Tag Archives: #BulgarianLitMonth2016

German Literature Month 2016

german-literature-month-vi

Recently I have been not very active on my blog but this is going to change again very soon.

One of the reasons is the upcoming German Literature Month 2016, hosted again by Caroline (Beauty is a Sleeping Cat), and Lizzy (Lizzy’s Literary Life) in which I will of course participate with a few books – which ones I will decide at a later stage. 

I will also try to post some reviews from the past Bulgarian Literature Month which are still missing, and I have read also a few other interesting books which I may review here, if my time budget will allow it.

© 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.

The value of literature

Sofia, Vitosha Boulevard, monument of the writer Aleko Konstantinov (author of Bay Ganyo).

J26 219 Blvd. Vitoša, Aleko Konstantinov.jpg

I am asking Dimi (7 years old), if he knows who the person is.
He answers: yes!  –  The guy on the 100 Leva banknote!

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Стойността на литература

Витошка, паметник на Алеко Константинов.

Питам Дими (7-годишна възраст), ако той знае кой е човекът.
Той отговаря: Да! Човекът на 100 лева банкнота!

#BulgarianLiteratureMonth2016

Photo: By Falk2 – Собствена творба, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49783967

© 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 2016 – update

Due to a lot of work and travelling, I am a bit late with my wrap-up of the first Bulgarian Literature Month 2016. Therefore today just a short note:

I have read 14 books for BulgarianLitMonth, half of them poetry collections, all in Bulgarian. Three of the other books I read also in Bulgarian, none of these books is so far published in a foreign language. Samples of my translations (in German) from the poetry books have already appeared on this blog.

When I was announcing Bulgarian Literature Month 2016, I was not sure if there would be any interest by other bloggers or readers. Fortunately the participation of some of my fellow bloggers ensured a really amazing interest in Bulgarian Literature. Thank you all, I am very grateful!

A link list with all blog posts related to Bulgarian Literature Month and a more detailed wrap-up will follow soon; I intend also to publish reviews of the other six prose books I read. Time constraints will delay that a bit, but I will definitely post them in the upcoming weeks.

#BulgarianLiteratureMonth2016

© 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.

“Die Frauen von Bordeaux”, von Vladimir Sabourin

Жените на Бордо
ще бъдат смугли.
 
Светлоокият мъж
се връща луд
сред меките хълмове
на Швабия.
 
Във френските плантации
край Сантяго
господарките говорят френски
робините йоруба.
 
 
—————————–
 
 
Die Frauen von Bordeaux
werden dunkelhäutig sein.
 
Der helläugige Mann
kehrt verrückt heim
zu den sanften Hügeln
Schwabens
 
Auf den französischen Plantagen
in der Nähe von Santiago
sprechen die Herrinnen Französisch
die Sklavinnen Yoruba

 

 

aus: Vladimir Sabourin: bakarena fabrika (Kupferfabrik*), Stiftung “Literaturen Vestnik”, Sofia 2015

*Die “Kupferfabrik” ist ein ausgesprochen heruntergekommener Friedhof in Sofia, ein Ort an dem Arme und sozial Deklassierte “entsorgt” werden; ein wahrhaft deprimierender Ort absoluter Hoffnungslosigkeit.

Übersetzung aus dem Bulgarischen von Thomas Hübner

 #BulgarianLitMonth2016

© Vladimir Sabourin, 2015
© Foundation "Literaturen Vestnik", 2015
© 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.

“Lied der vietnamesischen Arbeiter”, von Vladimir Sabourin

Песен
на виетнамските работници
 
Ние сме идеалните заварчици
за корабостроителниците
на Голямата Река
стигахме до най-трудните места
в железните утроби
А под нас изтичат водите
на сухите докове
Така искаме да се трудиме
докато всичко изтича
и да е изтекло тихо
под бръмченето на електрожените.
 
 
———————————————————–

Lied
der vietnamesischen Arbeiter
 
Wir sind die idealen Schweißer
für die Schiffswerften
des Großen Flusses
wir erreichen die schwierigsten Stellen
der eisernen Schöße
Unter uns verebben die Wasser der Trockendocks
So wollen wir uns abmühen
bis alles verebbt
und still erloschen ist
unter dem Brummen der Schweißgeräte.

 

aus: Vladimir Sabourin: bakarena fabrika (Kupferfabrik*), Stiftung “Literaturen Vestnik”, Sofia 2015

*Die “Kupferfabrik” ist ein ausgesprochen heruntergekommener Friedhof in Sofia, ein Ort an dem Arme und sozial Deklassierte “entsorgt” werden; ein wahrhaft deprimierender Ort absoluter Hoffnungslosigkeit.

Übersetzung aus dem Bulgarischen von Thomas Hübner

 #BulgarianLitMonth2016

© Vladimir Sabourin, 2015
© Foundation "Literaturen Vestnik", 2015
© 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.

The Bulgarians

A scarecrow in the village of Zimzelen in the Rhodopes; a man reading a newspaper in front of some park benches in Ruse; an ultra-nationalist rally in Sofia; a Roma girl dancing with closed eyes in the village of Kovachevitsa; men playing chess in the park in front of Naroden Theater in Sofia; a man in a rakija distillery in a village near Karnobat; two elderly Pomak women in traditional dresses with a snow-covered peak of the Rhodopes in the background; a border fence at the Bulgarian-Turkish border near the village of Beleozen; a girl behind the bar of a self-service pub in the village of Chervenka; a beggar and his dog on Vitosha Street in Sofia; men in a village mosque; two old men in Sozopol at the Black Sea; an abandoned school in a village in the Strandzha mountains; the Jewish cemetery in Karnobat –

these are just some of the subjects of the photos in Anthony Georgieff’s new book The Bulgarians, recently published in a high-quality bi-lingual edition. 

In the instructive foreword Georgi Lozanov points out the similarities of Georgieff’s anthropological photographic project with Robert Frank’s classical book The Americans. The Bulgarians shows a big variety of “average” individuals from different background, religion, ethnicity, age, gender, profession, social status, from urban areas as well as from remote villages, accompanied by photos that show human traces, graffiti, dilapidating buildings, or monuments of different eras, decaying or still fully revered. The element of the extraordinary moment, or of celebrity is carefully avoided in most cases (and when not, it is not with the aim to show celebrity, as is the case with the shot of a TV screen that shows the present Prime Minister, a photo that is reflecting the way most Bulgarians perceive politics). This, together with the careful composition of the work, make this – predominantly black and white – photo book a highly interesting statement regarding the identity of Bulgarians in the early 21st century.

While the parallels with Frank’s book are obvious, Lozanov points out also the differences which are particularly stunning when one compares photos of retired Americans with those of their Bulgarian peers:

“The former dress up in brightly coloured clothes, when their time for ‘well-deserved retirement’ comes, hang cameras around their necks, and start travelling the world. The latter (i,e. the retired Bulgarians – T.H.) put on dark clothes and headscarves, and sit on benches in front of their houses waiting for the world to pass them by. In The Bulgarians you will see Bulgarian grannies being passed by by the world.”

Not surprisingly, smiles are rare on the pages of The Bulgarians, but not completely missing. Georgieff has a sharp, but sympathetic eye – and for most people in Bulgaria, there is little reason to smile.

Two family photos from the private archive of the author open and end the photo sequence in the book. While the first one depicts a funeral in the family, approximately 90 years ago, the second one shows the author as an optimistic looking child. The comment the child wrote on the back of the photo made me smile, but you have to read it yourself…

Renowned journalist, photographer, and author Anthony Georgieff, the man behind Vagabond, the highly recommended English-language journal that publishes among other interesting articles about Bulgaria in every edition a story or an excerpt of a longer work by a contemporary Bulgarian author, has done an excellent job and this “anthropological roadtrip” will enrich everyone with a serious interest in Bulgaria and its people. It is also a photography book that may well be considered a classic in the years to come.

Georgieff told me after the book presentation I attended two days ago in Sofia that he is planning also a work related to Communist Bulgaria in the near future. I can say that I am looking forward to this work with great curiosity.

Anthony Georgieff: The Bulgarians. Preface by Georgi Lozanov, Vagabond Media, Sofia 2016

Some photos from the book you can find here.

The same publisher has produced some other equally interesting books that document  Bulgaria’s cultural, historical, religious and ethnic diversity in English and Bulgarian, and that are illustrated with excellent photos as well. More information on these books you can find here.

#BulgarianLitMonth2016

© 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.

“Und spürst du…”, von Krum Atsev

И чувстваш ли
изгарящия вкус на живот по устните си
пустоскитнико
или нищо не чувстваш

———————————

Und spürst du
den brennenden geschmack des lebens auf deinen lippen
wüstenstreicher
oder spürst du nichts

 

aus: Krum Atsev: Tova-Onova, Izdatelstvo za poezija DA, Sofia 2016

Übersetzung von Thomas Hübner

#BulgarianLitMonth2016

 

PS: Dank an Vladimir Sabourin für den “wüstenstreicher”!

© Krum Atsev, 2016
© IK DA, 2016
© 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.

“wochenende”, von Stefan Ivanov

краят на седмицата
 
в тишината на неделния следобед
 
погледът преминава
през празната детската градина
покрай люляка брезите и
неопетнения от стъпки прах по паветата
 
няма човек
няма отражение
което да докаже
че те има
 
вятърът разнася
сивия цигарен дим
без да се вълнува
кой го е запалил

———————————————————–
 
wochenende
 
in der stille des sonntagnachmittags
 
schweift der blick
über den leeren kindergarten
vorbei an birken und flieder
ungestört von schritten auf dem staubigen pflaster
 
kein mensch
keine anzeichen
die beweisen
dass es dich gibt
 
der wind verbreitet
grauen zigarettenrauch
ohne sich darum zu scheren
wer ihn entfacht hat

aus: Stefan Ivanov: Spisatsi, Siela, Sofia 2009

Übersetzung aus dem Bulgarischen von Thomas Hübner

#BulgarianLitMonth2016

© Stefan Ivanov, 2009
© Siela, 2009
© 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.

“Durchsicht der Bücher, die ich nicht mag”, von Raycho Angelov

Преглед на книгите,
които не харесвам
 
Добро утро,
Джеймс Джойс!
Този сън
ще глътне
окото ти.
Той пита:
“Какво ще вечеряме?”
Жена му отвръща:
“Чадъри.”

———————————————

Durchsicht der Bücher,
die ich nicht mag
 
Guten Morgen,
James Joyce!
Dieser Traum
wird dein Auge
verschlucken.
Er fragt:
“Was gibt‘s zum Abendessen?”
Seine Frau erwidert:
“Regenschirme.”


Raycho Angelov: Kolektsija ot Stapki, Meki Minerali i Dushi, Fondatsija za balgarska literatura, Sofia 2011

Übersetzung von Thomas Hübner

#BulgarianLitMonth2016

© Raycho Angelov, 2011
© Fondatsija za balgarska literatura, 2011
© 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.

“Babel”, von Ekaterina Josifova

Вавилон

Внукът на поета може да чете стиховете му
в превод
всъщност не ги чете

започва краят на изкачването
падат отломки
в глината.

———————————————————————–

Babel

Der enkel des dichters kann seine verse
in übersetzung lesen
liest sie also nicht wirklich

es naht das ende des aufstiegs
tonscherben
fallen herab.


images

Ekaterina Josifova: Ratse, Zhanet-45, Plovdiv 2006

Übersetzung von Thomas Hübner

 

Ekaterina Josifova, die Autorin dieses Gedichts, wird heute 75 Jahre alt – 
Alles Gute! Честит Рожден Ден!

#BulgarianLitMonth2016

© Ekaterina Josifova, 2006
© IK Zhanet-45, 2006
© 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.