"Bütün çeviriler, kaynak metnin belli bir amaç için bir şekilde manipüle edildiğini ima eder", "Çeviri politik bir eylemdir", "Çeviri ideolojiden ayrı düşünülemez" gibi önermeler iddialı ifadeler olarak görünebilir. Ancak var olan uygulamaları düşündüğümüzde, çevirilerin objektif bir şekilde yapıldığı veya çevirmenlerin çeviri yaparken çeviri metni manipüle etmedikleri yanılsamasından daha gerçekçi olduklarını görüyoruz. Bu çalışmada yüzde yüz objektif bir çevirinin mümkün olmadığını, çeviri sürecinde çeviri faaliyetini etkileyen ve bu faaliyet sonucunda ortaya çıkan nihaî çeviri metnin son şeklini almasında rol alan aktörler ve faktörler film çeviri metinleri baz alınarak incelenmiştir. Kuramsal çerçeve olarak Hans Vermeer ile Katharina Reiss'ın geliştirdikleri Skopos teorisinin kullanıldığı bu çalışmada, çeviri metnin son şeklini almasında çevirinin hangi işlev için kullanılacağının belirleyici olduğu ve çeviriyi yönlendiren bazı unsurların varlığı ortaya konmuştur. Sonuçta, her çeviride olduğu gibi film çevirilerinde de çeviriyi yönlendiren bazı manipülatif unsurların olduğu ve çevirmenlerin metinleri manipüle etmek için bazı yöntemlere başvurdukları görülmüştür. Çeviri faaliyetini yönlendiren başlıca unsurlar işveren, çevirmen, toplum ve devlettir. Çevirmenler edebiyat çevirilerinde olduğu gibi film çevirilerinde de metni manipüle etmek için başlıca dört manipülasyon yöntemine başvurmaktadır. Bunlar atlama, ekleme, değiştirme ve yumuşatmadır

Statements like “All translation implies a degree of manipulation of the source text for a certain purpose”, “Translation is a political act”, “Translation cannot be thought apart from ideology” might sound assertive. But when the real-life practices are considered, it would not be wrong to claim that they are more realistic than the illusion that translations are done objectively or that translators do not manipulate the target text while translating. In this study, the fact that a hundred percent objective translation is not possible was investigated, and the fact that there are actors and factors that influence the translation activity in the translation process and they play an important part in shaping the final target text was studied based on audiovisual translation texts. As the theoretical framework, Skopos theory developed by Hans Vermeer and Katharina Reiss was used. The purpose is to show that the function of the translated text is a determining factor, and that there are certain elements which guide translation process. As a result, it has been determined that there are some manipulative elements in the translation of audiovisual texts, as in every translation, and that translators resort to some methods to manipulate the texts. The main elements guiding the translation activity are the employer, the translator, the society and the state. Translators resort to four major manipulation methods to manipulate the text in the translation of film texts as they do in literary translation. These are omission, addition, substitution and toning down or softening Translation is manipulation. Whether you take it technically in the meaning that every translation is changing the source text in one way or another, or ideologically, the gist is the same. So, although statements like “All translation implies a degree of manipulation of the source text for a certain purpose”, “Translation is a political act”, “Translation cannot be thought apart from ideology” might sound assertive, when the real-life practices are considered, it is possible to see that they are more realistic than the illusion that translations are done objectively or that translators do not manipulate the target text while translating. This paper aims to prove the fact that a hundred percent objective translation is not possible. The actors and factors that influence the translation activity in the translation process and play an important part in shaping the final target text were studied based on audiovisual translation texts. Skopos theory developed by Hans Vermeer and Katharina Reiss was used as the theoretical framework. The purpose is to show that the function of translated text is a determining factor, and that there are certain elements which guide translation process. As a result, it has been seen that there are some manipulative elements in the translation of audiovisual texts, as in every translation, and that translators resort to some methods to manipulate the texts. The main elements guiding the translation activity are the employer, the translator, the society and the state. As ideological manipulation methods in translation, methods such as omission, addition, toning down, substitution, word selection, changing the structure of the sentence (such as changing the active sentence into passive), emphasis changing, cultural filtering can be listed. In this study, the most common methods will be discussed: omission, addition, toning down, substitution. As can be seen in the examples and in many real-life cases, it is an illusion that translations are made objectively and they are transparent mirrors reflecting the true nature of the original. In fact, they are not very assertive statements that manipulation is inherent in every translation, translation is a political act, and ideology cannot be thought apart from translation. Texts are manipulated for what purpose they are meant to be. That’s why translators are bound to these purposes, not to the source text ones when translating. It is not only the purpose of translation that leads to the manipulation of the translation text, but also there are restrictive elements like the translator’s ideology, norms and expectations of the society and the state. As Alev Bulut (2008) states in her book Basından Örneklerle Çeviride İdeoloji İdeolojik Çeviri, language use is purposeful and ideological in every way and dimension. Both the creation of the text and its transmission to another language are made under individual, cultural and social influences. During translation, which is a decision-making process, translator can make decisions unconsciously or deliberately. Deliberate decisions are seen mostly in political texts and in texts intended to influence the receiver such as news and advertising. The ideological decisions taken while creating the source text and the ideological decisions taken while translating the source text into the target language will vary due to the changing of target audience, the function of the text, and the language and culture. Decisions made by the translator may vary depending on the identity of the translator or whether he/she works alone or as a team. Decisions taken by the translator are not single and absolute decisions which are independent of the society in which the translator lives. Bulut even suggests that interpreters reflect their identity, personality and attitude with their toning, speaking style and word choice (pp. 108-109). Lefevere (1992) writes specifically of five constraints that are crucial in the manipulation of texts by literary translators. These constraints can be applied to the film translation. The first constraint Lefevere mentions is patronage. Patronage is the people and institutions that can develop or hinder literature. In film translations, it can be said that they are companies producing films, distributors, government agencies supervising audiovisual works, dubbing studios, dubbing directors, dubbing artists. The second constraint mentioned by Lefevere is poetics, which can be called the literary perception of the time. In film translations, it can be interpreted as established text traditions, clichéd templates and expectations for film translation. The third constraint is the universe of discourse, which means the subject matter of the source text, its content, the messages it conveys. The translator may think that they are unacceptable to the target culture or that the target culture may find them disturbing so he/she may make them suitable for the target culture by resorting to the methods we have discussed in this study (such as omission, addition, substitution, toning down). The fourth constraint is the source and target languages and the differences between them. The film translator can manipulate the words to enable lip-sync, especially in dubbing, due to the language differences or differences in pronunciations of words. The fifth and final constraint Lefevere mentions is the ideology of the translator. Translator’s value judgments, his/her understanding of translation, his/her attitude towards the other four constraints, his/her attitude towards the values and norms of society are some of the elements that make up the ideology of the translator. As long as the elements above exist, translating will always be manipulated. In fact, it should not be seen no wrong in manipulation because manipulation is something that is inherent in translation. The occasional news reports in the Turkish press about distorting or censorship in the translations are made only to wear down a particular class of the society. As can be seen in this study, manipulative activities such as distorting or censorship in translations are not specific to a particular class but something to which people with different views and ideologies could resort.