On 30 September, translators celebrate Saint Jerome’s Day. Saint Jerome was born around AD 347. After studying literature and philosophy in Rome, he learned Hebrew while living as a hermit. After serving as secretary to Pope Damasus I, he retired to a monastery, where he started translating and compiling biblical books. The manuscript of the Bible that was collected, assembled, and translated by Jerome later became known as the Vulgate, and—at least for the Catholic Church—it remains the authoritative Latin version of the Bible to this day. This is why Jerome is the patron saint of translators. In 1991, the International Federation of Translators (FIT) declared 30 September International Translation Day. For several years now, numerous events have been held around this day, with the special purpose of bringing literary translation and translators into the public eye.

On Saint Jerome’s Day this year, we are holding a small contest on our website. Participate in the contest and win a 2014 wall calendar. You can answer the question in German, Czech, Croatian, Polish, Slovenian, or Ukrainian.

On the 11^th and 12^th of September a local meeting of the Ukrainian group took place. Participants not only had the opportunity to discuss the first version of their literary translations, but they also went sightseeing in the beautiful medieval city of Lviv and visited the 20^th Lviv Book Forum.

We wanted to enjoy the famous coffeehouse atmosphere of the old city of Lviv and that’s why we decided to not hold our meetings in the rooms of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, but in the famous coffeehouses of the host city. On the first day (on the 11^th of September) we drank coffee and hot chocolate in two coffeehouses (Kabinett and Dzyga) and discussed the first translations by Yuliya Mykytyuk (the short story „Die Übergabe“ [The Handover] by Silke Scheuermann) and by Valentyna Bilokrynytzka (an excerpt from the novel „Junges Licht“ [Young Light]by Ralf Rothmann). The second day we spent in the restaurant/cafe Akademitshne where Mykola Lipisivizkyj (an excerpt from the novel Hoppe by Felicitas Hoppe) and Olha Kravtchuk (an excerpt from the short story „Wo Europa anfängt“ [Where Europe Begins] by Yoko Tawada) presented their translations.

At the beginning all participants presented their works and revealed their reasons for selecting these particular texts, which was particularly interesting. Afterwards we discussed the exceedingly difficult spots for the translators and together we tried to find adequate solutions. The discussion was active and in my opinion also very productive and helpful. In this regard I would like to cordially thank Yurko Prokhasko, the workshop leader of our group, who was always open to all of our opinions and in conflicts always found a good solution. Our discussions were held in a good and friendly atmosphere which contributed to a favourable mood and productive working environment during the seminar.

In conclusion I would like to mention that in my opinion our meeting was very helpful for our translating skills as well as for the team spirit of the participants. For me it was a great honour to welcome the participants of the workshop in my home town and I very much look forward to our continuing meetings and discussions.

Impressions by the participant Yuliya Mykytyuk

Here are some photos.

Since 1986 the International Literary Festival Vilenica takes place annually, normally in the first half of September at different locations across Slovenia. Different Slovenian and foreign authors are invited to present their work within the framework of the festival.

The topic of this year’s already 28^th festival is Navdih meja (Borders as Inspiration). Which country could better internalize this topic than Switzerland – a country whose literature is composed in four different languages. For this occasion, in May of 2013, an anthology of contemporary Swiss literature with the appropriate title Gluscht (Swiss German for craving) was published. The diversity of literary creation is presented in the book in all four languages spoken in Switzerland as well as the great influences and contributions made by immigrants.

The reading on the 13^th of September in Ljubljana was another side event of the Literary Festival Vilenica to which Lukas Bärfuss, Arno Camenisch, Michel Layaz, Pietro De Marchi and Ilma Rakusa were invited to read from their latest literary works and talk about issues with respect to borders. The Slovenian TransStar group of course did not want to miss this event.

We met in front of Cankarjev dom (the cultural and convention center in the center of Ljubljana which is the largest cultural facility of Slovenia) and together we went inside, to the top of the CD where the Club CD hall is located and where the reading took place. The audience slowly made its way to its seats and the event was ready to begin.

As an introduction to Swiss literature all authors read an excerpt from their texts in the language the original texts were written in. In this way we were able to listen to texts in four languages: in German (Lukas Bärfuss, Ilma Rakusa), in French (Michel Layaz), in Italian (Pietro De Marchi) and Raetho-Romanic (Arno Camenisch).

A discussion followed the readings which were moderated by Dr. Vesna Kondrič Horvat. The core topic was borders which at the same time was the central theme of this year’s festival in Valenica. Guests talked about their experiences and feelings in this respect; everybody agreed that the designation „Swiss author“ seemed rather problematic and strange and that they in the end did not find the designation appropriate. One speaks and writes in the language one grew up with and of which one has a command as a native speaker. It was emphasized that multi-lingualism is receding and that Swiss persons stemming from different regions of the country are increasingly speaking English amongst each other. Attempts at introducing a common language (amongst others also a Romanic one) failed, reason being either of practical nature or as a result of deliberate resistance of the speakers. During the discussion the authors created a very pleasant atmosphere and it was very interesting to observe how they nonetheless had the same opinion and also were able to assess themselves and their native language with respect to the outer and inner borders in a similar manner despite completely different backgrounds and places of residence. We also had the (very rare) opportunity to hear the Raetho-Romanic language. Both Ilma Rakusa and Arno Camenisch however emphasized that Raetho-Romanic was a language „for the soul“, the number of people speaking this language is not growing. One has to decide to learn this language with his/her heart, to carry it in one’s heart and care for it. The literary happening continued at the castle of Ljubljana.

Here are some photos.

by Irena Smodiš and Alenka Lavrin

On July 11, 2013 the Czech group visited the Strahov monastery and the literary archive in Prague where old scripts are preserved.  Dr. Miloš Sládek told the participants a great deal about the work conducted by the archive and its history, Dr. Hedvika Kuchařová lead them through the entire monastery complex and showed them historical rooms which generally are not open to the public. Literary events are held in the archive.

In the end the group survived a wondrous evening with apricot dumplings and returned home with high hopes. The next meeting will take place September 28 in Prague where an evening at the theatre is planned. The small theatre „Činoherní klub“ will perform Gerhart Hauptmann’s Before Sunrise [Vor dem Sonnenuntergang] (1932)] with the distinguished actor Petr Nárožný in the leading role as privy councillor Clausen and Zuzana Stavná as Inken.

The local meeting of the entire group will take place at the end of October 2013 in Jindřichovice pod Smrkem in the former Sudetenland not far from the Hejnice monastery. There the first 15 pages of the translations will be checked and corrected within two to three days.

Here you will find some pictures.

On 16 July 2013 at 6:30 p.m. in room 027 at Brechtbau (Wilhelmstraße 50, Tübingen)

Why we do not read literature but translations

When we enter a book store most of the time we are not aware of the fact that the majority of books first and foremost have to be translated from another language before we can understand the content. Not originals are thus on the shelf before us, but translations.
Unfortunately we tend to loose track of this fact while reading. What moreover remains hidden is that not only words are transmitted into another language but that entire cultures, including our own, are presented to us and brought closer.

What could help us more in understanding the transmittal of culture by way of language than translation? For this reason we would like to discuss the connection between language, literature and culture with translators, authors and literary scholars.

Who and what?

Short presentations with a subsequent panel discussion

Matthias Jacob, translator and docent at the Department of Slavic Studies at the University of Tübingen
„How can one Allow for Culture Without Altering it?“ – or: What Does it Mean to ‚Translate Cultures’?

Dagmar Leupold, author from Munich and director of the „Literature and Theater Studio“ at the University of Tübingen
„Writing is my Vernacular“

Mirko Bonné, author and translator from Hamburg
“The Verbal Doubt. The Practice of Conveying Poems.”

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Wertheimer, Chair of International Literatures / Modern German Literature, University of Tübingen
“Dangerous Translators: The Difficulties Associated with Intercultural Mediation.”

Moderation: Prof. Dr. Dorothee Kimmich,
Chair of Literary Cultural Studies / Cultural Theory, University of Tübingen

You are cordially invited!

On the 18^th of April 2013 the festive opening of the TransStar Europa project took place at the Philosophical Faculty of the Charles University in Prague, which was organized by both Czech partners of the project: the Institute for Germanic Studies of the Charles University and the Collegium Bohemicum. Štěpán Zbytovský, who opened the preliminary program of the evening, briefly introduced the entire project. Then the lector, Radovan Charvát, spoke about his impressions and experiences with the first workshop which had taken place at the beginning of the month in the Polish city of Łódź. He expressed his great satisfaction with respect to the cooperation within the group, which “harmonized” rather quickly. He also found the discussion on the translation of two paragraphs of Grass’ Tin Drum, which all had tried to translate, specifically with participants translating into Slovenian and Polish very interesting. As the second guest of the Prague event the chair of the Czech Translation Association (Obec překladatelů), Ms. Hana Linhartová, spoke, who introduced this umbrella organization of literary translators with respect to those beginning in the profession: the association organizes amongst others also workshops and a competition for up-and-coming translators, awards a variety of prizes including an “anti-prize” for bad translations – all with the goal of adhering to a certain standard of literary translation in the Czech Republic. Ms. Linhartová however also pointed to the negative aspects of translation work in the Czech Republic which unfortunately until now does not have a very good position “on the market”. Mr. Vratislav Jiljí Slezák was the last to speak, who is considered to be one of the best contemporary translators from German into Czech (Hermann Hesse, Thomas Mann, Heinrich Böll and many more). His fascinating talk on professional translating, with numerous concrete examples, was followed by an audience primarily consisting of students with great attentiveness. The subsequent lively discussion with all three guests demonstrated that the audience had great interest in the topic.

Radio Vltava reported the following about the event and on the project: http://prehravac.rozhlas.cz/audio/2869745

Here are some photos of the evening.

In Łódź (05 – 07 April 2013) the working groups German-Slovenian (workshop leadership: Amalija Maček), German-Czech (workshop leadership: Radovan Charvát) and German-Polish (workshop leadership: Sława Lisiecka).

Excerpt from the workshop report by Amalija Maček (German-Slovenian)

After a round of introductions, all three groups worked on a translation of the first two paragraphs of Günther Grass’ Blechtrommel [Tin Drum] into the respective language. What at first seemed to be not too much text turned out to be a true challenge. In very little time the participants developed very good suggestions. We discussed archaic words, double meanings (spregledati in German can take on the meaning of durchschauen [see through] or übersehen [overlook/ignore]) and the picture of the one eye. A longer discussion was ignited by the word Knotengebilde [chiastic structure] whereby there were many different suggestions (vozlovje, tvorba, skulptura, kompozicija). We decided on the word tvorba since it has something organic which can be associated to cartilage and other medical expressions. It was especially joyous that the participants noticed deviations from the formal language and rhythmic elements of the original.

In the German-Slovenian workshop participants continued to work on the translation of the text Saltwater by Almut Sandig. Participants really enjoyed the text and also prepared very good translations at home. In the course of the work we discovered many entanglements, repetitions and symbols whereupon one could feel the delight in translating. With time we actually continued to like the text even better. There were a few difficult passages where we were not quite happy with the results.

In Kiev (05 – 07 April 2013) the working groups German-Coratian (workshop leadership: Andy Jelčić), German-Ukrainian (workshop leadership: Yurko Prokhasko) and Ukrainian-German (workshop leadership: Claudia Dathe).

Workshop report by Claudia Dathe (Ukrainian-German)

Translations begin

The Kievan translation workshop stared with the conjoint work of the German-Croatian, the German-Ukrainian and Ukrainian-German groups. Together with the workshop leaders Yurko Prokhasko, Andy Jelčić and Claudia Dathe participants analyzed the text Salzwasser [Saltwater] by Ulrike Almut Sandig. At the center of attention of  analysis was the question which information about the protagonists, their surroundings and their life constellation can be extracted from the text and how this information in the mind of the translator expands into perceptions and associations and ultimately (can) flow into the translation in the steps that follow.

The Ukrainian-German workshop under the leadership of Claudia Dathe concerned itself with the translation of essays of the Ukrainian contemporary author Yurko Izdryk. In his volume of essays entitled Der 2-Gigabyte-Stick [The Two-Gigabyte Stick] Izdryk assembles amongst others texts on the West Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk which were the object of translation. In the discussion on the translation one of the main questions was how the intimate knowledge of the West Ukrainian cities, which the author without doubt shares with many readers of the original text, can be brought closer to a German-language readership which lacks this knowledge.

The working groups Slovenian-German, Czech-German, Croatian-German and Polish-German meet in Tübingen (05 – 07 April 2013). In the course of three days the participants will work with the workshop leader within their language group but also with the other participating language groups. In the shared working phases participants will consider trans-linguistic and -cultural issues with respect to literary translation, the insights of which will in turn flow into their own translation work. One of the primary goals is to identify culturally specific approaches toward translation and learn from the different experiences.

In the working group Slovenian-German, the workshop leader Daniela Kocmut will work with workshop participants on a text by the Slovenian contemporary author Marusha Krese amongst others.

In the Croatian-German group Matthias Jacob works on concrete problems usually encountered when translating Croatian literary texts. He will primarily use five sample texts, trying to systematize them and find similarities and differences between the original language and the language the texts are translated into.

The working group Polish-German lead by Olaf Kühl deals with translation issues by discussing the types of texts selected. With texts by Tomasz Rózycki, Sylwia Chutnik and Ignacy Karpowicz, the participants have selected authors that represent an extremely broad spectrum of styles. The objective of the workshops is to outline translation issues and possible ways of resolve them and thus advance the work done thereafter.

With her working group Czech-German Kristina Kallert will work on translating a text by Jan Balabán.

Here are some photos.

Exerpt from the report by Daniela Kocmut (Slovenian-German):

In the morning (5^th of April) the common group work with the other workshops took place where the general and specific phenomenon of literary translation from Southeastern European languages into German were dealt with and discussed. The workshop leaders shared their professional experiences and the participants asked concrete questions to problems encountered when translating. A stimulating discussion was created during which many of these questions were answered in collaboration.

In the afternoon (5^th of April) the fist individual group workshops took place which we initiated with an “icebreaker” activity during which the participants exchanged their experiences from the sample translation they worked on while applying for the project. They were instructed to write down their experiences on a copy on the following issues:

All of us have made the experience that… articles, play on words, general difficulties, proximity vs. distance

Two to three of us have made the experience that … particles, punctuation

One person made the experience that … poetic rhymes, creation of personal names, lexis, interjections

No one made the experience that…literary translation is boring

After that we collected the answers by the participants on a flipchart:

In order to introduce analysis of translations we addressed translations of poems by Maruša Kreses from the volume of poems called Yorkshire-Tasche [Yorkshire Bag] where we discussed and compared the AT with the ZT. In this discussion we also spoke about important issues concerning poetic translation and I have pointed out a few important factors which have to be taken into consideration when translating poems. Included is also general information such as for instance that one has to conduct research on the author and on the text itself, read reviews and should also be familiar with the biography before one starts to work (or at the latest when reworking the text if one does not want to be “prejudiced”).

Excerpt from the report by Matthias Jacob (Croatian-German):

All five workshop participants translated five passages from Croatian novels in preparation for the workshop. In an intensive joint reading, the versions of translated texts were compared and problems that surfaced discussed in detail while simultaneously trying to identify the specific translatory issues of the texts. In addition to the discussion in the plenum, mutual proofreading or editing was practiced. Since course participants came from Austria, Switzerland and Germany and we thus had the opportunity to discuss three variations of German, a surprisingly productive distancing effect was created, which became apparent especially in the oral presentations of the translated texts.

On 5^th of April at 7:00 p.m. in Kiev an evening of literature, translation and music took place, where the prose writer Dzvinka Matijash, the translators Andy Jelčić, Yurko Prokhasko and Claudia Dathe as well as the author and editor Yurko Izdryk with his band Drumtiatr were part of the program.