Category Archives: Bulgarian literature

Котката на ШрьодингЕР в медиите

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Ето интервюто на Силвия Чолева с Милена Николова и Виктор Мухтаров за Котката на ШрьодингЕР в БНР.

milena6

Photo: Anne Meurer

И тук намерите интервюто на Стефан Кръстев с Милена за BG Север (Плевен).

Photo: Chris Enchev, Book Design and illustrations: Victor Muhtarov, Tita Koicheva, Sava Muhtarov
© Photo Anne Meurer 
© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-6. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Представяне на книгата Котката на ШрьодингЕР!

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Не забравяйте: сряда 19.00, +това, Ул. Марин Дринов 30, София – представяне на книгата Котката на ШрьодингЕР! Очакваме ви! 

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-6. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Котката на ШрьодингЕР – Schrödinger’s Cat: разговор в БНР / A conversation in Bulgarian National Radio

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Tomorrow there will be an interview with Milena G. Nikolova, the author and Victor Muhtarov, the main illustrator of our first book (Котката на ШрьодингЕР – Schrödinger’s Cat) in Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).

Literary critic and author Silvia Choleva will talk with them about the book in the framework of ARTEFIR, program “Hristo Botev”, between 12.15 and 14.30. Stay tuned!

Очаквайте утре, 21 януари, четвъртък, в АРТЕФИР на програма “Христо Ботев” на БНР, между 12.15 до 14.30 часа, разговорна на Силвия Чолева с Milena Nikolova и Victor Muhtarov относно авторството им и очакваното от всички нас Представяне на книгата “Котката на Шрьодингер. Субатомен памфлет в реално време” – тяхно съвместно дело, която книга съвсем скоро ще можете да държите и в ръцете си.

Котката на ШрьодингЕР – субатомен памфлет в реално време / Schrödinger’s Cat – a subatomic pamphlet in real time

Автор / Аuthor : Милена Г. Николова / Milena G. Nikolova
Илюстрации / Illustrations: Виктор Мухтаров, Тита Койчева, Сава Мухтаров / Victor Muhtarov, Tita Koicheva, Sava Muhtarov
Издател / Publisher: Ризома / Rhizome, София / Sofia
ISBN 978-619-90544-0-6

Translation rights, more information and a pdf file of the English translation are available on request.

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-6. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Котката на ШрьодингЕР – Schrödinger’s Cat

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Our first book project is ready and is being published these days:

Cat_S_cover

“Schrödinger’s cat, one of the most eccentric protagonists of quantum mechanics, philosophizes in a loud and lyrical manner over its schizophrenic state. Locked up in a box together with a deadly mechanism that can be triggered by the decay of a radioactive nucleus the cat is in a superposed, undecidable state: both dead and alive.

In this paradoxical and hopeless situation the cat begins to analyze itself at various levels. It realizes, for example, that its state of indecision and in-between-ness also bears terrific advantages: it frees from the responsibility to necessarily make a decision. To be – not to be, either – or, male – female, one cat – other cat, nothing but binary codes! Meow! The cat uses this unique opportunity to indulge in rhetorical games by mixing gender, political, cultural, linguistic and racial identity-related differences.

As fleet-footed and playful as a cat, the illustrations made by Victor Muhtarov, Tita and their son Sava lead us through the cat’s pamphlet full of profound black humor.”

Един от най-ексцентричните персонажи на квантовата механика, котката на Шрьодингер*, размишлява на глас, лирично, над шизофреничното си състояние. Затворено от Шрьодингер в кутия с летален механизъм съдържащ атомно ядро в период на полуразпад и отрова, котето, поради липса на алтернативи, е изпълнено с мазохистична любов към безпощадния си създател. То знае, че е част от мисловен експеримент, в който съдбата му е свързана със състоянието на полуразпадналото се атомно ядро. Докато кутията е затворена и наблюдателят не вижда развитието на събитията в нея то е ни живо – ни умряло.
Парадоксалната ситуация на котето, (което само по себе си е само една парадоксална мисъл на един учен) го подтиква към самоанализ на много различни нива. Оказва се, че състоянието на междинност и неопределеност има своите предимства. Отпада отговорността да се вземат решения, отваря се пространство за реторични игри и смесвания на полови, културни, политически, езикови и расови различия в идентичността. Вътрешните конфликти се появяват отново едва при случайната конфронтация с външни наблюдатели изискващи от котето да заеме конкретна позиция. Но диалозите с тях също така му помагат да достигне до новo, съществено прозрение: усещането за право на личен избор и мнение е илюзорно. Всичко зависи от състоянието на атомното ядро в механизма. При тези обстоятелства котето е просто един киборг, сливащ биологични и механични компоненти в една система. Спасение или изход за него може да има само ако системата се отвори.
––––––––
*Котката на Шрьодингер е мисловен експеримент от квантовата механика, представен от Ервин Шрьодингер през 1935 г., с цел да покаже, че пренасянето на понятия от квантовата механика в макросистемите, например обекти с размерите на котка, създава неочаквани проблеми. Според класическата физика, подлежаща основно на законите на Нютон, един обект от макроскопичния свят може да се намира само в едно от множество възможни състояния, а не в няколко състояния едновременно. В квантовата механика, за разлика от класическата физика, една частица може да се намира в няколко състояния едновременно.

(from the book’s FB page)

Котката на ШрьодингЕР – субатомен памфлет в реално време / Schrödinger’s Cat – a subatomic pamphlet in real time

Автор / Аuthor : Милена Г. Николова / Milena G. Nikolova
Илюстрации / Illustrations: Виктор Мухтаров, Тита Койчева, Сава Мухтаров / Victor Muhtarov, Tita Koicheva, Sava Muhtarov
Издател / Publisher: Ризома / Rhizome, София / Sofia
ISBN 978-619-90544-0-6

Information about the book launching event will follow. 

My special thanks to Milena, Victor, Tita, Sava, our editor Kris Enchev and of course to my co-publisher Elitsa Osenska to whom I am deeply indebted.

Translation rights, more information and a pdf file of the English translation are available on request.

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-6. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 


Bulgarian Literature Month June 2016

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Regular readers of this blog will know that Bulgarian literature is very dear to me. This year, I am planning to devote one month to reading exclusively Bulgarian literature.

Since Bulgarian is a so-called “small” language (small regarding the number of speakers, but not of course regarding the literary potential) and is not located in a region that is usually very much in the centre of attention, not much Bulgarian literature is being translated. But there are a few hopeful developments. The Elizabeth Kostova Foundation supports the translation of Bulgarian literature in English, the Traduki program sponsors translations in German and South-Eastern European languages and there are now also translation grants from the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture/National Cultural Fund plus a few smaller initiatives that also support translations in specific languages.

One of my own modest attempts to support and promote Bulgarian literature is this blog where I frequently review Bulgarian books or translate as a teaser a few lines of poetry by various authors. I firmly believe in the potential of the Bulgarian literature also to be interesting for an international audience. Therefore I will this year have my personal Bulgarian Literature Month in June.

During this month I will publish reviews, a few translations, and maybe a few other things related to Bulgarian literature. More details will follow in May, but for busy readers and bloggers, this early announcement might give you time to think about if you would like to join with at least one post.

There will be no rules, except that the posts need to be related to Bulgarian literature in the widest sense; non-fiction is allowed too, as are books written by Bulgarian-born authors that write in another language, or other works that have in the widest sense a connection with Bulgaria.

If you are a book blogger and you are interested to join, send me a short note. If you don’t have a blog of your own but would be interested to review a book, email me as well. I am considering also to allow guest posts during this month.

In May I will make a few reading suggestions and post more information. A few ideas you can get already from an article by Svetlozar Zhelev in Words Without Borders, but there is more to discover.

It is an experiment and it will be interesting to see if someone is joining in this somehow exotic reading month. 

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-6. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

aus: Verbotenes Meer von Blaga Dimitrova

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В началото бе Словото,
а в края – безсловесен?
Приемам смъртта,
както детето не я приема.
Забранено море!
За въображението
забраненото е
като вятър за огъня.
Словото е моето
открито море.
Хвърлям се в него
сама със слово в гърлото
като камък на шията.
Потъвам, потъвам –
запечатана бутилка,
за да изплувам в слово.

Думи, времекрушенци-думи,
мои сираци-думи,
стигнете до някакъв бряг
и тръгнете по стръмното
с подпухнали жени на раздавач.

Думи, сплетени в корабно въже,
завързани в примка на бесилка.
Думи, повтаряни и преповтаряни
напевно, както в училище за заекващи.
Думи, безчерупкови охлюви,
полазили по стената нагоре
към тавана, все към тавана.
Думи, набрани билки за болки,
думи, изкоренени дървета,
преметнати над въртопа
до другия ронещ се бряг.
Думи, ръкомахащи като глухонеми,
за да изразят МОРЕ-ВРЕМЕ-МЕНЕ.
Думи, написани с дъха ми по вода.

Забранено море,
в теб искам да проникна чрез словото
навътре, навътре до корена ти,
усукан от улегналост и от вълнение,
дълбоко, дълбоко до самото дъно,
за да извадя шепа небе.
Непримиримо море,
бъди ми пример
как да изхвърлям от себе си
тленното и нечистото.
Море, бъди ми
измерение.

Преглъщам соления горчилак на словото:
     СОЛ, СЪЛЗА, СИЛА, СЛОВО.
     Ако и словото ми забранят,
     ще приема смъртта,
     за да освободя словото
     за своето прераждане.

Im Anfang war das Wort,
und am Ende  – die Sprachlosigkeit?
Ich nehme den Tod an,
so wie ihn das Kind nicht annimmt.
Verbotenes Meer!
Für die Vorstellungskraft
ist es das Verbotene
wie Wind für das Feuer.
Das Wort ist mein
offenes Meer.
Ich werfe mich hinein
allein mit dem Wort in der Kehle
wie ein Stein um den Hals.
Ich versinke, versinke –
eine versiegelte Flasche,
um im Wort wieder aufzutauchen.

Worte, von der Zeit verbrauchte Worte,
meine Waisen-Worte,
erreichen irgendeine Küste
und nehmen den Anstieg
mit den geschwollenen Venen eines Briefträgers.

Worte, geflochten zu einem Schiffstau,
zu einem Galgenstrick geschlungen.
Worte, wiederholt und wiedergekäut
melodisch, wie in einer Schule für Stotterer.
Worte, Nacktschnecken
die die Wand nach oben kriechen
zur Decke, weiter zur Decke.
Worte, gepflückte Kräuter gegen Schmerzen,
Worte, entwurzelte Bäume,
über den Strudel geschlungen
zum anderen bröckelnden Ufer.
Worte, gestikulierend wie Taubstumme
um auszudrücken MEER-ZEIT-MICH.
Worte, mit meinem Atem ins Wasser geschrieben.

Verbotenes Meer,
in dich will ich mit dem Wort eindringen,
drinnen, ins Innere deiner Wurzel,
verdreht durch die Schwerkraft und durch die Strömung,
tief, tief zum Grund,
um eine Handvoll Himmel hervorzuholen.
Unversöhnliches Meer,
sei mein Vorbild
wie man das Vergängliche und Unreine
von sich abwirft.
Meer, sei mein
Maß.

Ich schlucke die salzige Bitterkeit des Worts:
     SALZ, TRÄNE, STÄRKE, WORT.
     Wenn sie mir auch das Wort verbieten,
     werde ich den Tod annehmen,
     um das Wort zu befreien
     für seine Wiedergeburt.

Aus dem Bulgarischen von Thomas Hübner

Blaga Dimitrova: Forbidden Sea – Забранено море, bi-lingual edition, transl. by Ludmilla G. Popova-Wightman and Elizabeth Anne Socolow, Ivy Press, Princeton, NJ, 2002

Blaga Dimitrova: Забранено море, Georgi Bakalov, Varna 1976

© Ivy Press, 2002
© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Drei Gedichte von Iglika Dionisieva

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Обяд

Благодаря ти, Господи,
че след градушката
оставяш и за мен:
някоя и друга череша,
някоя и друга пчела
в градината ми,
някое и друго
стихотворение               
за написване

 

Mahlzeit
 
Danke, Herr,
dass du nach dem hagel
mir lässt:
die eine oder andere kirsche,
die eine oder andere biene
in meinem garten,
das eine oder andere
gedicht
zum aufschreiben

————————————————————

Кислород

1.

Проливен дъжд.
между очите на кайманите
Лилии цъфтят.

2.

Рибите са медиуми
в порите на водата
Махалото на пясъка сияе.

3.

Морето е следствие
от целувките на мидите
Водата ми горчи от спомени.   

   

Sauerstoff
 
1.
 
Sintflutartiger regen.
zwischen den augen der kaimane
blühen lilien.
 
2.
 
Fische sind medien
in den poren des wassers
das uhrwerk des sandes glänzt.
 
3.
 
Das meer ist eine folge
der küsse von muscheln
mein wasser ist bitter von erinnerungen.

————————————————————

Планините са тези
които
имат нещо да ми кажат
но мълчат и черно-синьо
многозначителстват
а върховете им белеят
и ме викат с поглед
и ме притеглят близо-близо
близко е това което казват
докато аз потъвам
в техните лавини
и се давя в хоризонта
самоуверено надвисват
върху мене
засенчват ме
като избистрени желания
има ли за мене знак и ехо
ето
Планините никога не могат
да бъдат толкова големи
че да мерят образ с тебе

 

Die Berge sind diejenigen
die
mir etwas zu sagen haben
aber schwarz-blau und
vielsagend schweigen
und ihre gipfel erbleichen
und rufen mich mit einem blick
und ziehen mich ganz nah heran
nahe ist das was sie sagen
während ich in ihren
lawinen versinke
und am horizont ertrinke
bewusst hängen sie sich
an mich
überschatten mich
wie klargewordene wünsche
gibt es ein zeichen für mich und ein echo
hier ist es
Die berge können nie
so groß sein
um sich mit deinem abbild zu messen

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 
Иглика Дионисиева (Iglika Dionisieva): Déjà vu Hug, Scalino, 2015

          
Texte in diesem Blogpost übersetzt aus dem Bulgarischen von Thomas Hübner

© Iglika Dionisieva and Scalino, 2015
© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Reading/Reviewing Plans

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The end of the year is approaching with fast steps. This year I haven’t been so active as a blogger as last year until recently – German Lit Month brought me back to the usual pace – and I have done more blog posts on poetry and translations than the year before; also I did more posts in German and one in Bulgarian too. Book blogging is a dynamic process and the focus of such places will always be subject to small unplanned changes, but I will keep also in the next year my habit to publish reviews of books that were interesting to me.

As you already know when you follow this blog on a regular basis, my taste in books is rather eclectic. I am definitely not a person who is permanently scanning bestseller lists or is jumping in on discussions about books that were – usually for marketing reasons – the “talk of the town”. Therefore I avoided so far reviewing books by Houellebecq or Knausgård; it is difficult to not be influenced by the public discussion that focuses frequently on aspects that have very little to do with the literary quality of the books by such authors but a lot with their public persona and their sometimes very controversial opinions about certain topics. Not that the books by these authors are necessarily bad, but I prefer to read without too much background noise. So I will come also to these authors, but most probably not in the near future.

My blog tries to be diverse, but without quota. But of course my choice is subjective and I am aware of the fact that probably most readers will find many authors/books on this list that are completely unknown to them. If you look for just another blog that is reviewing again and again the same exclusively Anglo-saxon authors, then this might not be the best place for you. If you are eager to discover something new, then you are most welcome. 

There are no ads on this blog and this will also not change in the future. There is zero financial interest from my side to keep this blog alive, I do it just for fun. Please don’t send unsolicitated review copies if you are an author or a publisher. In rare cases I might accept a review copy when contacted first but only when I have already an interest in the book. All blog posts contain of course my own – sometimes idiosyncratic – opinion for what it is worth. In general I tend to write reviews on the positive side. When a book disappoints me, I tend to not write a review unless there is a strong reason to do otherwise.

These are the books presently on my “To-be-read” pile; which means they are the one’s that i will most probably read and review within the coming months. But as always with such lists, they are permanently subject to changes, additions, removals. Therefore I (and also the readers of this blog) will take this list as an orientation and not as a strict task on which I have to work one by one. 

Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart

Jim al-Khalili: The House of Wisdom

Ryunosunke Akutagawa: Kappa

Rabih Alameddine: The Hakawati

Sinan Antoon: The Corpse Washer

Toufic Youssef Aouad: Le Pain

Abhijit Banerjee / Esther Duflo: Poor Economics

Hoda Barakat: Le Royaume de cette terre

Adolfo Bioy Casares: The Invention of Morel

Max Blecher: Scarred Hearts

Nicolas Born: The Deception

Thomas Brasch: Vor den Vätern sterben die Söhne

Joseph Brodsky: On Grief and Reason

Alina Bronsky: Just Call Me Superhero

Alina Bronsky: The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine

Dino Buzzati: The Tartar Steppe

Leila S. Chudori: Pulang

Beqe Cufaj: projekt@party 

Mahmoud Darwish: Memory of Forgetfulness

Oei Hong Djien: Art & Collecting Art

Dimitre Dinev: Engelszungen (Angel’s Tongues)

Anton Donchev: Time of Parting

Jabbour Douaihy: June Rain

Michael R. Dove: The Banana Tree at the Gate

Jennifer DuBois: A Partial History of Lost Causes

Isabelle Eberhardt: Works

Tristan Egolf: Lord of the Barnyard

Deyan Enev: Circus Bulgaria

Jenny Erpenbeck: The End of Days

Patrick Leigh Fermor: Mani

Milena Michiko Flašar: I called him Necktie

David Fromkin: A Peace to End All Peace

Carlos Fuentes: Terra Nostra

Amitav Ghosh: In an Antique Land

Georg K. Glaser: Geheimnis und Gewalt (Secret and Violence)

Georgi Gospodinov: Natural Novel

Georgi Gospodinov: The Physics of Sorrow

Elizabeth Gowing: Edith and I

David Graeber: The Utopia of Rules

Garth Greenwell: What Belongs to You

Knut Hamsun: Hunger

Ludwig Harig: Die Hortensien der Frau von Roselius

Johann Peter Hebel: Calendar Stories

Christoph Hein: Settlement

Wolfgang Hilbig: The Sleep of the Righteous

Albert Hofmann / Ernst Jünger: LSD

Hans Henny Jahnn: Fluss ohne Ufer (River without Banks) (Part II)

Franz Jung: Der Weg nach unten

Ismail Kadare: Broken April

Ismail Kadare: The Palace of Dreams

Douglas Kammen and Katharine McGregor (Editors): The Contours of Mass Violence in Indonesia: 1965-1968

Rosen Karamfilov: Kolene (Knees)

Orhan Kemal: The Prisoners

Irmgard Keun: Nach Mitternacht

Georg Klein: Libidissi

Friedrich August Klingemann: Bonaventura’s Nightwatches

Fatos Kongoli: The Loser

Theodor Kramer: Poems

Friedo Lampe: Septembergewitter (Thunderstorm in September)

Clarice Lispector: The Hour of the Star

Naguib Mahfouz: The Cairo Trilogy

Curzio Malaparte: Kaputt

Thomas Mann: Joseph and His Brothers

Sandor Marai: Embers

Sean McMeekin: The Berlin-Baghdad Express

Multatuli: Max Havelaar

Alice Munro: Open Secrets

Marie NDiaye: Three Strong Women

Irene Nemirovsky: Suite française 

Ben Okri: The Famished Road

Laksmi Pamuntjak: The Question of Red

Victor Pelevin: Omon Ra

Georges Perec: Life. A User’s Manual

Leo Perutz: By Night Under the Stone Bridge

Boris Pilnyak: Mahogany

Alek Popov: Black Box

Milen Ruskov: Thrown Into Nature

Boris Savinkov: Memoirs of a Terrorist

Eric Schneider: Zurück nach Java

Daniel Paul Schreber: Memoirs of My Nervous Illness

Carl Seelig: Wandering with Robert Walser

Victor Serge: The Case of Comrade Tulayev

Anthony Shadid: House of Stones

Varlam Shalamov: Kolyma Tales

Raja Shehadeh: A Rift in Time

Alexander Shpatov: #LiveFromSofia

Werner Sonne: Staatsräson?

Andrzej Stasiuk: On the Way to Babadag

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar: The Time Regulation Institute

Pramoedya Ananta Toer: A Mute’s Soliloquy

Pramoedya Ananta Toer: The Buru Quartet (4 vol.)

Lionel Trilling: The Middle of the Journey

Iliya Trojanov: The Collector of Worlds

Bernward Vesper: Die Reise (The Journey)

Robert Walser: Jakob von Gunten

Peter Weiss: The Aesthetics of Resistance

Edith Wharton: The Age of Innocence

Marguerite Yourcenar: Coup de Grace

Galina Zlatareva: The Medallion

Arnold Zweig: The Case of Sergeant Grisha

Stay tuned – and feel free to comment any of my blog posts. Your contributions are very much appreciated. You are also invited to subscribe to this blog if you like.

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Drei Gedichte von Mehmed Karahüseinov

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За меда и мухите

Подлостта винаги е кръжала
над и около доблестта. 
Дори на една доблест
са се падали сума ти подлости,
тъй както стотици мухи
са плюли на капчица мед…
И ако те не са възприемали нещо от нея,
то не значи,
че вече е нула – 
доблестта си е доблест,
дори да са я оплюли.

(1986)

 

Über den Honig und die Fliegen

Der Verrat hat immer
über und um die Tapferkeit geschwebt.
Selbst bei einer Tapferkeit
unter all den vielen Gemeinheiten,
so wie Hunderte von Fliegen
einen Tropfen Honig beschmutzen…
Und wenn sie nichts davon wahrnehmen,
bedeutet das nicht,
dass sie deshalb schon ein Nichts ist –
Tapferkeit bleibt Tapferkeit,
sogar wenn sie beschmutzt wurde.

(1986)

 

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СТАЙНО ЦВЕТЕ

За мене твърде неудачно свърши лятото –
интервенции от кръста до шията…
Сняг наваля, а аз съм заел место
до мушкатото –
пуснах корени в тази стая,
както то в саксията.
За мене твърде задъхана беше тази есен –
кратки разходки с пре дълги почивки…
Сняг наваля, а аз стоя на балкона
като заглъхнала песен
някъде на най-трудната си извивка.
Снегът вали на парцали –
чувам това шумолене.
Хубава зима, а аз не мога да дишам.
Щърба ще бъде лакираната ви история
без мене…
Цъфна мушкатото –
призори на прозореца ще се впишем.

25, 11, 1988 г.

 

Zimmerblume

Für mich endet der Sommer ziemlich unglücklich –
Behandlungen von der Hüfte bis zum Hals…
Es schneit, und ich sitze
bei den Geranien –
ich habe Wurzeln in diesem Zimmer geschlagen
wie in einem Topf.
Für mich war dieser Sommer ziemlich atemlos –
kurze Spaziergänge mit sehr langen Ruhepausen…
Es schneit, und ich sitze auf dem Balkon
wie ein verklingendes Lied
irgendwo nahe der mühsamsten Windung.
Der Schnee fällt in Fetzen –
ich höre dieses leise Rascheln.
Ein schöner Winter, und ich kann nicht atmen.
Lückenhaft wird eure lackierte Geschichte
ohne mich sein…
Blühende Geranien –
Vor der Morgendämmerung werden sie sich dem Fenster einschreiben.

25.11.1988

 

——————————————————————————–

 

Добрите хора си отиват незабележимо,
без шествия помпозни,
без пищни некролози…
Добрите си отиват незабележимо –
тихичко,
за да не ни тревожат,
но дълго след смъртта им
съвестта ни гложди.
 
Die guten Menschen gehen unbemerkt von uns,
ohne pompöse Aufmärsche,
ohne umfangreiche Nachrufe …
Die Guten gehen unbemerkt –
still,
um uns nicht zu beunruhigen,
aber noch lange nach ihrem Tod
nagt es an unserem Gewissen.
 

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Mehmed Karahüseinov (1945-1990) war ein bulgarischer Dichter und Übersetzer türkischer Abstammung.

Um gegen die von den Kommunisten betriebene sog. “Wiedergeburtspolitik”, eine gegen die bulgarischen Bürger türkischer Abstammung gerichtete Politik der ethnischen Zwangsassimilierung und Vertreibung, die u.a. zur Ausweisung Hunderttausender Bulgaren durch ihren Staat und zwangsweise Namensänderung der im Land verbliebenen Bulgaren türkischer Abstammung führte, zu protestieren, unternahm Karahüseinov am 2. Februar 1985, einen Tag vor seiner erzwungenen Namensänderung, eine versuchte Selbstverbrennung. Er konnte jedoch, schwerstverbrannt und entstellt, gerettet werden. Karahüseinov verstarb 1990 an den Spätfolgen.

Die Politik der Zwangsbulgarisierung in den 1980er Jahren ist bis heute ein Tabuthema in Bulgarien, das erst nach und nach in einer breiteren Öffentlichkeit diskutiert wird.

Mehmed

Мехмед Карахюсеинов: Болката на откровението (Mehmed Karahüseinov: Der Schmerz der Offenbarung), Mehmed Karahüseinov-Meto Stiftung, Sofia 2015

Übersetzung aus dem Bulgarischen: Thomas Hübner

© Mehmed Karahüseinov
© Stiftung Mehmed Karahüseinov-Meto, 2015
© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

An evening with books and writers

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Although I am working in another city in another country, I am frequently in Sofia, Bulgaria – the place I call my home since many years now. One reason is of course that I have close friends there and that therefore I am very much attached to this place. Another important reason is the fact that Sofia has kind of re-invented itself in the last years as a really bookish place.

There are a growing number of well-equipped book stores (new and antiquarian) including a French and an English book store, an open book market, several coffee shops where you can read and buy books and a great number of book-related events, including two book fairs, an Alley of Books once a year at Vitoshka (Vitosha Boulevard), the pedestrian area in the centre, and plenty of book presentations and public readings by authors.

The number of published titles has exploded in the last years, including the number of translated titles. For some languages it seems to be easier to find the book translated in Bulgarian than in English – and I am talking of real literature, not only the fast food literature that is so successful nowadays. Yes, people are reading again, much more so as compared to ten years ago – and this although the average incomes are small compared to Western Europe and although books are expensive for Bulgarians because of the small circulation of most editions and the exorbitant taxes on books (20% VAT!).

And since a few months, Sofia has a new attraction for book lovers. The National Palace of Culture (NDK), a brutalist piece of architecture built in 1981 to celebrate 1300 years Bulgaria, hosts the literature club Peroto (The Feather), a 24/7 open venue that is a combination between coffee shop, library, book store and event stage for all kind of literary events. Miroslav Borshosh from NDK and Svetlozar Zhelev from the Bulgarian Book Association and their team have created a real meeting place for writers and readers. The interior design is tasteful and very suitable for such a place. Since September Peroto is established as an already indispensable part of the book-interested community in Sofia. (Address: National Palace of Culture, Bulgaria Square 1, near Metro Station NDK, always open)

A particular nice event took place last Sunday which I had the pleasure to attend. With the support of the American College a reading performance of a whole group of well-known Bulgarian authors was held. Deyan Enev, Georgi Gospodinov, Alek Popov, Zachary Karabashliev, Alexander Shpatov, Ivan Landzhev, Ivan Dimitrov, Blagovesta Pugyova and Dena Popova read mostly from their own books, Ivan Landzhev read also poems by Rosen Karamfilov who was not able to attend. (I have reviewed books by Popov, Karabashliev and Landzhev already on this blog, others will follow.)

What can I say? It was well presented, entertaining, sometimes funny, sometimes touching, all in all just a great event that made me curious to read more by these authors. It was – as Deyan Enev pointed out – also great to see such a big audience of mainly young readers at the event. Plenty of books for a good cause – the support of a foundation for children with special needs – were bought and authors were busy to sign them. Georgi Gospodinov even drew a small labyrinth in my copy of the Bulgarian original edition of Physics of Sorrow – a reference to the labyrinth of the Minotaurus that plays such a prominent role in this beautiful book. It was of course also a good opportunity to meet friends or to make new one’s. Peroto – I was for sure not the last time at this wonderful address for Bulgarian literature!

Here are the books by the mentioned authors that are available in English:

Enev

Deyan Enev: Circus Bulgaria, transl. Kapka Kassabova, Portobello Books, London 2010

Natural Novel

Georgi Gospodinov: Natural Novel, transl. Zornica Hristova, Dalkey Archive Press, Victoria London Dublin 2005

And Other Stories

Georgi Gospodinov: And Other Stories, transl. by Alexis Levitin and Magdalena Levy, Northwestern University Press, Evanston 2007

Physics of Sorrow

Georgi Gospodinov: The Physics of Sorrow, transl. Angela Rodel, Open Letter Books, Rochester 2015

Mission London

Alek Popov: Mission London, transl. Charles de Luppe, Istros Books, London 2014

Black Box

Alek Popov: The Black Box, transl. Charles and Daniella de Luppe, Peter Owen, London 2015

Eighteen_Percent_Gray-web-194x300

Zachary Karabashliev: 18% Gray, transl. Angela Rodel, Open Letter Books, Rochester 2013

Shpatov

Alexander Shpatov: #LiveFromSofia, transl. Angela Rodel, Colibri, Sofia 2014

The books of the other authors are not (yet) available in English, but I hope this will change.

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.