Translations from Ukrainian into Norwegian (since 1991 till 2012) Research by Next Page foundation for Book Platform project. Iryna Sabor1 February 2013 1 Iryna Sabor – specialist in international relations and Scandinavian countries, translator, attaché of Ukrainian Embassy in Norway. ”Testamentet” I. Introduction Taras Sjevtsjenko The history of Ukrainian-Norwegian literary contacts dates back to a Nеr jeg dшr, begrav meg - ber few centuries despite its sporadic character. It is rooted back in late jeg 19th century national romantism when both nations were struggling - i en grav pе sletten for the rights of their languages, culture and state. i mitt kjжre Ukraina, - gi meg denne retten Derfra vil jeg kunne skjelne At the turn of the 20th century Ukrainian literary circles were well hvete-еkersuset, acquainted with Norwegian literature. Ivan Franko translated works kunne skue Dnjepr og dal- by B.Bjornson, Vasyl Stefanyk – by A. Garborg, Lesya Ukrainka søkk, deeply studied “new dramaturgy” of Henrik Ibsen. Leading høre elvebruset. Når så Dnjepr en gang skal Norwegian writers also were interested in Ukrainian literary process. føre Great Norwegian author, Noble prize laureate Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson blodet fra tyrannen (1832–1910) was in correspondence with Ivan Franko, read Taras ut mot Svartehavet, Shevchenko, Ivan Franko and Olha Kobylanska works. Trying to vil jeg gjenoppstå for annen drag Europe’s attention to Ukrainians’ rights for identity, Bjørnson gang, forlate Dnjepr og dalsøkk, published articles in Viennese magazine Ukrainische Rundschau knele ned og messe. supporting Ukrainian national liberation movements. - Hittil har en sеdan løsning ingen interesse... Remarkably enough one of the first if not the first translation of Fшrst begrav meg. Sе til Ukrainian literature pieces into Norwegian was a folk-tale “A reisning! Mitten”. First published as a separate book for children by Ny Dag Kast av deres lenker! Lшsriv deres edle frihet (later Falken Forlag) in 1956 Ukrainian folk tale illustrated by Soviet fra tyrannens renker! artist-animalist Ye.Rachov went through six editions in Norway and Husk sе ogsе meg - is still popular in amateurs children’s theaters. The substantial Sjevtsjenko - med et vennlig component of “Mitten’s” success is a skillful translation by the great minne, Norwegian writer Alf Prøysen done through Russian edition. nеr den nye frihets time godt og vel er inne.” In Soviet times Norwegian literary circles were interested in Taras Shevchenko “Testament”. development of Ukrainian literary process basically in the context of Translated by Martin Nag, active development of communist movement in the country between first published in newspaper the early 1950s and 1970s. Seeing mainly calls to class struggle in the Arbeiderbladet 2/7-1964. poetry of Taras Shevchenko, famous Norwegian specialist in Slavic Reprinted in newspaper Friheten, 41 2008. Studies Martin Nag (1929) made a brilliant Norwegian translation of “Testament”which was first published in leftish newspaper Arbeiderbladet in 1964. (Martin Nag) Born 1927 in Stavanger. In 1950s translation of Vynnychenko’s drama “Lie” (Vynnyčenko Norwegian expert in literarure Volodymyr. Løgn : drama i tre akter) was published. Most likely it studies, writer and translator was the only translation directly from Ukrainian as Norwegian from Russian. In 1962 presented thesis «K. Hamsun in Russian writer and specialist in Slavic studies Nina Arkina (1891-1980) spiritual life». Member of immigrated to Oslo from Odessa. Norwegian Communist party. *Photo Wikipedia In the beginning of 20th century the attention to Ukrainian literature was dragged by Chornobyl catastrophe which painfully touched Norway. Astonished by limited information about the impact of nuclear explosion in Ukraine combined with reports about radiation pollution of some Far North regions, Norwegians stimulated demand for journalists’ reports and fiction which could help to realize the extent of the tragedy and to understand the World after Chornobyl. In 1989, on the wave of readers' anxiety, the novel by V.Yavorivsky “Maria with Wormwood at the end of 20 th Page 2 of 21 century” was published in Norwegian translation accomplished V.Yavorivsky “Maria with by experienced linguist and translator Marit Bjerkeng. Wormwood at the end of th 20 century” Translated by Marit Bjerkeng. Nevertheless, until 1991 the tradition of Norwegian translations – Oslo, Aschehoug, 1989 of Ukrainian literature was not established. All translations listed (Vladimir Javorivskij. Malurt above, possibly but for one, were done from Russian. One of the ved еrhundrets slutt. Oversatt av main obstacles for the export of Ukrainian literature is the Marit Bjerkeng - Oslo: absence of translation school. Aschehoug, 1989) In the times of cold war North-East Norwegian borders were *Picture from the publishing parts of the “line of tectonic fracture” between NATO and USSR. house web-site Therefore Norwegian government paid strategic attention to Russian language and culture studies. Until 1991, 319 translations from Russian were published in Norway. Obviously such an intensive translation activity shaped the Marit Bjerkeng Born in 1949. whole environment of bright experts. The Russian-Norwegian Translator, assistant Translation School has long-term traditions and reputation. professor of Finnmark Opportunities to activate contacts with Russia after the fall of the University, teaches Russian Iron Curtain helped to foster interest to the literature of the “big language and literature. neighbour”. On the other hand, it is obvious that until 1991 the Author of three volume interest in Russian literature was motivated by official Oslo’s textbook of Russian as a security interests. In a 4-million inhabitant country it did not foreign language for high leave any spare resources for any deep studying of other Slavic school students. Translated national literatures. works of M.Gogol, V.Yavorivsky, L.Ulitskaya, F.Dostoyevsky, M.Shyshkin Modest statistics of Ukrainian-Norwegian translations did not change much with the fall of the Iron Curtain. Until 1991 five *Photo from web-site of translated pieces of Ukrainian literature were published in Norwegian authors’ union Norway and only three after 1991. Nevertheless, when Ukraine became independent conditions and therefore tendencies in the field of such translations fundamentally changed. The number of agents rose, which formed conditions for more active export of Ukrainian literature to Norway in future perspective. Little by little, direct contacts between literature circles as well as between main market players of both countries are being built. First steps in establishing of translation school are being made. Page 3 of 21 II. Review of publishing and translation market in Norway. Norwegians make up an actively reading nation which critically evaluates the quality of printed production. When it comes to the share of books read per inhabitant, Norway keeps a leading position in the world. Each Norwegian reads 16 books per year on average which consists of 5,1 books borrowed from library and 11 books bought in retail market. According to the study of readers demand Bokundersøkelsen 2010, completed by Norwegian Publishers’ Association, 90% of men and 97% of women aged over 15 read at least one book during last year. Moreover, books remain the most popular gift in Norway. Pic.1. Dynamics of daily-basis readers number, 2001-2011. % of the total population *Source: State statistics Bureau. However the success of Norwegian publishing is based not only on high demand. State support and comfortable market conditions also play significant role. Without state protection policy it would not be possible for the publishing market of such a small country to compete with English language literature and to provide free and equal development of three official languages (bokmål, nynorsk and saami). During post-war period Norway put a lot of efforts into recovery of the country after fascist occupation. As in many poor European countries, consumption of culture by the population was a secondary issue. In the 1960's, realizing the importance of increasing the level of education in the country, the head of Labour government E.Gerhardsen made a decision to implement actions encouraging population to read, increasing quality of book publishing and facilitating an access to world and national classics for an average citizen. The main achievement of the government was the founding of Norwegian Arts Council Kulturråd in 1965. Since then the Council is implementing a programme funded by the Ministry of Culture from state budget which provides annual purchase of 1,000 copies of each book for adults which went through Quality Committee of the Council (this makes up around 220 titles) and 1,500 copies of books for children (around 130 titles per year). In addition, the Council annually purchases 1,000 copies of around 100 titles of translated literature. All purchased books are distributed for free through well-spread network of state and school libraries. Moreover the Council provides scholarships and grants for socially important publishing projects. The Council’s funds in 2010 amounted to 430 million Norwegian krones (approx. 76 million USD). The market is also stimulated by the VAT 0-rate for bookselling which decreases the final price for customers by 25% and increases sales and accelerates profitability of publishing projects. According to the data of Norwegian Publishers’ Association (which covers around 80% of