A hypertext translation of the Israeli author Benny Ziffer's novel 'Turkish March': Analysis of the text from the point of view of literature, culture, hypertext theory, and marketing

This dissertation is a hypertext translation of the novel Turkish March (1995) by the Israeli author of Turkish origin Benny Ziffer.;My thesis provides an analysis of the text as a literary and cultural document. It studies hypertext theory, and demonstrates its relevance to works of translation. Furthermore, my thesis studies the relevance of market research in disseminating translated works. Focusing on the different voices in the book, I explore the literary and the market spaces within which this text may be considered. Because Turkish March has many references to people, places, and other texts, I also examine the benefits of hypertext as a medium for translating this text, and argue that hypertext technology keeps the translated text loyal to the original while providing the additional information behind the scenes.;Tracing the success or failure of fictional books in the US with Jewish or Israeli themes, I argue that currently there is no potential market for the Turkish March because it does not resonate with readers' expectations, or their knowledge of what Israeli society is about.;The book is strikingly different from canonical Israeli literature, which uses a Zionist plotline concerning an Israeli-born, male Ashkenazi Jew, fighting the enemy and working the land. Turkish March focuses on the lives of marginalized characters in Israeli society, such as homosexuals and non-Ashkenazi Jews who are not devoted to the Zionist cause. In these respects the book fits into the frame of contemporary rather than canonical Israeli literary practice. The book problematizes further attempts at categorization. Its subject matter mostly deals with Turkish Jewry, though the implications are related to broader discussions of identity. As a non-Ashkenazi group, Turkish Jews are placed at the margins of Israeli society together with various so-called Oriental Jews. On the other hand, the narrating voice is neither that of a marginalizing Ashkenazi, nor that of a defensive "other." The voice points out the cultural and educational richness of Turkish Jews, and simultaneously makes fun of their simplicity and superficiality. Furthermore, Ziffer names his book after the title of two twentieth-century French "Oriental" travel books (La Marche Turque by Gide, 1931, and by Grenier, 1993). The title is also used by several music pieces by Western composers, such as Mozart and Beethoven. Therefore, Ziffer consciously situates the book within a Western tradition of literature and music about the East, and within a tradition of Mizrahi writing in Israel. He thus situates Turkish Jewry at the cultural junction of East and West.