226–230. Istanbul: MEB.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Baydar, Mustafa
    1954 Ahmet Mithat Efendi: Hayatı, Sanatı, Eserleri. Istanbul: Varlık.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Brockelmann, Carl
    1977 “Kelile ve Dimne.” Inİslam Ansiklopedisi. Vol. VI, 552–58, Istanbul: MEB.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Chain, V
    1897 “Kalilah.” InBibliographic des Ouvrages Arabes. Vol II, 49–55. Liège: H. Vaillout-Casmanne.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. de Blois, François
    1990 Burzoy’s Voyage to India and the Origin of the Book of Kalilah wa Dimnah. Prize Publication FundVol. XXIII. Royal Asiatic Society.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Demircioğlu, Cemal
    2009 “Translating Europe: The Case of Ahmed Midhat as an Ottoman Agent of Translation.” InAgents of Translation, edited by John Milton and Paul Bandia , 131–159. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing. doi: 10.1075/btl.81.07dem
     https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.81.07dem [Google Scholar]
  9. Demirel, Fatmagül
    2007 II. Abdülhamid Döneminde Sansür. Istanbul: Bağlam Yayınları.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Demirel, Fatmagül and Raşit Çavaş
    2005 “Yeni Bulunan Belgelerin Işığında II. Abdülhamid’in Yaktırdığı Kitapların Bir Listesi.” Müteferrika, 28: 13.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Fleischer, Cornell H
    1986 Bureaucrat and Intellectual in the Ottoman Empire: The Historian Mustafa Âli (1541–1600). Princeton University Press. doi: 10.1515/9781400854219
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400854219 [Google Scholar]
  12. İnalcık, Halil
    2005 Şair ve Patron: Patrimonyal Devlet ve Sanat Üzerinde Sosyolojik Bir İnceleme. Ankara: Doğu-Batı Yayınları.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Kudret, Cevdet
    1962 Ahmet Mithat Efendi. Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Levend, Agâh Sırrı
    1973 Türk Edebiyatı Tarihi. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. 1959 Arap, Fars ve Türk Edebiyatlarında Leyla ve Mecnun Hikayesi. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Özege, Seyfettin
    1973 Eski Harflerle Basılmış Türkçe Eserler Kataloğu, Vol. II. Istanbul: Fatih Matbaası.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Paker, Saliha , and Zehra Toska
    1997 “A Call for Descriptive Translation Studies on the Turkish Tradition of Rewrites.” InTranslation as Intercultural Communication, edited by Mary Snell-Hornby , Zuzana Jettmarová , and Klaus Kaindl , 79–88. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/btl.20.09pak
     https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.20.09pak [Google Scholar]
  18. Paker, Saliha
    2002 “Translation as Terceme and Nazire. Culture-bound Concepts and their Implications for a Conceptual Framework for Research on Ottoman Translation History.” InCrosscultural Transgressions. Research Models in Translation Studies II. Historical and Ideological Issues, edited by Theo Hermans , 120–143. Manchester: St. Jerome.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. 2006 “Ottoman Conceptions of Translation and its Practice. The 1897 ‘Classics Debate’ as a Focus of Examining Change.” InTranslating Others, Vol. 2, edited by Theo Hermans , 325–348. Manchester UK & Kinderhook, USA: St. Jerome.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Tahir Gürçağlar, Şehnaz
    2009 “Retranslation.” InRoutledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha , 233–236. London and New York: Rougledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Toska, Zehra
    2007 “Ahmet Mithat Efendi’nin ‘Bir Diğer Eseri’: Hulâsa-i Hümâyunnâme.” Journal of Turkish Studies31: II: 291–318.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. 1991 “Kelile ve Dimne’nin Türkçe Çevirileri.” Journal of Turkish Studies=Türklük Bilgisi Araştırmaları Fahir İz Armağanı II, 15: 355–80.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. 1989 Türk Edebiyatında Kelile ve Dimne Çevirileri ve Kul Mesud ÇevirisiVol. I, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Istanbul University.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Yılmaz Orak, Kadriye , and Mahmut Berköz
    2013 “Kelile ve Dimne Tercümeleri ve Kitlelerin Eğimindeki Rolü”. Türkiyat Mecmuası,23: 207–232.
     [Google Scholar]

References

  1. Ahmet Midhat Efendi
    1304/1888 Hulâsa-i Hümâyunnâme [Summary]. Istanbul: Matbaa-i Âmire.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Ali bin Salih Çelebi
    1251/1835 Hümâyunnâme. Bulak.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Akün, Ömer Faruk
    1986 “Vasi Alisi.” Inİslâm Ansiklopedisi. Vol. 13, 226–230. Istanbul: MEB.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Baydar, Mustafa
    1954 Ahmet Mithat Efendi: Hayatı, Sanatı, Eserleri. Istanbul: Varlık.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Brockelmann, Carl
    1977 “Kelile ve Dimne.” Inİslam Ansiklopedisi. Vol. VI, 552–58, Istanbul: MEB.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Chain, V
    1897 “Kalilah.” InBibliographic des Ouvrages Arabes. Vol II, 49–55. Liège: H. Vaillout-Casmanne.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. de Blois, François
    1990 Burzoy’s Voyage to India and the Origin of the Book of Kalilah wa Dimnah. Prize Publication FundVol. XXIII. Royal Asiatic Society.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Demircioğlu, Cemal
    2009 “Translating Europe: The Case of Ahmed Midhat as an Ottoman Agent of Translation.” InAgents of Translation, edited by John Milton and Paul Bandia , 131–159. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing. doi: 10.1075/btl.81.07dem
     https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.81.07dem [Google Scholar]
  9. Demirel, Fatmagül
    2007 II. Abdülhamid Döneminde Sansür. Istanbul: Bağlam Yayınları.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Demirel, Fatmagül and Raşit Çavaş
    2005 “Yeni Bulunan Belgelerin Işığında II. Abdülhamid’in Yaktırdığı Kitapların Bir Listesi.” Müteferrika, 28: 13.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Fleischer, Cornell H
    1986 Bureaucrat and Intellectual in the Ottoman Empire: The Historian Mustafa Âli (1541–1600). Princeton University Press. doi: 10.1515/9781400854219
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400854219 [Google Scholar]
  12. İnalcık, Halil
    2005 Şair ve Patron: Patrimonyal Devlet ve Sanat Üzerinde Sosyolojik Bir İnceleme. Ankara: Doğu-Batı Yayınları.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Kudret, Cevdet
    1962 Ahmet Mithat Efendi. Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Levend, Agâh Sırrı
    1973 Türk Edebiyatı Tarihi. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. 1959 Arap, Fars ve Türk Edebiyatlarında Leyla ve Mecnun Hikayesi. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Özege, Seyfettin
    1973 Eski Harflerle Basılmış Türkçe Eserler Kataloğu, Vol. II. Istanbul: Fatih Matbaası.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Paker, Saliha , and Zehra Toska
    1997 “A Call for Descriptive Translation Studies on the Turkish Tradition of Rewrites.” InTranslation as Intercultural Communication, edited by Mary Snell-Hornby , Zuzana Jettmarová , and Klaus Kaindl , 79–88. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/btl.20.09pak
     https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.20.09pak [Google Scholar]
  18. Paker, Saliha
    2002 “Translation as Terceme and Nazire. Culture-bound Concepts and their Implications for a Conceptual Framework for Research on Ottoman Translation History.” InCrosscultural Transgressions. Research Models in Translation Studies II. Historical and Ideological Issues, edited by Theo Hermans , 120–143. Manchester: St. Jerome.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. 2006 “Ottoman Conceptions of Translation and its Practice. The 1897 ‘Classics Debate’ as a Focus of Examining Change.” InTranslating Others, Vol. 2, edited by Theo Hermans , 325–348. Manchester UK & Kinderhook, USA: St. Jerome.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Tahir Gürçağlar, Şehnaz
    2009 “Retranslation.” InRoutledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, edited by Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha , 233–236. London and New York: Rougledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Toska, Zehra
    2007 “Ahmet Mithat Efendi’nin ‘Bir Diğer Eseri’: Hulâsa-i Hümâyunnâme.” Journal of Turkish Studies31: II: 291–318.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. 1991 “Kelile ve Dimne’nin Türkçe Çevirileri.” Journal of Turkish Studies=Türklük Bilgisi Araştırmaları Fahir İz Armağanı II, 15: 355–80.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. 1989 Türk Edebiyatında Kelile ve Dimne Çevirileri ve Kul Mesud ÇevirisiVol. I, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Istanbul University.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Yılmaz Orak, Kadriye , and Mahmut Berköz
    2013 “Kelile ve Dimne Tercümeleri ve Kitlelerin Eğimindeki Rolü”. Türkiyat Mecmuası,23: 207–232.
     [Google Scholar]

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