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Languages with rich literary traditions | ||
Tags: Literature | Multilingual | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Books, Literature & Reading |  | |
| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6025 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes  5 sounds | Message 49 of 63 28 August 2008 at 3:29pm | IP Logged | |||||
I agree, Solaris is a masterpiece! :) Just don't try to watch the movies based on the book.... neither the Russian nor the American adaptation is any good. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| ' Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Australia Joined 5931 days ago 120 posts - 120 votes Speaks: English*, Hungarian* | Message 50 of 63 28 August 2008 at 9:43pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Hiberiade was excellent.
Are we counting translations too? We have a saying back home that the Russians would translate toilet paper because they'll translate any decent book they get their hands on (Besides writing lots themselves) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Samsara Diglot Newbie United States Joined 6385 days ago 21 posts - 22 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Italian, Spanish, Latin | Message 51 of 63 28 August 2008 at 10:32pm | IP Logged | |||||
Interesting... sounds like there's a lot of possibility for native Russian speakers to work as translators then. As for Portugese... isn't Cohelo Portugese? He's extremely popular... and then one of my favorite books is the English translation of "Devil to Pay in the Backlands," which is out of print in English unfortunately. It would be worth it to learn Portugese to read the author's other works. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| sei Diglot Senior Member Portugal Joined 5932 days ago 178 posts - 191 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English Studies: German, Japanese | Message 52 of 63 29 August 2008 at 5:58am | IP Logged | |||||
Do you mean Coelho? He's Portuguese, but from Brazil. I was actually referring to European Portuguese literature. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Tigresuisse Triglot Senior Member SwitzerlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5996 days ago 182 posts - 180 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, German Studies: Russian | Message 53 of 63 29 August 2008 at 10:03am | IP Logged | |||||
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As nobody did it, I'll do mention it.
For ancient literature there is a very well done list in the prof. Arguelles website and also a list of piece of works waiting of becoming "classics" in the sense their authors are dead at least one century ago. nice topic !!! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Linglot Bilingual Octoglot Newbie Spain Joined 6043 days ago 23 posts - 26 votes Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan*, French, English, Esperanto, Portuguese, Italian, Galician Studies: Russian, German, Occitan, Greek, Basque, Romanian, Polish, Arabic (Written), Dutch, Swedish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 54 of 63 29 August 2008 at 7:37pm | IP Logged | |||||
ALL languages have rich literary traditions, not only 'big' ones. Even those which are not written. Even constructed Esperanto has a considerable amount of literature! The fact that we all know about some writers or works from 'big' languages and not about others has often been a fortuitous thing, much as those actors that get more publicity or attention than others. Major languages have more writers, that's true, but not necessarily a better literature. I've read many works and authors from minor languages that will never be universally famous but may be just as good in quality. You mentioned some big ones there, yes, although I wouldn't say the Dutch ones are as well-known, frankly. Rather some Italian and Spanish authors that are missing. Dutch literature is quite unknown in Spain, for instance, and it's a pity because there are plenty of good works. Russian, by the way, is not a Western European language, I think :)
OK, I'll write about Catalan literature then, regarded as the second most important of Spain and one of the major ones in medieval Southern Europe. It has an extensive body of literature, probably the greatest for a living stateless language, as well as the highest number of translations of all minorized languages. Some notable authors: Ramon Llull (or Raymond Lully in English) is regarded as the 'father' of the language. An important Majorcan philosopher and wise man of the 13th century, he used Catalan to write about subjects at a time when Latin was the language used for it in Europe. He wrote more than 300 works, but not all of them are 'literature' (understood as fiction). Among his literary works, the most famous one is probably Blanquerna, which includes the Book of the Lover and the Beloved, sometimes regarded as the first European novel (1283). Another famous one is the Book of the Beasts. Joanot Martorell was the author of Tirant lo Blanch (translated as Tirant the White or the White Knight), regarded as the most important work in Catalan literature (in the same way Quixote is for Spanish). In fact, Cervantes was influenced by this work to write the Quixote. The Tirant was certainly an influential epic romance in the Middle Ages. Mercè Rodoreda wrote La Plaça del Diamant ('Diamond Square', translated into English as The Time of the Doves or The Pigeon Girl, and into German as 'Auf der Plaça del Diamant' -I see you speak German), a novel set in the Spanish Civil War which has become the most translated and acclaimed Catalan book of the 20th century. In spite of this, I prefer two other books of her: Mirall trencat (A Broken Mirror, Der Zebrochene Spiegel) and Aloma. I'd say these are three important works, but not the ones I like. There are many 20th century writers who are well worth a reading. Manuel de Pedrolo He wrote novels, poetry and plays, but to me he was his best at short stories. Although he wrote more than 70 works, he's best known for a cute sci-fi 'Adam/Eve' book, Mecanoscrit del segon origen (Typescript of the Second Origin), a must-read for many Catalan teenagers (in the same way The Catcher in the Rye was for many Americans). Quim Monzó By far the best living story teller in Catalan, IMO. He opened the Catalan Culture week in the Frankfurt Book Fair with a briliant speech where many Catalan writers were mentioned in a funny way. Two of his best books, IMO, are El millor dels móns (translated into German as Die Beste aller Welten) and El perquè de tot plegat (translated as Der Grund der Dinge). Baltasar Porcel Another good writer with extensive work. His most translated novel is Cavalls cap a la fosca (Horses into the Night in English, Galopp in die Finsternis in German). Josep Pla, although often disregarded in Catalonia for his apparent ties to Francoism, he's also considered one of the finest prose writers of the 20th century, with extensive work too. It's difficult to mention one work that stands out, probably El Quadern Gris (The Gray Notebook, Das Graue Heft). Jesús Moncada Another good contemporary writer, he died three years ago. His most translated work is Camí de sirga (The Towpath in English, Die versinkende Stadt in German). There are too many good writers and works, so this was just a taste. Other important writers, for instance, are Narcís Oller or Caterina Albert (known as Víctor Català, author of a great novel, Solitud, Solitude in English). There are many interesting living writers, usually translated to other European languages. Among playwrights, I'd say Àngel Guimerà has been the most important, with plays like Terra Baixa (in English, Martha of the Lowlands) represented in different countries and receiving three Broadway productions. Catalan has also a great deal of poets, from the medieval troubadours to the 20th century. Some important names: Ausiàs March, Jacint Verdaguer, Joan Maragall, Miquel Costa i Llobera, Joan Salvat-Papasseit, Carles Riba, Josep Carner, Salvador Espriu, Pere Quart, Josep Vicenç Foix, Miquel Martí i Pol, Joan Brossa... Some Catalan writers have been candidates for the Nobel Prize, but it seems to be a difficult task for minorized languages. In 1904, the Catalan playwright Guimerà was a candidate both with Occitan writer Mistral, but Spanish politicians didn't allow it and the prize was for Mistral and a Spanish playwright instead, Echegaray. I know I'm leaving important and good ones, but that's a start, enough for now. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| armatura Triglot Newbie Armenia Joined 5983 days ago 17 posts - 21 votes Speaks: Russian, Armenian*, EnglishC1 Studies: German Studies: Spanish | Message 55 of 63 30 August 2008 at 2:09am | IP Logged | |||||
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Armenian literature
5the century (the golden era of Armenian literature) translations of Syriac and Greek texts (including Bible) into Armenian - St. Mesrop Mashtots, Catholicos Isaac (Sahak) the Great historical works - Movses Khorenatsi, Eghishe, Ghazar of Pharp, Eznik Koghbatsi 10-11th centuries mystic poems and hymns, prose - St. Gregory Narekatzi history Thovma Artsruni, catholicos John VI Draskhanakertzi, Bishop Ukhtanes, Stephanos Asoghik, Aristakes Lastivertzi 16-17th centuries poems - Nahapet Kuchak, Hovnatan Naghash history - Araqel of Tabriz, Zaqaria the Deacon printed the firts Armenian Bible (Amsterdam, 1666) - Oskan of Erevan 18th-19th centuries poems, songs - Aruthin Sayadian (Sayat-Nova). western-style satirical novels - Hakob Paronian and Ervand Otian the first works in modern Eastern Armenian - Khachatur Abovyan, Mikael Nalbandian novels - Hakob Meliq-Hakobian (Raffi). dramas, comedies in Tbilisi dialect of Armenian - Gabriel Sundukian late 19th century - early 20th century (Ottoman Era) realistic novellas - Siamanto, Daniel Varujan, Grigor Zohrab, Rupen Zartarian, Atrpet poems, songs - Komitas plays, novels, poems - Vahan Tekeyan, Levon Shant, 20th century (Soviet Era) lyric and narrative poems, fairly tales - Hovhannes Thumanian, Avetik Isahakyan poems - Yeghishe Charents, Paruyr Sevak, Gevork Emin, Silva Kaputikyan, Hovhannes Shiraz Western world is probably more familiar with William Saroyan (1908-1981) Armenian-American short story writer, novelist, playwright, essayist and memoirist Edited by armatura on 30 August 2008 at 2:11am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Autarkis Triglot Groupie Switzerland twitter.com/Autarkis Joined 5943 days ago 95 posts - 106 votes 4 sounds Speaks: German*, English, French Studies: Italian | Message 56 of 63 30 August 2008 at 2:22am | IP Logged | |||||
The German version was translated directly from the Polish original. ;) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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