Kemal’s novels now available in Chinese
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 Three
novels of well-known Turkish author Orhan Kemal have been
translated into Chinese under the auspices of TEDA, a
Culture and Tourism Ministry project to publish Turkish
cultural, artistic and literature works in other languages.
Three of Kemal’s novels, “Avare Yıllar” (Idle Years),
“Cemile” and “Baba Evi” (My Father’s House) were translated
into Chinese as part of the project. Some 33 of his books
have been translated into 13 languages so far.
Speaking to Anatolia news agency, Kemal’s son, Işık Öğütçü,
said the view that holds that “if you want to know the
people of a country, you need to read the realistic writers
of that country” was common, and that the works of his
father were still valid today.
Speaking about the significance of the Translation
Subvention Program of Turkey (TEDA) project that was
initiated by the ministry in 2005, Öğütçü said: “Publishing
houses around the world have discovered Orhan Kemal and his
novels have been translated into 13 languages. If you have
works on important issues, they draw attention.”
He said Kemal’s novels drew attention because they depicted
real life and social relations and were easy to read.
“All the novels that have been translated are his
autobiographical novels. In these books, the life of my
family – actually the life of ordinary people – is revealed.
They are very special to me because they tell us about us,”
Öğütçü said.
Isik Ogutcu said Kemal’s novels had so far been translated
into Greek, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, English, Arabic,
Albanian, Bulgarian, Urdu, Serbian, Russian and German.
In “Baba Evi,” Kemal recounts the first years of his
childhood and youth under the family pressure; “Avare
Yıllar” relates the idle years of a poor, young person,
while “Cemile” illustrates the hard conditions of factory
laborers through the story of a girl working for a textile
factory and a clerk who wants to marry her.
“Kemal’s books have been presented to Chinese readers by
China International Radio Press [CHIRP] through the
translation of Yongmin Xia, Tang Jiankun and Yin Tingting,”
Öğütçü said.
Kemal, who was born in the southern province of Adana in
1914 and died in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1970, is known for his
realist novels. His first poem was published in the journal
Yedigün.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 |
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