Junior Nobel Prize goes to Ece

Ece Fişek, a student from Department of English Translation and Interpreting, Izmir University of Economics (IUE), was awarded in The Global Undergraduate Awards (often referred to as the Junior Nobel Prize) held in Ireland. Fişek, who prepared an English article by examining the 1983 Turkish translation of the famous writer William Golding’s novel ‘Lord of the Flies’ in detail, brought the ‘Highly Commended Entrant’ award in literature to our country for the first time.

The Global Undergraduate Awards 2024, which have been held in Ireland since 2009 and open to third and fourth-year undergraduate students from every country, took place with intense participation. Each project submitted to the competition was evaluated by a jury composed of experts and academics, and awards were given in a total of 25 categories.

WORKED FOR 6 MONTHS

Ece Fişek conducted a detailed examination of the Turkish translation of the Nobel-prize winner book ‘Lord of the Flies’ as part of the ‘History of Translation’ course she took in her third year, over a period of 6 months. Fişek, who analyzed whether the translation reflected the true meaning of the work and commented on the positive and negative aspects of the translation, caught the jury’s attention with her effective writing and command of English. Managing to outshine her strong competitors studying at renowned universities worldwide, Fişek won the award, which is of great international prestige.

I RECEIVED THE FRUITS OF MY LABOR

Stating that she always believed she would win the award, Fişek said, “This award is a first in the field of literature in Turkey. For this reason, I am very happy and proud. I am currently in my fourth year, but I had prepared this work in my third year. I won this award by developing the poster I created for the ‘Paratextual Analysis of Retranslations’ poster exhibition held in our University as part of the History of Translation course. Our Dean, Prof. Dr. Neslihan Yetkiner, was teaching the course. She supported me greatly throughout this process and encouraged me to participate in the competition. Also, research assistants Aslı Melike Soylu and Nazlıgül Bozok guided me with their meticulous evaluations on how to write the article. I would also like to thank all my professors for their contributions on the path to this success. I am happy to have received the fruits of my labor. After I graduate, I aim to pursue a master’s degree abroad and continue my academic career. This award will provide me with motivation and strength.”

SHE DESERVED THIS SUCCESS

Prof. Dr. Neslihan Yetkiner, Dean of IUE Faculty of Arts and Sciences, congratulated her student, saying, “In the History of Translation course, we look at the retranslations of various books over time. Our students carry out projects related to this. Ece worked very well and put in great effort. Together, we thought that we should apply for this competition. I predicted that Ece would win an award, and she did so. Ece deserved this success to the fullest. This success is the victory of belief and hard work. I thank Ece for the pride she brought to our faculty. I believe and trust all our students. We are working to prepare the young people for the future in the best possible way. I am confident that, as a faculty, we will achieve new successes in different fields in the upcoming semester.”