Understanding urban intervention as a translational activity

Abstract

This article aims to examine Yeldeğirmeni, a historically multilingual and multicultural neighborhood in Istanbul, as a translation zone. The language landscape of Yeldeğirmeni, along with its social and cultural texture, has been transformed by both social and political changes in Turkey, and as a result of urban interventions by institutional and individual actors. We discuss the Yeldeğirmeni Revitalization Project and Mural Istanbul Festival as urban interventions that transform the social and cultural texture of the city in translation zones, owing to the significant role played by cultural mediators. Yeldeğirmeni is analyzed as a discourse in the context of cultural translation, and urban intervention is viewed as a medium of translation.