The role of translation in the travels of ‘mansplaining’: The case of online translation activism in Türkiye
HilalErkazanci Durmus
Hacettepe University
This study discusses ‘mansplaining’ as a traveling neologism, tracing its trajectory across online activist
platforms in Türkiye. The study shows that the initial Turkish equivalents that were proposed for ‘mansplaining’ on feminist blogs
sparked controversy owing to their emphasis on male genitalia and physiology. Those equivalents reveal that narratives of
heterosexuality, gender binaries, and biological essentialism may permeate feminist translation, which, despite its progressive
intentions, needs to embrace more inclusive and transformative perspectives on gender and sexuality. The research indicates that
the initial equivalents proposed were ultimately dismissed in favor of the formulation of other neologisms to confront
cisnormativity. The study concludes that the term ‘mansplaining’ has foregrounded the significance of the incorporation of gender
and sexual diversity in the translation practices of online activism in Türkiye.
Translation plays a central role in the evolution and dynamic exchange of traveling concepts (Bachmann-Medick 2012, 24). Tracing the trajectory of traveling concepts entails the mapping of their transfer
from one culture, historical period, field, and/or scholar to another, as well as the identification of their transformation arising
from various transfer processes (Bal 2002, 24). For instance, Kamal (2018) explores ‘gender’ as a traveling concept that traverses various historical, geographical,
cultural, linguistic, and political contexts. As a “neologistic feminist use of an existing medical term” (Von Flotow 2020, 183), ‘gender’ has resulted in the creation of new terms in different languages. Feminist
concepts may pose translational challenges due to the way they “deconstruct conventional ‘malestream’ language” (Von Flotow 2020, 183). In such contexts, creative or neologistic translation may help translators overcome
those challenges and reframe the activist implications of feminist concepts within the receiving environment (Von Flotow 2019, 235).
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