the ideology of lexical choices in the turkish translations of oliver twist

the publishers to whom he refers as ideologically-oriented. According to him, the
Turkish versions of the classics can hardly be considered as ‘translations’ since they
are published having been reduced to ninety-six pages with no acknowledgement of
the translator (2006; http://ceviribilim.com/?p=312). The points he makes actually
correspond to the ones made in this study, which aims to demonstrate through a
thorough analysis of the lexical items that the five different versions of Oliver Twist
are governed by religious-conservative ideology.
The thesis proceeds in the following order:
In Chapter I, first of all, ‘ideology,’ which is one of the ambiguous and
controversial concepts, is defined. The aim is to show that the concept has multiple
meanings, yet not all of these meanings are compatible with each other. Next, the
chapter goes on to discuss how language, discourse, and ideology are interrelated.
Then it dwells upon the relationship between CDA and ideology, since CDA is used
as the methodological tool in this study. The chapter then focuses on the pertinence
of ideology to Translation Studies. The issues that it focuses on under this heading
are the ‘cultural turn’ in Translation Studies, the role ideology plays in translation,
and the relationship between rewriting and ideology. The discussion of this
relationship is a crucial part of the study since it is argued that the Turkish versions
are examples of ‘rewriting.’ The chapter finally brings into focus how translation can
be viewed as a manipulative act, which seems to be the case in the Turkish versions
that are analyzed in this study.
In Chapter II, the controversy over the ‘100 Essential Readings’ in terms of
ideology is discussed. The chapter begins by giving some information about the socalled
‘100 Essential Readings’ list, and goes on to touch upon the significance of
‘classics’ worldwide and in Turkey. The reason for doing so is that Oliver Twist,
being a world’s classic, is one of the works on the list of essential readings. The
chapter also focuses on the rationale behind ‘100 Essential Readings.’ Finally, the
‘controversy’ is brought into focus.
Chapter III is on Charles Dickens and his work, Oliver Twist. Information
about the work, in particular, is deemed essential to the comprehension of the
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