Celebration of Classic Short Stories Translated into Kreol
25.09.2018
The Hall at Ledikasyon pu Travayer was packed Saturday 22 September as participants in the collective effort to translate classic short stories into Kreol all gathered for an afternoon of celebration around the Prize Giving ceremony. LPT member Alain Ah-Vee chaired the event, which included famous writers and first-time translaters as participants – young and old, rural and urban, manual workers and professionals – all come together with their families from literally every town and village of Mauritius. This celebration coincides with the first-ever time that the United Nations celebrates World Translation Day this year, on 30 September.
With the pioneer cohort of children who have studied Mauritian Kreol in schools reaching Form II next year, it means that thousands of youngsters are ready to read. As they reach adolescence, LPT is preparing for a whole corpus to have been translated. LPT has worked for this through a Prize for the best translation into Kreol of a classic Short Story from any other language. LPT received 122 stories in Kreol, from 68 translaters.
All participants (and almost all were present) received a bag of 6 books: The LPT classic 40 Poet (in English 40 Poets) which features the poems of 40 different poets, and which Lindsey Collen speaking for the LPT, described as another effort at showing how big the movement for the Kreol language is. And yet, she said, we must remember that it is a fight. There is a kind-of prejudice against Kreol, so that without even noticing it, in all the Press articles, when 40 Poet was launched, the book’s title was wrongly written as being 40 Poems, which is quite another thing from 40 Poets.
The other 5 books in the Prize for Participants were: Misyon Garson, a full-length novel written by Lindsey Collen in Kreol, and later another version of it written by her in English, Boy. A Book of crossword puzzles in Kreol. And a long poem written in the Japanese form of Haiku. These four books are to share the versatility of Kreol. The other two books are second hand books from LPT’s fine English-language second-hand bookstore (Lindsey said maybe it was the first time prizes were second hand!), but such is the value of books. One is a classic, which the receiver may try a hand at translating. It’s luck of the draw, she said. For example, one person will even get James Joyce’s Ulysees, a notoriously hard book to translate. The other is a contemporary novel.
Lindsey Collen also invited everyone who had participated to a half-day training session in translation, which Marjorie Desvaux will lead on 21 October this year. Before going to the stage of publication – LPT, she said, wants to publish as many as possible of the stories – translators will be able to, if they wish, rework their translations in the light of the skills they will get at this translation workshop.
This way, Lindsey said, the celebration today is not the end-result of the translation work, but its beginning. We need a movement to translate immense amounts of literature – for everyone’s taste – into Kreol. So, let’s get going!
Anne-Sophie Pyanee, winner
The jury chair, Vinesh Hookoomsing who is the retired Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Mauritius, congratulated the participants – all of them – for their tremendous work. He then commented on the winner Anne-Sophie Pyanee’s very original adaptation to an Indian Ocean situation of the folktale of Sleeping Beauty (“La Belle au Bois Dormant”, written down by Charles Perrault), and how she kept the universality of the story at the same time as giving it a local setting. She is the winner of the Rs 50,000 prize. Vinesh Hookoomsing also referred us to the Bruno Bethelheim classic analysis of the importance of folktales, The Uses of Enchantment.
Flavia Doherty-Bigara: Special Prize for a Woman Translator
Marjorie Desvaux, secondary school teacher and professional translator was also on the jury. She commented on the Pri Feminin winner Flavia Doherty-Bigara’s abridged adaptation and translation of no less than Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. This prize was given by the Muvman Liberasyon Fam to encourage women and girls to have confidence to write, as in the past in Mauritius, writers and translators have been predominantly men.
Alain Fanchon, who is author of the now famous poem, 2Ti Bato Papye”, which has been translated into 55 languages, as well as published in Braille in Kreol and in Mauritian Sign Language, and university lecturer Luvinska Golam commented, as jury members, on the other six Special Prize winners. In addition to the participant’s prize, these six winners received another set of books: Ti Bato Papye in 55 Languages; Getting Rid of It a novel translated into Dutch, German and French; Lemorn, a poem in two languages, English and Kreol; and a translation from Kreol into English of the 1888 Baissac stories, recorded from the words of two over 80-year old people.
Here are the names of the six winners of a “Special Prize” each (in alphabetical order) for the story mentioned:
Alvina Bijou: “Barbe Bleue” par Charles Perrault
Rajwantee Dalliah: “Streevidya” par Bhandaru Acchamamba (depi Telegu)
Hassenjee Essackjee: “La Parure” par Guy de Maupassant.
Kavinien Karupudayyan: “Sankalpamum Sambavamum” par Ammani Ammal (depi Tamul)
Ramesh Ramdoyal: “The Night Before Christmas” par Clement Clarke Moore.
Jayen Teeroovengadum: “La Petite Table, l’Ane et le Baton” par Frer Grimm
Here is the list of translators, their stories, and the towns they come from:
Aksha Jokhoo - Port Louis.
“Le Loups et les Sept Chevreaux” by Frer Grimm
Alain Maniacara – Rose-Hill.
“L’Aveugle” by Guy de Maupasant
Alain Paul Tourail - Riche Terre, Terre Rouge.
“Enn Vre Monstre” by Mary W. Shelley
“Frankenstein” by Mary W. Shelley
Alexia Pascal – New Grove
“Mario et la Vierge Noire”- a legend from Reunion.
“Comment Compere Lapin vint a bout de la Baleine et de l’Elephant” by Sara Cone Bryint
Alvina Bijou – Grand Gaube
“Barbe Bleue” by Charles Perrault
“Zistwar enn Zean ki ti Egois”
“L’Homme au Sable” par Ernst Theodore Amadeus Hoffmann (German into French into Kreol)
“The Selfish Giant” by Oscar Wilde
“Bolom Disab”
STAR PRIZE:
Anne-Sophie Pyanee - Chebel
“La Belle au Bois Dormant” by Charles Perrault
Aqiil Gopee –Mare Gravier, Beau Bassin (li pe etidye deor)
“Sredni Vashtar” by Hector H Munro
Beatrice Madré – Port Louis
“Bhai Dhaness”
“Lasenn Diaman” by Guy de Maupasant.
“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Alan Poe
Benyduth Teeluck –Surinam
“Une partie de campagne” by Guy de Maupassant.
Bibi Mooneza Essackjee - Moka
“Riquet a la Houppe” by Charles Perrault.
Cecillia Louis –Riviere Noire
“La petite fille aux allumettes” by Hans Christian Andersen
Chitrashah Victoire –Baie du Tombeau
“The Black Cat” by Edgar Alan Poe
Denis Larhubarbe –Bambous
“The Asylum” by Kahlil Gibran
Dini Lallah - Albion
“The Three Questions” by Leo Tolstoy
“One of These Days” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Djameelah Abdoolah - Stanley, Rose-Hill
“Den Lille Pige Med Svovlstikkerne” by Hans Christian Andersen
Emmanuel Richon –Vacoas
“Lafnet Uver” zistwar an Tamul by S. Vriddhachalam, osi koni kuma Poudoumaippittan.
“Lalanp Lari” zistwar an Tamul by S. Vriddhachalam, osi koni kuma Poudoumaippittan.
Flavia Doherty-Bigara - Quatre Bornes
“Moby Dick” by Herman Melville (translation, adaptation and abridged).
Osi avoye by mem tradikter:
“Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift. (translation, abridged).
Geraldine Hertogs - Richelieu, Petite Riviere
“The Doll’s House” by Katherine Mansfield
Ghavishtah Appadoo - Poudre d’Or Hamlet
“Misery” by Anton Chekhov
“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare (the story)
“A Respectable Woman” by Kate Chopin.
Hansinee Beeharee - Surinam
“Un garçon honnête” by Yasujirô Ozu (orizinal ti Zapone)
“The Magic Stars”.
Hassenjee Essackjee - Moka
“La Parure” by Guy de Maupassant.
“The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
“Blanche Neige” by Frer Grimm
“As you like it” by Charles and Mary Lamb in Tales from William Shakespeare
“The Taming of the Shrew” by Charles and Mary Lamb in Tales from William Shakespeare
“Ali Baba et les 40 Voleurs” from Arabian Nights
“La Belle au Bois Dormant” by Charles Perrault
“The Horse Dealer’s Daugher” by D.H. Lawrence
“The Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde
Depi antolozi “Mostly Magic” by Frer Grimm
“Cendrillon” by Charles Perrault
“The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence
“Barbe Bleue” by Charles Perrault
“Who Dealt?” by Ring Lardner
“Mon Oncle Jules” by Guy de Maupassant
“Her First Ball” by Katherine Mansfield
“Le Petit Poucet” by Charles Perrault
“Little Girls Wiser Than Old Men” by Leo Tolstoy.
“The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde.
“Tickets, Please!” by D.H. Lawrence.
“La Chevre de Monsieur Seguin” by Alphonse Daudet.
Helena Lutchman - Pamplemousses
“Coco” by Guy de Maupassant
Hijaaz Peerboccus – St Pierre
“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
Jayen Teeroovengadum - Ville Noire
“La Petite Table, l’ane et le Baton” by Frer Grimm
“La Derniere Lecon” by Alphonse Daudet.
Jayrani Teeluck -Mohamadally – Grande Retraite, Bonne Accueuil
“Paul et Virginie” by Jacques Henri Bernadin de Saint Pierre (abreze)
Jenita Dindyal - Allee Brillant, Vacoas
“La Grenouille que se veut faire aussi gros que le Boeuf” by Jean de la Fontaine
“Number Eight” by Henry Walter Barnett.
Kalianee Ramkhelawon –Quatre Bornes
“Zistwar Letan Margoz”
Kaveesh Sing Issur - Cassis, Port Louis
“Rashomon” by Arimasa Mori (depi Japone, atraver Franse)
“Dans Le Fourré” by Arimasa Mori dan koleksyon Rashomon (depi Japone, atraver Franse)
Kavina Jugessur – Camp Ithier, Flacq
“The Emporer’s New Clothes” by Hans Christian Andersen
Kavinien Karupudayyan - Souillac.
“Sankalpamum Sambavamum” by Ammani Ammal (depi Tamul)
Kylie Theodore – Plaisance, Rose-Hill
“The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde
“The Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde.
Lindsay Dhookit – Beau Bassin
“The Selfish Giant” by Oscar Wilde
Lionel Jonathan Lajoie - New Grove
“Solitude” by Guy de Maupassant.
Lovenah Beeharry Panray - Quatre Bornes
“Where Love is, God is” by Leo Tolstoy
Mariam Bibi Wahedina –St. Pierre
“The Signalman” by Charles Dickens
Marie Brenda Dona Lacriarde - Plaine Lauzun, Port Louis.
“La Princesse au petit pois” by Hans Christian Andersen
“La Fille aux Allumettes” by Hans Christian Andersen
Marjorie Anouchka Palmyre –St Paul, Phoenix
“Barbe Bleu” by Charles Perrault.
Mary-Jane Gungadoo-Lajeunesse - Les Casernes, Curepipe
“La Petite Marchande d’allumettes” by Hans Christian Andersen
Maryse d'Espaignet –Forest-Side.
“Keepsake Mauricien – 1893: Une Histoire Fantastique de Monsieur E. Bernard”
“Krishna Koomar – Zwer Laflit” Extre Cahier Marucien 1946.
Mehreen Bibi Noormohamed - Vallee Pitot, Port Louis
“The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde.
Melhia Bissiere - Curepipe
“The Telltale Heart” by Edgar Alan Poe.
Munavvar Namdarkhan - Highlands, Phoenix
“Un Concert” dan Recueil de Feuilletons Creoles by Charles Peyrebere.
Neisha Goolam-Hossen - Reduit
“The Diamond Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant.
Narsingh Soondur - Arsenal, Terre Rouge.
“The Secret of Prosperity Unity and Hard Work” by Mahatma Anand Swami.
Oceane Lajeunesse - Les Casernes, Curepipe
“La princesse au petit Pois” by Hans Christian Andersen
Pascal Desveaux - Goodlands
“The Young King” by Oscar Wilde (adapte)
Patrick Ramdhony - Roches Brunes.
“The Lottery Ticket” by Anton Chekhov.
Prahamsa Honooman - Souillac
“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Alan Poe
Rajwantee Dalliah - Plaine Des Roches, Riv du Rempart.
“Streevidya” by Bhandaru Acchamamba (depi Telegu)
“Bonsai Bratuku” by Abburi Chayadevi (an Telegu)
“Swayamkrutam” by Tripuraneni Gopichand (depi Telegu)
Ramesh Ramdoyal - Quatre Bornes
“A visit from St. Nicholas” more commonly known as “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore.
“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
Ranjeeta Mohunsing – Belvedere, Lallmatie.
“Romeo and Juliette” - the story condensed of Romeo and Juliet by Willieam Shakespeare.
“Les Aventures de Tom Sawyer,” by Mark Twain (abridged).
Raveena Hemrage –Valetta
“The Goose that laid the Golden Eggs” by Jean de la Fontaine
Ronnie Antoine - Stanley, Rose-Hill
“The First Night” by Nutsume Soseki (orizinal ti Zapone).
Roupanjanee Cheekoory – Mount Ory
“The Mask of the Red Death” by Edgar Alan Poe.
Ryan Poinasamy – Belle Rose
“The Canary” by Katherine Mansfield
Sedley Assonne - Vacoas.
“Lappin and Lapinova” by Viginia Woolf.
“The Fun They Had” by Isaac Asimov.
Sookraj Bissessur – Ilot, D’Epinay.
“Animal Farm” (tradir, abreze) by George Orwell
Simla Devi Jugessur –Camp Ithier, Flacq
“The Fir Tree” by Hans Christian Andersen
Shoma Rotzer - Riv du Rempart (pe res Lalmayn).
“The Little Match Girl” by Hans Christian Andersen
“The Story of anHour” by Kate Chopin
Subarchand Persand - Albion
“Le loup et les bergers” by Jean de la Fontaine.
Sucheeta Kasoo-Ramen - St. Paul, Phoenix
“The Monkey’s Paw” by William Wymark Jacobs
Teebaye Moradhun –Nouvelle France
“The Odour of Chrysanthemums” by D. H. Lawrence.
Tenusha Jundoosing - Quatre Bornes
“Jack and the Beanstalk” – English Folk Tale
“The Little Mermaid” by Hans Christian Andersen
Yogmani Dausoa –Curepipe
“Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin
“A Pair of Silk Stockings” by Kate Chopin.
Zeenat Fugurally - Wooton, Phoenix
“La Parure” by Guy de Maupassant.
“Ilyas” by Leo Tolstoy (from English translation of Russian).
Zuhayr Dhunny - Camp Chapelon, Port Louis
“Le Loup et les sept chevreaux” by Frer Grimm
“Le Devi” by Nikolai Garine
“Sans Souci” by Nikolai Garine
“Les ruses du chasseur” by Feng Xuefeng (orizinal depi Lasinn)
“La Lune” by Frer Grimm
“Regret” by Guy de Maupassant
“Voila pourquoi d’eau de la mer est salee” - ansyin lezand Lasinn.
“Pourquoi les crocodiles ne mangent pas les poules” by René Basset.
“Le Renard et le Chat” by frer Grimm.
“Griffon” by Frer Grimm.
IONEWS has a video report on the event on-line, which readers can google. Reporters were present from a number of news media.
