6 1 Trafika Europe 6 with European Arab focus EDITOR’S WELCOME The term Arabesque can refer to two distinct decorative styles, as it shifts from the ancient Islamic world to Renaissance Europe. So too, Arab authors in Europe may find their styles and concerns evolving, consonant with their complex, intercultural role. In the present climate, it’s also worth recalling that Arab writers have been enlivening European letters for quite some decades. The six contemporary European-Arab writers who make up the focus of this issue represent quite a range – from hip family drama to mystical tales, from semi-fictionalizedreportage to popular song. What these authors all share is a keen awareness of their role between cultures – a perspective well worth sampling in the light of current events. Faïza Guène, a product of the Paris banlieues, has been hailed as “the defining new voice of a generation” (The Guardian) for the savvy she brings to French culture from her Algerian origins. Ibrahim al-Koni, currently living in editor’s welcome i Spain, writes in an Arabic still immersed in the folklore and spirit-view of his nomadic, Tuareg upbringing. Tahar Ben Jelloun, originally from Morocco, is the first Arab author ever to garner the coveted Prix Goncourt, among other high French honors. A committed spokesman against tyranny, he is, as he puts it, “first and foremost a storyteller, a novelist, and a fabulator who plays with words and with the imaginary” (The New Yorker). In this latest work excerpted here, he intuits an inner narrative of his real- life friend, undergoing a challenging medical procedure. French-Algerian lyricist, poet and performer Alima Hamel plumbs the depths of her cultural dual heritage in the rich tapestry of song. Be sure to click at the titles of the lyrics you find here, to hear her stunning songs in original French, mixed with some Algerian dialect. Syrian-UK author Zaheer Omareen focuses his notable efforts also as an artist, editor and curator to shine a light on an entrenching culture of violence pervading the land of his birth. Finally, Moroccan-born Najat El Hachmi has become a celebrated Catalan author, writing in Catalan and representing her adopted culture abroad, while exploring the delicate line of otherness she continues to navigate. Our European-Arab focus is counterpointed by some ii editor’s welcome (cont’d) whopping works from elsewhere in Europe. Top Hungarian playwright György Spiró storms into the limelight with his magisterial novel, Captivity, excerpted here. This nearly- 900-page bildungsroman about first-century Jewish life has just been named one of the 10 Best fiction books of 2015 by The Wall Street Journal – we spoke with him about this work here (13 minutes). Bulgarian poet Georgi Gospodinov’s The Physics of Sorrow, in English by Angela Rodel, has just been longlisted by PEN as one of the best translations of 2015. We interviewed him about this tantalizing sort-of novel, and its reflections on present-day Bulgaria,here (35 minutes). Russian Sergei Lebedev delivers a mesmerizing, intensely lyrical foray into injustices buried in the past of the Soviet countryside. Italian transplant Catherine McNamara bring us a tale of disappearance in the Italian Dolomites. We get a first-ever glimpse in English of a seminal work of Danish experimental fiction from the strange and masterful Per Højholt – this novel’s ostensible subject is a flock of ambulating ears, capable solely of self-hearing, which grew from a silence that briefly fell across Europe in 1915 – and this issue is rounded out by poetry from Ukrainian Vasyl Lozynsky. Wow. Can there be a better holiday than this? Enjoy! By the way, you can learn more about the authors & works in a separate section at the end of this issue. iii Our first book collection is here! Trafika Europe: Essential New European Literature, Vol. I Choice offerings from the first year of the Trafika Europe quarterly journal, with sumptuous black-and-white photographs of Europe from former ASCAP Director of Photography Mark Chester – an excellent gift item! Published by Penn State University Press These fourteen selections—from seven women and seven men, seven poets and seven fiction writers—represent some of the most accomplished writing in new translation from Europe today; this volume opens a window onto some emerging contours of European identity. Click here for more details and to purchase in our online shop “[D]raws rarely heard and distinctive voices from the gorgeous polyphonic chant of European literature. Occitan, Catalan, Faroese, Shetland Scots, Icelandic, Armenian and more—the languages toll like bells ringing in counterpoint to accustomed strains. These ‘trajectories of longing’, beautifully told with particulars strange and familiar, will stir your soul. —Tess Lewis, former Board Member, National Book Critics Circle Contents editor’s welcome __________________________________ i EUROPEAN ARAB AUTHORS Faïza Guène: Men Don’t Cry (novel excerpt) ____________2 Ibrahim al-Koni: The Scarecrow (excerpts) ____________18 chapter iii - the scarecrow _______________________21 chapter vii - wantahet __________________________32 Tahar Ben Jelloun: Ablation (novel excerpt) __________52 chapter iii - The Decision _________________________55 chapter iv - The Operation _______________________63 chapter v - Depression __________________________67 Alima Hamel: Lyrics & Poems ________________________82 Zaher Omareen: Tales of the Orontes River __________102 blood brothers _______________________________105 the birthmark ________________________________113 Najat El Hachmi: The Foreign Daughter (excerpt) _____120 v OTHER AUTHORS FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE György Spiró: Captivity (novel excerpt) ____________ 144 Georgi Gospodinov: The Physics of Sorrow (excerpts) _ 190 prologue ____________________________________193 the bread of sorrow ___________________________195 a past-time machine ____________________________199 Sergei Lebedev: Oblivion (novel excerpt) _____________210 Catherine McNamara: Astragal (short story) _______230 Per Højholt: Auricula (novel excerpt) ______________ 244 Vasyl Lozynsky: Five Poems ________________________266 About the Authors and Works_____________________276 A Note on the Artwork __________________________ 288 Acknowledgments ______________________________ 290 vi Men Don’t Cry Faïza Guène Faïza Guène MEN DON’T CRY (novel excerpt) 2 Men Don’t Cry Faïza Guène 3 Faïza Guène MEN DON’T CRY (novel excerpt) “What makes you say that? You don’t think we love you?” Dounia rolled her eyes and shrugged. Then, she took a swig of lemonade straight from the bottle, which my mother hated more than anything else. “And what about the glasses in the kitchen, are they just for decoration?” “It’s all right, okay, I haven’t got Aids.” “Tffffou!” 4 MEN DON’T CRY chapter ii - dounia Translated by Sarah Ardizzone uring her teenage a boyfriend, a cat, a bedroom years, Dounia had she didn’t share with anybody D a best friend: Julie else, and she got to throw Guérin. That was when the parties in her dad’s garage on troubles began. Julie set in her birthday. motion the psychological A s f a r a s D o u n i a w a s c o n c e r n e d , process of my sister’s Julie was living the dream. ‘Christine-isation’. My sister was mesmerised Julie was popular with all the by this, to the point that she boys at the lycée: she was was happy to play the-friend- skinny, wore designer clothes in-the-shadows, the one who and kept a diary. Her parents gets told: “Hey! Look after my sent her to summer camp in bag!” the Languedoc-Roussillon. Her I should point out that my mum let her go to night-time sister’s life was the exact concerts and pin up posters of opposite of Julie Guérin’s. an American boy band in her bedroom. I don’t remember Dounia wore a brace for the singers’ names, but they the three years she was at were black and bare-chested. the lycée, as well as a pair of glasses. She didn’t know Julie also had platform shoes, 5 faïza guène what to do with her long frizzy And then, one day: “Mum, brown hair, so she braided why don’t you ever say ‘I love and coiled it tightly. Next, she you’? Julie’s mum says it to twisted it in a thousand and her all the time.” one messy ways to form a sort My mother was so taken aback of up-do. She was overweight, that for a moment she was and hid her body under baggy lost for words. Her big brown polo shirts and sweatpants. khôl-lined eyes bulged. She wasn’t allowed to go out, she shared her bedroom “What makes you say that? with my other sister, and as You don’t think we love you?” for posters, boyfriends, or Dounia rolled her eyes and holidays in the Languedoc- shrugged. Then, she took a Roussillon – let alone parties swig of lemonade straight in our dad’s garage – they from the bottle, which my were all out of the question. mother hated more than So Dounia’s last resort was anything else. a diary, oh yes, because of course there was no danger “And what about the glasses of my father reading it. in the kitchen, are they just for decoration?” Spending time with Julie made Dounia feel that she “It’s all right, okay, I haven’t was growing wings. She would got Aids.” say things like: “At least Julie’s “Tffffou!” allowed to…” and “Julie’s so lucky…” Dounia was becoming insolent. And my mother, as 6 men don’t cry usual, produced her weapon of school because he needed of personal mass destruction: me to look after my brothers the blame game. and sisters. He raised us to be good people!” Aim. Fire! “D’you really think you raise “Your grandfather was a your children to be good revolutionary who fought to people by locking them up?” free his country.