Sabahattin Ali’s theoretical reflections on translation and his role as German to Turkish translator for the state-sponsored Translation Bureau form a central, but largely overlooked aspect of his literary legacy. This paper explores the overlap between Ali’s positions as author and translator vis-à-vis the World Literature in Translation publication series (1940-1966) he helped to both shape and execute. As a case study, I examine the relationship between Ali’s final novel Kürk Mantolu Madonna (1943) (Madonna in a Fur Coat) and his translation of “Die Verlobung in St. Domingo” (1811) (The Betrothal in Santo Domingo). Through an attention to critical narrative gaps in each of these texts, I call attention to the subtle manner in which Ali was able to resist dominant paradigms of translation—such as smooth translatability and civilizational transfer—through his position as a state employee. As such, I document an alternative history of translation in the modern Republic of Turkey that emerges from within a state-sponsored project of culture planning.

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