{"id":74150,"date":"2019-10-25T17:05:04","date_gmt":"2019-10-25T15:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=74150"},"modified":"2019-10-24T07:26:26","modified_gmt":"2019-10-24T05:26:26","slug":"31-05-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=74150","title":{"rendered":"Olga Tokarczuk destined to win Nobel Prize, says Jennifer Croft, her translator"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Olga Tokarczuk destined to win Nobel Prize, says Jennifer Croft, her translator<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

The World staff<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Writer Olga Tokarczuk takes part in EXPO Krakow book fair in Krakow, Poland, on Oct. 29, 2017. Credit: Adrianna Bochenek\/Agencja Gazeta\/Reuters<\/em><\/p>\n

Polish author Olga Tokarczuk was named the 2018 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature on Thursday,\u00a0after a\u00a0sexual assault scandal<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0led to last year’s award being postponed.\u00a0Austrian writer Peter Handke won the 2019\u00a0Nobel\u00a0Prize\u00a0for\u00a0Literature.<\/h4>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tokarczuk, 57, won for “a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life,” said the Swedish Academy, which chooses the\u00a0literature\u00a0laureate. It recognised Handke, 76, for a body of work including novels, essays and drama “that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Both authors have courted controversy \u2014\u00a0Handke for his portrayal of Serbia as a victim during the Balkan wars and for attending its leader’s funeral, and Tokarczuk for touching on dark areas of Poland’s past that contrast with the version of history promoted by the country’s ruling nationalist party.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Tokarczuk’s agent said the award should not be seen in the context of a parliamentary election Poland will hold on Sunday, the author called on Poles to “vote in a right way for democracy.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“The\u00a0prize\u00a0goes to eastern Europe, which is unusual, incredible,” Tokarczuk told a press conference in the German town of Bielefeld prior to giving a lecture.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It shows that despite all those problems with democracy in my country we still have something to say to the world.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Crossing boundaries<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tokarczuk trained as a psychologist before publishing her first novel in 1993. Since then, she has produced a steady and varied stream of works and her novel, “Flights,” won her the high-profile Man Booker International\u00a0Prize\u00a0last year. She was the first Polish author to win that award.<\/span><\/p>\n

Responding to her latest\u00a0award, Tokarczuk wrote on Facebook, “Nobel\u00a0Prize\u00a0for\u00a0Literature! Joy and emotion took my speech away. Thank you very much for all your congratulations!”<\/span><\/p>\n

She later told Polish broadcaster TVN she was proud that her books covering small towns in Poland can be read universally and be important for people elsewhere in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I believe in the novel. I think the novel is something incredible. This is a deep way of communication, above the borders, above languages, cultures. It refers to the in-depth similarity between people, teaches us empathy,” she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tokarczuk’s\u00a0English-language translator, Jennifer Croft, whose\u00a0debut novel, “Homesick,” was published on Sept. 9<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, said in an interview with The World that\u00a0Tokarczuk’s nomination didn’t surprise her.\u00a0“She’s always been really committed to celebrating women’s voices and she has always loved nature,” she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“[She’s]\u00a0been an environmentalist and lately she’s also been really interested in things like borders \u2014 what it means to have a particular nationality and how fluid those kinds of identities might really be,” she added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Croft spoke with The World’s host, Marco Werman, on\u00a0translating Tokarczuk, finding an American publisher, and\u00a0how\u00a0speaking multiple languages \u2014 not only\u00a0English \u2014\u00a0empowers polyglots to\u00a0subvert\u00a0the dominant cultural paradigm. Croft also emailed us some of her favorite passages to translate:<\/span><\/p>\n

There are countries out there where people speak English. But not like us \u2014 we have our own languages hidden in our carry-on luggage, in our cosmetics bags, only ever using English when we travel, and then only in foreign countries, to foreign people. It\u2019s hard to imagine, but English is their real language! Oftentimes their only language. They don\u2019t have anything to fall back on or to turn to in moments of doubt.<\/p>\n

How lost they must feel in the world, where all instructions, all the lyrics of all the stupidest possible songs, all the menus, all the excruciating pamphlets and brochures \u2014 even the elevator buttons! \u2014 are in their private language. They may be understood by anyone at any moment, whenever they open their mouths. They must have to write things down in special codes. Wherever they are, people have unlimited access to them \u2014 they are accessible to everyone and everything! I heard there are plans in the works to get them some little language of their own, one of those dead ones no one else is using anyway, just so that for once they can have something just for themselves.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Marco Werman: What was your reaction this morning, Jennifer, when you heard that Olga\u00a0Tokarczuk\u00a0had won the Nobel Prize for Literature?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jennifer Croft: You know, I have been absolutely certain that it was going to happen. I’ve been saying it to editors who didn’t believe me for years. But when it actually did happen at 4 a.m. in the morning my time, because I am in Los Angeles, I squealed,\u00a0I cried. I did a lot of extremely unprofessional things in my pajamas \u2014 romping around my living room, waking up my cats, who are now terrified of me. I am ecstatic, although not surprised.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Why were you so sure that\u00a0Tokarczuk would win?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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I think it’s a variety of things. I think\u00a0a lot of her thematic concerns are really in line with the values of the Nobel Committee. She’s always been really committed to celebrating women’s voices and she has always loved nature. [She’s] been an environmentalist and lately she’s also been really interested in things like borders \u2014 what it means to have a particular nationality and how fluid those kinds of identities might really be. And then, stylistically, she’s so appealing. She just has such a beautiful lyrical prose style.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\nHow did you come across her work in the first place?<\/strong>\n

I did an MFA at the University of Iowa in literary translation starting in 2001, and I had started with Russian language, but moved into Polish. And I was looking to translate some contemporary writers and she had just published a short story collection in 2001 called “Playing on Many\u00a0Drums,” which I stumbled upon at the university library and I just thought it was like falling head over heels in love at first sight.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\nYou talked about her lyricism in her writing. How hard is that to capture in English?<\/strong>\n

Since I’ve been working on her for such a long time, I think that it’s kind of an instant click sort of situation, for the most part.\u00a0But, in general, I would say her prose is so beautiful, but also so clear, there’s never any question as to what the tone is or what the author’s intentions are. It’s a real gift to be able to translate a writer like her right.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

So for “Flights,” which you translated, as you said, I know, it took you a while to find a publisher. Why was that? And how long did it take to find one?<\/strong>\n

It took me a decade to find a publisher and that was with me publishing excerpts in really good literary magazines and I got a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. I went to New York and pitched it to all the different houses and people were just kind of scared because it had this unusual format. Olga calls it a constellation novel which means that, in this case, it’s a lot of different fragments of stories about things and characters and places that seem to be not that related to one another. But it’s actually so fun to read, but it just doesn’t look like a traditional novel. So editors just weren’t sure about publishing it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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I see that the number of translated books published in the US keeps going down. Why is that do you think?<\/strong>\n

I didn’t know that it was going down. My impression has been that people are actually more and more interested in international literature and in the act of translation itself.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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It went down 3% in 2018.<\/strong>\n

That is a big surprise. Maybe with literary fiction that hasn’t been the trend. Olga is one of many authors who are doing much better in the US and in the UK than had been expected.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Have you spoken with Olga today?<\/strong>\n

I haven’t gotten to talk to her yet. I’ve been trying, but her line is always busy.\u00a0I know she and her husband were travelling in Germany when they got the news and they have now checked into a hotel in D\u00fcsseldorf and are awaiting interviews. So we’ll see!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The line will be busy for a while no doubt.<\/strong><\/blockquote>\n
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I think so.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Reuters contributed to this report.<\/em><\/span>
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Olga Tokarczuk destined to win Nobel Prize, says Jennifer Croft, her translator The World staff Writer Olga Tokarczuk takes part in EXPO Krakow book fair in Krakow, Poland, on Oct. 29, 2017. Credit: Adrianna Bochenek\/Agencja Gazeta\/Reuters Polish author Olga Tokarczuk was named the 2018 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature on Thursday,\u00a0after a\u00a0sexual assault […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74150"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74150"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74164,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74150\/revisions\/74164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}