Translations, which are one of the most basic means of transferring the cultural and collective ties that make up a society to another society, are first of all a source of accumulation of civilization. XIX. In Turkish literature, which entered the process of renewal by being under the influence of Westernization activities as of the 19th century, literary translations made from Western literature contributed to the process of establishing these cultural ties. This translation activity, which was carried out with personal efforts at the beginning, has become more systematic with the emergence of new discourses around the concept of translation over time. The emergence of various discourses in this period also paved the way for some discussions and polemics regarding the concept of translation. In this study, the criticism and debates that developed around the translation of Sefiller by the French writer Victor Hugo by Şemseddin Sami, which constitutes an important example of translation criticism in pre-Republican Turkish literature, are focused on. Şemseddin Sami, who translated Victor Hugo's novel, whose original name was Les Misérables, into Turkish in 1879 and started to publish it as a part, received a lot of praise from Ahmet Mithat Efendi, Namık Kemal, Halit Ziya, Ali Ekrem, Süleyman Nazif, Beşir Fuat, etc., for this translation. It has been criticized by many authors, either positively or negatively. The authors mentioned here and their discourses on translation are examined in a chronological manner. In this way, both the various views of the important writers of the period on the issue of literary translation are included and the discussions around the translation of Les Miserables, which has not been discussed in detail, are evaluated.
Şemseddin Sami, Sefiller, Les Miserables, translation, translation criticism