Saturday 19 July 2014

Catalan literature in English translation

Hi there! Once again, I've managed not to write a post for almost a month... Lots of things have happened (to start with, my trip to London), but today I'm going to tell you about something else.

Come September, I'm going to join a book group here in Glasgow (organised by this other blogger). She asked us to name 5 books so that we could benefit from everyone's suggestions. I wanted to include something originally in Catalan... How innocent I still am.

My first thought was El mecanoscrit del segon origen ("Typescript of the Second Origin"), by Manuel de Pedrolo, a brilliant sci-fi novel that most Catalan teenagers read in high school. I've read somewhere that it plays the same role for Catalan youngsters as The Catcher in the Rye does for English-speaking readers, in the sense it's a kind of "coming of age novel" (for both the characters and the reader)... and I agree. However, I hadn't thought it possible that there would be no English translation... But that is the case!!! So I settled for La plaça del diamant (The Time of the Doves in its English translation) by Mercè Rodoreda. It's not my favourite piece of Catalan literature, but I didn't have much choice!



It's really a shame that I can't share some of my favourite books with my English-speaking friends. Then again, I know how little is translated into English from other languages, not just Catalan. If there is no market for it, it will never happen... So here I am, trying to tell you a bit about Catalan literature, to get readers interested and to try and get the publishing houses' attention, with any luck.

Some background info first:

Catalonia is (legally) an "autonomous community" ("comunitat autònoma") in Spain, with some 7.5 million people living there. Its capital is Barcelona. Catalonia is divided into four provinces, named after their capital cities: Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona and Lleida. Because of its history, culture, and language (Catalan), many people consider Catalonia to be a nation in its own right, but this is not legally recognised by the Spanish Constitution. The current Catalan government is trying to establish the terms of  a referendum about independence (it'll possibly take place in October 2014, probably without the Spanish government's approval). For historical reasons, the Catalan language is spoken not only in Catalonia, but also in areas of Aragon, Valencia, Murcia and also in a part of Southern France (which is actually called in Catalan "North Catalonia"), as well as in Andorra (a little country in the Pyrenees, in between Catalonia and France), the Balearic Islands (Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza are the biggest in the archipelago) and a little town in the Italian island of Sardinia called Alghero ("L'Alguer" in Catalan). All in all, about 11 million people have some degree of linguistic competence in Catalan. Because of the geographical extension of the Catalan language, some people call the group of territories where Catalan is spoken "the Catalan countries" ("països catalans"). That term has political nuances, though, so it's best to avoid it so as not to hurt anyone's sensibilities. There's a bit of Catalonia, the shire of Vall d'Aran, where they speak another language, the Aranese variant of Occitan ("aranès" in Catalan, "aranés" in Aranese).

Here's a map for you:


Instead of going on about Catalan literature, its history and its landmark works, I'll leave you with a few links:

- Blog post about Catalan lit in English translation (some debatable or wrong background info, but the list is good)

- Institut Ramon Llull's page on Catalan lit

- British Library exhibition

- Dalkey Archive Press's Catalan literature series

To finish off, I'll translate one of my favourite poems in Catalan (and one of the most famous in this language), "Corrandes d'exili" by Pere Quart (taken from here).


"Corrandes d'exili" (1947)

Una nit de lluna plena
tramuntàrem la carena,
lentament, sense dir re.
Si la lluna feia el ple,
també el féu la nostra pena.

L'estimada m'acompanya
de pell bruna i aire greu
(com una marededéu
que han trobat a la muntanya).

Perquè ens perdoni la guerra,
que l'ensagna, que l'esguerra,
abans de passar la ratlla,
m'ajec i beso la terra
i l'acarono amb l'espatlla.

A Catalunya deixí
el dia de ma partida
mitja vida condormida;
l'altra meitat vingué amb mi
per no deixar-me sens vida.

Avui en terres de França
i demà més lluny potser,
no em moriré d'enyorança,
ans d'enyorança viuré.

En ma terra del Vallès
tres turons fan una serra,
quatre pins un bosc espès,
cinc quarteres massa terra.
"Com el Vallès no hi ha res".

Que els pins cenyeixin la cala,
l'ermita dalt del pujol;
i a la platja un tenderol
que bategui com una ala.

Una esperança desfeta,
una recança infinita.
I una pàtria tan petita
que la somio completa.

"Exile songs" (*1)

On a full moon night
we walked over the mountains' edge
slowly, saying nothing.
The moon was going full
and so was our sorrow.

My beloved goes with me
with her brown skin and grave air
(like an image of the Virgin Mary
that they've found in the mountain). (*2)

So as to make it forgive us for the war,
that stains it with blood and ruins it,
before going over the line, (*3)
I bend down and kiss the earth
and I caress it with my shoulder.

In Catalonia I left
on the day of my departure
half a life in slumber;
the other half came with me
so as not to leave me lifeless.

Today in French land
and tomorrow maybe further away,
I won't die of homesickness,
rather I'll live on it. 

In my land of the Vallès (*4)
three hills make a mountain chain,
four pine trees a thick forest,
and five fields too much land. (*5)
"There is nothing quite like the Vallès"

May the pine trees cling to the cove,
the chapel on top of the mound;
and on the beach a little tent
that flaps like a wing.

An undone hope,
an infinite regret.
And a homeland so small
that I dream it complete.

Here's a video of Pere Quart himself reciting the poem in Catalan, in 1970:


*Translation notes:

(1) Many Spanish artists, writers, and dissenters had to resort to exile after the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) led to almost 40 years of fascist military dictatorship.
(2) This is a reference to the most famous image of the Virgin Mary in Catalonia - fondly nicknamed "la Moreneta" ("the little dark-skinned (Virgin Mary)").
(3) The border between Spain and France.
(4) The Vallès (loosely translatable as "Valley land") is a shire in Catalonia (incidentally, that's where I'm from too!).
(5) I've used the word "fields", but the original actually indicates five measures of land (impossible to determine because they are not described in terms of surface, but in terms of harvest production - but it's clearly a really small amount of land).


I hope you've enjoyed the post, the rant, and that you go on to read something translated from the Catalan! :)

1 comment:

  1. There is a Portuguese translation of El mecanoscrit del segon origen, I just checked. Might be getting it when I go back to Portugal, you made me curious :)

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