Whilst coronavirus remains a concern for countries around the world, our weekly dispatches are a testament that world literature continues to thrive, with our writers reporting on new literary journal initiatives, publishing fairs, audio books, and newly released novels. In Hong Kong, writers are advocating Cantonese literature and boldly responding to the ongoing protests by launching two new literary journals, Resonate and Hong Kong Protesting. Lovers of Argentine literature will be excited by the release of English audio books from the Centro Cultural Kirchner, featuring authors such as César Aira and Hebe Uhart, and available for free. In Iran, the literary community mourns the passing of prominent linguistic scholar Badr al-Zaman Qarib but has also celebrated the new release by the renowned novelist and Man Asian Literary Prize nominee Mahmoud Dowlatabadi. Read on to find out more!
Jacqueline Leung, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Hong Kong
Two weeks ago, University of Edinburgh student Andrew Yu tweeted that one of the journal reviewers of his academic paper claimed that the name of Hong Kong is inappropriately “foreign” and needs to be amended to appear alongside its Chinese equivalent (香港) and its Mandarin romanization (Xianggang). Despite its roots in British colonialism, “Hong Kong” has been used for at least 180 years and is a closer romanization of the city’s name in Cantonese, its local language. What the reviewer proposed is unnatural, but it is also reflective of the city’s larger struggles as it tries to maintain its own identity amid political pressure and the sweeping national security law.
There have been recent initiatives to better protect Hong Kong’s unique culture and literature. Launched in June, Resonate is the world’s first literary journal written completely in Cantonese, which is seen mainly as a spoken language and is rarely written out in formal or literary contexts. Featuring fiction and criticism, the journal also publishes articles about the language itself, debunking myths long believed by its speakers—like the idea that Cantonese was spoken during the Tang dynasty. In fact, it is a modern variety of Middle Chinese, used from the Northern and Southern dynasties to the Song dynasty (roughly, from around A.D. 600 to A.D. 1200). Mandarin and Shanghainese also developed from Middle Chinese.
Cha, Hong Kong’s English-language literary journal, has also initiated a new project amassing writing about the Hong Kong protests, recently stifled by mass arrests of pro-democracy figures and the disqualification of lawmakers and election hopefuls. Hong Kong Protesting is a growing collection of original and translated poetry, essays, criticism, and art from various contributors. In particular, several translations of works by Hong Kong poets are available, including poems by Cao Shuying (trans. Andrea Lingenfelter), Derek Chung (trans. Tammy Lai-Ming Ho), Liu Waitong (trans. Lucas Klein), and Jacky Yuen (trans. Nicky Admussen). Many of the works evoke the start of the movement last summer when two million people marched peacefully, and when violating incidents, such as the attacks on journalists and citizens, became more frequent, altering the city once and for all.
Sarah Moses, co-Editor-at-Large, reporting from Argentina
The ninth Feria de Editores took place online August 7–9. Over 160 publishers from across Latin America were invited to set up virtual stands, and the public to approach via social media to discuss titles and catalogues. Bookstores and distributors in Buenos Aires were also in virtual attendance to dispatch purchases throughout the city and country. The feria also featured talks from Argentinian and international guests including Nona Fernández Silanes, Margo Glantz, and Luisa Valenzuela, as well as workshops.
Spanish speakers outside of Argentina who are interested in discovering authors published by local presses can visit the Centro Cultural Kirchner’s virtual audio library, a collection of twenty-nine stories by writers including César Aira, Sara Gallardo, and Hebe Uhart. The stories were selected by film director and screenwriter, Lucrecia Martel, and recorded by different actors and musicians.
Those keen on reading Argentinian authors in translation will find some of the audio library’s stories available in English. Aira’s The Musical Brain was released by New Directions in Chris Andrew’s translation; and in Asymptote, Josh Honn reviewed one of the author’s earlier titles, The Miracle Cures of Dr. Aira (New Directions; trans. Katherine Silver). Pushkin Press published Gallardo’s Land of Smoke, translated by Jessica Sequeira, which was reviewed in the journal by Aamer Hussein; and Uhart’s The Scent of Buenos Aires, translated by Maureen Shaughnessy, came out last year with Archipelago. One of Uhart’s best-known stories, “Guiding the Ivy” can be read in Asymptote’s January 2013 issue in Shaughnessy’s translation.
Poupeh Missaghi, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Iran
Badr al-Zaman Qarib (Badresaman Gharib, 1929–2020), a prominent Iranian linguist, scholar of Sogdian language, and the only permanent female member of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, passed away on July 28 at the age of 91 due to COVID-19. Sogdian language was an Eastern Iranian language and considered one of the key Middle Iranian languages. A trilingual Sogdian-Persian-English dictionary was one of Dr. Qarib’s most important contributions to the field of Sogdian studies. You can find her doctorate dissertation (1965) from the University of Pennsylvania, entitled “Analysis of the Verbal System in the Sogdian Language,” on Proquest.
Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, Iran’s foremost living novelist, has recently released a new novel on the occasion of his eightieth birthday, Horses, Horses Passing by One Another (Cheshmeh Publication). Three of Dowlatabadi’s novels have been translated into English by Melville House: Missing Soluch, The Colonel (longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize among others, but still not published in the original Persian), and Thirst. Dowlatabadi previously wrote an essay for Asymptote in 2017, entitled “The Trip That Did Not Happen,” for our special feature on travel ban, which you can read here.
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