Why You Should Read The Mahabharata

Arjuna requests instruction from Krishna,
from Wellcome Images via Wikimedia Commons

"Poets have told it before, poets are telling it now, other poets shall tell this history on earth in the future."- Volume 1 Book 1 from the J.A.B. van Buitenen translation.

Readers of religious texts may remember reading or hearing about The Bhagavad Gita . What most people don’t realize, is that the Gita is one book of 18 – on section of one of the longest epics.

Thoughts for the Post-Colonial Reader

“The close relationship between colonization and translation has come under scrutiny; we can now perceive the extent to which translation was for centuries a one-way process, with texts being translated into European languages for European consumption, rather than as part of a reciprocal process of exchange.” – from Post-colonial Translation by Susan Basset & Harish Trivedi

Post-Colonialism has long since wedged itself into the cultural limelight, notably in the realm of pop culture and cultural appropriation. Translation and foreign literature has not escaped its purview, and while many readers may shirk away for one reason or another – to political, too liberal – it’s an important factor to think about. For, to some degree, colonialism has chosen and reinforced what we read.

However, now foreign novels are not translated into English nearly enough, meaning that we know less about the world and its peoples than we did before. While novels, movies, advertisements are translated out of English and into a multitude of other languages; the international novel market in the United States is still relatively small. The US has largely monopolized its culture through exporting it.

So what can we understand that’s useful for us readers about the translation and post-colonialism?

Now In English! Review of "Broken Glass Park"

 

"Sometimes I think I'm the only one in our neighborhood with any worthwhile dreams. I have two...I want to kill Vadim. And I want to write a book about my mother." - Alina Bronsky, Broken Glass Park

Originally written in German by the Russian-German writer Alina Bronsky, and translated by Tim Mohr, Broken Glass Park (German Title: Scherbenpark) reveals itself to be a young adult novel on the axis of maturity. The opening, seemingly over-dramatic, casts readers into a side of Europe they may not be familiar with – the ghettos.

5 Tips for Reading International Fiction

Last week I wrote a bit about why branching into international fiction is a good idea - but I barely touched on how to do it. Whenever you come in contact with another culture, there's going to be some complications in understanding, even if the story is similar to something you may read at home. So how can we get the most out of reading outside our culture?

5 Reasons You Should Read International Fiction

As a US citizen, the plethora of brilliant English fiction seems overwhelming. Even with ebooks coming into vogue, local book stores are brimming and bursting with new books. So why add the outside world to your reading list? Well, I can give you five reasons off the top of my head.

Now In English! Review of "Nostalgic Clone"

"...when we arrive at the absolutely essential texts, when the information and narratives fashioning the suppression of needs have been disposed of and the lost knowledge returns, if nothing else at least we’ll know where we are going, what possibilities remain.” - "Nostalgic Clone", Amis M.

Last November I raided my university library in search for modern Greek fiction - and to my surprise, I wasn't disappointed. Finding literature or language books with the words "modern" and Greek adjacent to one another is like trying to find a movie rental store - it's nearly impossible. Among the several poetry volumes I collected, I did find one anthology of prose - the Dedalus Book of Greek Fantasy.

While I maintain that this entire book is a must have, the story "Nostalgic Clone" by Amis Marangopoulos is perhaps my favorite.

How To Decide On A Translation: 5 Steps for Literature Lovers

Summer has finally arrived, and somehow, you've managed to find the time to read Anna Karenina. Or maybe it's Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse or Candide by Voltaire. Whatever you're reading, it the original was written in a tongue you don't understand. And anything famous, anything translated, must have the trait of being universally understood, right? Any translation should do if that's the case.

But is it?