Tag Archives: Bulgaria

“We can always call them Bulgarians”

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Since this blog is dedicated mainly to books, and since I have – as all regular readers know by now – a special relationship with Bulgaria, it is probably not surprising that I combine my love for books and my love for my adopted home country by collecting everything printed related to Bulgaria on which I can lay my hands on. That includes even books that would in another context not be of particular interest to me; the fun part of it is that I have now dissertations on the caries treatment in Varna region, a handbook about horse breeding, a history of the tobacco industry of the country, or the standard work on the identification of a specific family of bugs in the Strandzha mountains in my private library.
 
A recent acquisition of mine is a book “We can always call them Bulgarians“, by Kaier Curtin. I found a cheap copy in an antiquarian bookstore, bought it without really checking on the content in detail, and found myself rather surprised when I opened the book at home for a more thorough inspection of the content.
 
It seems that the English word “bugger” is etymologically derived from the word “Bulgar/ian” – and “Bulgarian” is a synonym for “queer” in a particular context, especially on the theatre stage, as I have learned from this book. As wrote
 
“…columnist Wilella Waldorf in the New York Post, September 17, 1937 about the play Wise Tomorrow:
 
It has been whispered the theme has a touch of Lesbianism about it, which sounds a little odd when you consider that the Warners, presumably, have in mind a picture version eventually. However, as Samuel Goldwyn or somebody once said, “We can always call them Bulgarians.””
“Bulgarian” as a synonym for gay/lesbian – that was new to me; but then, I am after all not very familiar with that part of the spectrum.
 
I wonder what my Bulgarian friends have to say about the revelation that “Bulgarian” means also “queer” – can they confirm this theory, or rather not?!
 
Looking forward to your comments 😉
Kaier Curtin: “We Can Always Call Them Bulgarians”, Alyson Books 1987
An interesting short online article on the same topic can be found here.
© 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.

An everyday occurrence

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Малки хора

An excellent book by one of my favourite Turkish authors! I am happy that this book is available now also in Bulgarian.

But why does the Bulgarian publisher use three photos on the cover and the back and is not even mentioning the photographer (most probably Ara Güler)? – this is a very bad, disrespectful habit, and it is infringing the moral right of the author of these photographs. Maybe it was an oversight, but in any case I wish publishers in Bulgaria would be more sensitive regarding intellectual property rights and the moral rights of an author. Bulgaria has signed international conventions and is a member state of relevant international bodies – so this is not something that can be treated the way it is in this case and even more outrageous in another case that occurred recently where a big part of the content of a book was copied and re-published without mentioning even the original authors – an obvious act of theft.

It would be good if the Bulgarian Book Association would enforce a Code of Ethics that excludes and penalizes such practices – instead of issuing high penalties to exhibitors on the Book Fair in Sofia that leave their booth on the last day a few minutes before the official closing.

Do you know about similar cases of copyright fraud or lack of acknowledgement of the moral and intellectual property rights of authors in your country?

Sait Faik Abasıyanık: Malki Hora (Саит Фаик Абасъянък: Малки Хора), transl. Kadrie Dzhesur, Prozoretz, Sofia 2015  – a German edition, published by Unionsverlag in 1991 under the title Ein Lastkahn eines Lebens seems to be out of print; there is no English translation according to my knowledge.

© 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.

Подкрепете Ашраф Фаяд – осъден на смърт защото пише поезия!

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Ашраф Фаяд е палестински поет който е бил осъден на смърт от Кралство Саудитска Арабия.

Престъплението за което той е осъден на смърт: той пише поезия!

На 14 януари ще се проведе в света прочит на поезията му в много страни да подкрепят Ашраф Фаяд и свободата на словото.  

На 14 януари ще стартира Sofia MENAR фестивал – и ще има четене!  Радвам се много! Благодаря на Мая Ценова и организаторите на Sofia MENAR фестивал – успех!

Призовавам моите български приятели и всички хора за които свободата на словото е нещо важно, за да подкрепят Ашраф Фаяд. Елате!

Повече информация тук и тук:

A List: Global Readings for Poet Ashraf Fayadh, Sentenced to Death in Saudi Arabia

 

 

 

© 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.

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

 

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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.

News from Retardistan (2)

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Facebook: Your algorithm that suggests me to sign up for certain groups is a bit confused – fine. Sometimes I just have a laugh about your inadequate suggestions, and if your paying customers knew that you haven’t got a clue about me and my (and probably millions of other users) preferences in almost all areas of life, your shareholder value would drop by a few billion USD.
 
But that you allow people to form a group that calls for the execution of people with opposing political views, is a scandal. And I am not talking about the Daesh scum bags, I am talking about those Bulgarian citizens that form the group РАЗСТРЕЛ ЗА ВСИЧКИ ПРЕДАТЕЛСКИ КОПЕЛЕТА НА БЪЛГАРИЯ !! (Execution of all treacherous bastards in Bulgaria), a group that is filled with postings of racist, fascist, and xenophobic content – and the name of the group makes it clear what has according to the members to happen with those who are on the hate list of these morons.
 
This is not only hate speech, it is incitement to murder, and that is a crime according to the Bulgarian Criminal Code; a long term prison sentence is prescribed for that. How about that, Prosecutor’s Office – instead of harassing the Marginalia team that calls a racist, fascist and anti-Semite what he is, you should rather go after the proven law offenders that are a member of this group which advocates political murder. There are (at this moment) 1707 of them, all easily to identify. So do your job and bring them to justice! A few years in jail will serve them well.
And Facebook: what about deleting this group and the profiles of people who consider political murder a righteous thing?
© 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.

Chitanka*

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Yes, and I am for free books. And free cars and free holidays in exotic locations. And of course for free entry to all matches of Borussia Dortmund. Everything must be for free for me because I am entitled to have it. And who are these teachers, doctors, journalists, lawyers, craftsmen anyway that ask money from me for the services I ask from them? We should boycott these capitalist swine.

IRONY button OFF

 

*A Bulgarian website that infringes authors and translators rights of books on a large scale.

© 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.

Защо? Защо? Защо?

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Аз съм живял и работил в Германия, Полша, Мароко, Албания, Косово, Турция, Сирия, Йордания, Египет, Индонезия, Казахстан и България. Имам приятели и познати във всички тези и много други държави.

Моля някой да ми обясни защо трябва да чете истински потоп от расистки и ксенофобски мнения срещу бежанци изключително от моите български контакти – а не от някой друга страна? Защо това количество безумна омраза, презрение и подлост от много българи, които не се чувстват дори да се срамувам от тяхното отвратителен манталитет?

Защо? Защо? Защо?

© 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.

A case of revisionism – second update

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An adapted version of my recent blog post on the role of Boris III in the context of the Bulgarian participation in the Holocaust in Vardar Macedonia and Thrace was published in Bulgarian on the website Marginalia.

The team of Marginalia is nominated this year for the renowned Human Rights Tulip award of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs for curageous individuals or organisations that promote human rights worldwide in innovative ways.

Thanks to Svetla Encheva and Marta Metodieva from the Marginalia team.

© 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.

The feces of revisionism

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They promise to stage “Götterdämmerung“ – but their abilities are even not sufficient for “Hänschen klein“.

 

(with a friendly nod in the direction of Gottfried Benn)

 

© 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.