The Hürriyet Daily News English edition reports: Some 123 Turkish journalists are fugitives abroad, while 159 of them were in jail as of the end of April, according to a report by the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC). The Freedom of Expression and Press report, which was made possible by the European Union, said 46 new investigations were … Continue reading Hundreds of Turkish Journalists in Jail or on the Run
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Quote of the Week: Lumières de Pointe-Noire
Quand tu grandiras, quelle que soit la brousse dans laquelle tu entreras, dis-toi que les esprits y logent, et respecte aussi bien la faune que la flore, y compris les objets qui te paraissent sans intérêt comme un champignon ou un pauvre petit ver de terre qui tente de regagner le bord d'un rivière. Chez nous … Continue reading Quote of the Week: Lumières de Pointe-Noire
Quote of the Week: Qui a peur du wolof?
Si tout écrivain entretient des rapports orageux avec les mots, dans le cas de l'auteur africain, c'est sa langue d'écriture qui est tout entière problématique. On m'a ainsi demandé d'abord: 《Pourquoi ecrivez-vous en français?》, puis après la parution de mon roman Doomi Golo: 《Pourquoi écrivez-vous en wolof?》 (Senegalese author Boubacar Boris Diop in Le dilemme … Continue reading Quote of the Week: Qui a peur du wolof?
Ahmet Ümit Translation Forum: No Chinese Presence?
A one-day symposium titled “Translating Ahmet Ümit into Foreign Languages” will be held on April 7 in Istanbul at Okan University’s Beyoğlu campus. The symposium will be attended by 11 translators from various countries, according to a report in Hurriyet Daily News. For a Turkish writer of fiction, Ümit (阿赫梅特·乌米特) has been fairly widely translated … Continue reading Ahmet Ümit Translation Forum: No Chinese Presence?
Boubacar Boris Diop and His Wolof Publication Initiative
Boubacar Boris Diop, Senegalese author of Doomi Golo which he wrote in Wolof (and later translated into French), has launched the “Céytu” initiative to publish major works of francophone literature in Wolof. The language is spoken by about 11m people in Sénégal, Mauritania and the Gambia. In this interview with Anne Bocandé of africultures.com, he explains the … Continue reading Boubacar Boris Diop and His Wolof Publication Initiative
Quote of the Week: On Swahili Literature Denigrating Slaves
Much of Swahili literature, including proverbs and canonical works like Utendi wa Mwana Kupona, denigrate watumwa (slaves) as if blacks were not forcibly captured, raped, castrated, and uprooted from their cultures. The casualness with which slavery is treated, even by progressive poets like Muyaka, is the biggest scandal in Swahili letters. (Evan Mwangi, in his … Continue reading Quote of the Week: On Swahili Literature Denigrating Slaves
“Hiraeth,” Speaking in Tongues, and Penang’s Georgetown Literary Festival (Nov 25-27)
I will be one of four translators taking part in Speaking in Tongues: The Art and Craft of Translation on Saturday November 26 at the “Georgetown Literary Festival” in Penang. Our panel will be moderated by Gareth Richards, and fellow translators will be Pauline Fan, Jérome Bouchard and Muhammad Haji Salleh. You can check out the … Continue reading “Hiraeth,” Speaking in Tongues, and Penang’s Georgetown Literary Festival (Nov 25-27)
September 2016: Altaic Storytelling Newsbriefs
Can Dündar, former editor-in-chief of Turkey’s Cumhuriyet newspaper, was arrested in late 2015 for publicizing the discovery of a covert arms shipment by the Turkish secret service to radical Islamist organisations fighting government forces in Syria. He was charged with espionage, aiding a terrorist organization, trying to topple the government and revealing state secrets. The newly … Continue reading September 2016: Altaic Storytelling Newsbriefs
Altaic Storytelling Quote of the Week: Let’s simply say I’m ‘from Turkey’
In a polished English accent, she began, “In my country,” but she paused, trying to reframe her sentence more academically. “You’re right,” she said instead. After giving this sign of acquiescence, sacred to all sane Oxfordites, she continued, “In my country, they grant the highest importance to the law that the height of minarets can’t … Continue reading Altaic Storytelling Quote of the Week: Let’s simply say I’m ‘from Turkey’
Altaic Storytelling: What We’re Reading Now (2016.4.12)
Just started 冬牧场 (lit, winter pasture) by Li Juan. In 2010, she was commissioned to live with a Kazakh family as they herded their camels, sheep and horses deep into the desert of southern Altay where they traditionally graze during the bitterly cold winter. Her job: To document the little known, semi-nomadic lifestyle of Xinjiang's Kazakh … Continue reading Altaic Storytelling: What We’re Reading Now (2016.4.12)
