Translator Hasine Karadeniz: Interest in Bulgarian literature in Turkey rises

Тranslator of Bulgarian literature in Turkey, Hasine Shen Karadeniz, believes that the country is currently experiencing a new stage in the development of interest in Bulgarian literature, in which the growing recognition of Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov among Turkish readers also plays a role.

“Literary translation is a bridge between two literatures and two cultures to which I belong,” the translator shared in an interview with Bulgarian News Agency.

Hasine Shen Karadeniz is a lecturer in “American Culture and Literature” at Istanbul University. She was born in the town of Kardzhali, southern Bulgaria, where she graduated from the Hristo Botev Language School. She later moved to Turkey and made her first attempts at literary translation while still a student at Istanbul University, working on the short story “Along the Wire” by Yordan Yovkov. Her focus on translating Bulgarian literature began spontaneously and gradually became a complement to her academic career.

“My first translations were published 15-16 years after I arrived in Turkey. One of the main reasons for this long ‘preparatory’ period was my insufficient command of the Turkish language,” Karadeniz explains.

She continued her translation work with texts by Alek Popov, but believes that a central place in her development as a translator is occupied by the works of Georgi Gospodinov, which she has been working on since 2010.

Hasine Shen Karadeniz shared that before she began translating, she viewed translation as a relatively limited task - rendering a text into another language as accurately as possible.

“Over time, however, I realized that the translator’s responsibility is much broader and more complex. It requires, above all, humility before the text, respect for the author and the reader, responsibility toward the target language, commitment to cultural dialogue between societies, and respect for the profession itself,” she added.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov