Arabic Children’s Literature in Turkish
Translation, Aesthetics, and Cultural Transmission
Arabic children’s literature works translated from Arabic into Turkish
provide an opportunity for different cultural and literary experiences
to meet Turkish readers. The study examines the visibility of Arabic
children’s literature in Turkish and the transfer of the cultural, linguistic,
visual, and stylistic features of the source texts into Turkish. Using a
qualitative research method, data on children’s books translated from
Arabic into Turkish were evaluated bibliometrically, and the contents
of the works were examined through thematic analysis. In addition, interviews
were conducted with A. Sait Aykut, İbrahim Demirci, and Fatma
Zehra Aydemir, who translated works by Taghreed Najjarand and
Fatima Sharafeddine into Turkish. Evaluations of the translation process
were shaped in line with the views obtained from the interviews
with the translators, and these views were utilized in the analyses of the
texts, visuals, and style. In addition, the relationship between text and
visuals, as well as the ways in which visual elements were preserved,
altered, and rearranged during the translation process, were evaluated.
The scope of the study comprises 148 Arabic children’s literature works
translated into Turkish between 2009 and 2026. The findings indicate
that the visibility of Arabic children’s literature in Turkish increased
particularly between 2019 and 2026, although the publications do not
show a balanced distribution in terms of publishers, countries of origin,
and genres. It was observed that the age of the child reader, the content
of the text, and cultural characteristics influenced translation decisions.
In the transfer of visual elements, features belonging to the source culture
were preserved, while the covers and titles of some works were
modified according to the target reader and publishing conditions. The
study demonstrates that the transfer of Arabic children’s literature into
Turkish takes into consideration linguistic and cultural transfer as well
as sound, visual, and stylistic features.
Keywords: Arabic children’s literature; translation of children’s literature;
cultural transfer; visual translation; translator visibility.