Catalan Books in English

[Comte Arnau]

Just a little taste (or Part One), in chronological order, of probably the best among invisible literatures in terms of quantity and quality. I selected a few great writers from Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands and Aragon.

· Note: These are great books. Yet for some reason, some of the great books in Catalan modern literature have been translated into several languages but not into English yet...


Medieval Catalan:

1276) THE BOOK OF DEEDS (LLIBRE DELS FEYTS), by King JAMES I


http://ia700802.us.archive.org/zipview.php?zip=/14/items/olcovers140/olcovers140-L.zip&file=1409348-L.jpg


1284) THE BOOK OF THE LOVER AND THE BELOVED (LLIBRE D'AMIC E AMAT), by Ramon LLULL

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51vzO4ZTQwL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


1381) BOOK OF FORTUNE AND PRUDENCE (LLIBRE DE FORTUNA E PRUDÈNCIA), by Bernat METGE


http://www.editorialbarcino.cat/media/catalog/product/cache/2/image/365x570/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/e/x/explorar0006.jpg


15th century) CURIAL AND GUELFA (CURIAL E GÜELFA), unknown author


http://images.borders.com.au/images/bau/97890272/9789027240088/0/0/plain/curial-and-guelfa.jpg


1490) TIRANT THE WHITE KNIGHT (TIRANT LO BLANCH), by Joanot MARTORELL
~ ' The best book in the world ', said Cervantes ~


http://ia700808.us.archive.org/zipview.php?zip=/18/items/olcovers299/olcovers299-L.zip&file=2992347-L.jpghttp://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31LWZKwgWYL._SL500_AA266_PIkin3,BottomRight,-5,34_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

......

Modern Catalan:

1905) SOLITUDE (SOLITUD), by Víctor Català (real name Caterina Albert)


http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1186325391l/1646870.jpg


1961) THE DOLLS' ROOM (BEARN O LA SALA DE LES NINES), by Llorenç VILLALONGA


http://ecimages.kobobooks.com/Image.ashx?imageID=woq_LdR85EiM6yySXm7rBg&Type=Full


1962) THE TIME OF THE DOVES (LA PLAÇA DEL DIAMANT), by Mercè RODOREDA


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WMVG2NECL._SX500_.jpg


1975) HORSES INTO THE NIGHT (CAVALLS CAP A LA FOSCA), by Baltasar PORCEL


http://images.indiebound.com/337/283/9781557283337.jpg


1986) O'CLOCK, 16 stories by Quim MONZÓ


http://ia700804.us.archive.org/zipview.php?zip=/20/items/olcovers240/olcovers240-L.zip&file=2404666-L.jpg


1988) THE TOWPATH (CAMÍ DE SIRGA), by Jesús MONCADA


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_C996TqhrmD0/SYmHoQHXf5I/AAAAAAAAAG4/EK5RYqQ2k6w/s320/thetowpath.png


Postwar and contemporary Catalan poetry, translated by Rosenthal.


http://bks8.books.google.com.tw/books?id=UA0K_T7iqFUC&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl http://books.google.com/books?id=5nsnAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1


2002) COLD SKIN (LA PELL FREDA), by Albert SÁNCHEZ PIÑOL


http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328849789l/174174.jpg

[Teyrn]

Interesting post, thanks and as to your comment:

Note: These are great books. Yet for some reason, some of the great books in Catalan modern literature have been translated into several languages but not into English yet...

Probabably because Catalan isn't widely-spoken outside of its home area? There's probably only a few hundred Catalan speakers in the U.S. in comparison to the millions of Spanish speakers.

[Comte Arnau]

Interesting post

Thank you. :)


Note: These are great books. Yet for some reason, some of the great books in Catalan modern literature have been translated into several languages but not into English yet...

Probabably because Catalan isn't widely-spoken outside of its home area? There's probably only a few hundred Catalan speakers in the U.S. in comparison to the millions of Spanish speakers.

Oh, but I'm not complaining about the number of translations. Last year, more than 125 books in Catalan were translated into other languages, not bad at all for a literature mainly addressed to just 10 million people, similar to the Swedish one. What I found weird is that I've noticed some of the main works by important Catalan authors have been translated into languages such as Hungarian, Dutch or Japanese, but not into English, language in which often you'll find instead a minor work by that same author. It is a bit weird... :(

[Teyrn]

Thank you. :)

Oh, but I'm not complaining about the number of translations. Last year, more than 125 books in Catalan were translated into other languages, not bad at all for a literature mainly addressed to just 10 million people, similar to the Swedish one. What I found weird is that I've noticed some of the main works by important Catalan authors have been translated into languages such as Hungarian, Dutch or Japanese, but not into English, language in which often you'll find instead a minor work by that same author. It is a bit weird... :(

That does seem kind of odd because there are organizations that are dedicated to the support of Catalanism in the English-speaking world:

Anglo - Catalan Society (UK)

http://www.anglo-catalan.org/ << Their books are interesting if you can find them.

North American Catalan Society

http://nacs-catalanstudies.org/

And others.

Lack of Catalan authors translated into English might be because of its use being limited to native speakers and scholars? I dunno.

[Racial Observer 1814]

Catalan is a beautiful language. 10 million speakers? I did not know there were that many, that makes me happy.

[Teyrn]

Catalan is a beautiful language. 10 million speakers? I did not know there were that many, that makes me happy.

It's like Occitan- one of the lesser-known Romance languages.

[Comte Arnau]

That does seem kind of odd because there are organizations that are dedicated to the support of Catalanism in the English-speaking world:

Anglo - Catalan Society (UK)

http://www.anglo-catalan.org/ << Their books are interesting if you can find them.

North American Catalan Society

http://nacs-catalanstudies.org/

And others.

Lack of Catalan authors translated into English might be because of its use being limited to native speakers and scholars? I dunno.

That is why I actually find it weird. Yes, Catalan is not a language you can learn everywhere (although there are more universities to learn it in Germany and the UK than in Castilian-speaking Spain :D), but there are certainly scholars and English writers/translators living in Catalonia with a very good command of the language. And some of the difficult translations are even promoted. But it seems that the Germans and sometimes the French are more interested than the English about it. Obviously most of the translations from Catalan are always into Spanish.


Catalan is a beautiful language. 10 million speakers? I did not know there were that many, that makes me happy.

:)

10 to 11 millions speakers, although this number includes L2 (Second language) speakers. Native/Bilingual speakers are 7 to 8 millions.


It's like Occitan- one of the lesser-known Romance languages.

Occitan was vigorous in the Middle Ages (the most vigorous Romance literature in the 12th/13th centuries) and it had a significant rebirth in the late Romanticism, with the great Mirèio by Mistral (Nobel Prize was going to be given to Occitan Mistral and Catalan Guimerà in 1904, but Spaniards didn't allow the Catalan to have it, so the Nobel was shared between Mistral and a second-rate Spanish playwright). Yet after that, Occitan literature has not been what it used to be any more. Unfortunately, one can't compare the vigour of Occitan today with that of Catalan, a language working as any official country language, despite the fact we aren't one yet.

[Teyrn]

That is why I actually find it weird. Yes, Catalan is not a language you can learn everywhere (although there are more universities to learn it in Germany and the UK than in Castilian-speaking Spain :D), but there are certainly scholars and English writers/translators living in Catalonia with a very good command of the language. And some of the difficult translations are even promoted. But it seems that the Germans and sometimes the French are more interested than the English about it. Obviously most of the translations from Catalan are always into Spanish.

Well, the lack of translators into English in the Catalonian areas might be because they perceive a lack of interest in the Anglosphere. In the U.S. there's no exposure to Catalan as a language or Catalonia as a region. For example I was talking to this Puerto Rican girl I work with and the subject of languages came up and I said to her something like Okay I'm going to say something to you. Hola! Que parla el catala? I probably said it shittily and incorrectly- but I was just saying what I've read here in there. That's about all I can say outside of stock phrases like "good day," "hello," "good bye," etc. My Catalan is about as good as my Spanish (shitty!) and, unlike English to Spanish dictionaries, finding an English to Catalan dictionary in the U.S. is impossible (I've tried), which might be an example of the lack of awareness of the language in the U.S.

[Neanderthal]

Is there an Aztec - Catalan society?

[Racial Observer 1814]

L'Occitan aussi c'est une langue belle.

[Comte Arnau]

Well, the lack of translators into English in the Catalonian areas might be because they perceive a lack of interest in the Anglosphere.

Well, the lack of interest probably comes from the lack of visibility, something that happens when you are not an independent country. Smaller countries like Denmark surely receive more attention, for instance. And it is a pity that because of it many great writers are mostly ignored by the average reader. American famous critic Harold Bloom included several Catalan writers in its Western canon and praised poet Salvador Espriu, saying he certainly should have received a Nobel. Others praised short stories by Calders, comparing him with Pirandello, Poe and Kafka, just as they praise Monzó these days. It's just they are mainly unknown because they don't belong to a major literature. Recently, though, it seems as if more and more publishing houses from around the world have realized about the vigour of this invisible literature. :)

But it is not as if the interest of the Anglosphere is that little. English is still the third or fourth language to which most Catalan books have been translated. (Obviously Catalan shouldn't be compared to Spanish, but to languages of a similar size: Swedish, Czech, Greek, Hungarian...) It's rather the choice of the translated works what surprised me. But I'm convinced this will be gradually solved. ;)


In the U.S. there's no exposure to Catalan as a language or Catalonia as a region.

I know, I shiver whenever I ask where people locate Barcelona. I'd better not hear their answers. :D


For example I was talking to this Puerto Rican girl I work with and the subject of languages came up and I said to her something like Okay I'm going to say something to you. Hola! Que parla el catala? I probably said it shittily and incorrectly- but I was just saying what I've read here in there. That's about all I can say outside of stock phrases like "good day," "hello," "good bye," etc. My Catalan is about as good as my Spanish (shitty!)

Well, I guess that, if the girl hadn't any connection or roots at all with the Catalanosphere, she must have wondered what the heck you were asking her. :D


unlike English to Spanish dictionaries, finding an English to Catalan dictionary in the U.S. is impossible (I've tried), which might be an example of the lack of awareness of the language in the U.S.

I guess so. A pity, because some of the first settlers in Florida were Catalan-speaking Majorcans. Apparently some typical surnames persist in the area.

Well, at least you know about us. :)


On a regular basis, I use this one:

http://www.hj23.org/docroot/imgs/universitat-coneixement/central/biblio/lbi/LBI25/IMG_LBI25_08.jpg

There are also several online ones.


Is there an Aztec - Catalan society?

Hmmmm, not that I've heard of. I know many Catalans went to Mexico after the Spanish Civil War, so there must be societies or "casals" there, but an Aztec-Catalan one... I doubt it.


L'Occitan aussi c'est une langue belle.

It is.

One of the oldest, if not the oldest, literary writings in a Romance language is the Canço de Santa Fe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can%C3%A7%C3%B3_de_Santa_Fe) (written in the 1060s), and it is impossible to say if it is in Occitan or Catalan. At that early stage, two very close languages still. :)

[Teyrn]

Well, the lack of interest probably comes from the lack of visibility, something that happens when you are not an independent country. Smaller countries like Denmark surely receive more attention, for instance. And it is a pity that because of it many great writers are mostly ignored by the average reader. American famous critic Harold Bloom included several Catalan writers in its Western canon and praised poet Salvador Espriu, saying he certainly should have received a Nobel. Others praised short stories by Calders, comparing him with Pirandello, Poe and Kafka, just as they praise Monzó these days. It's just they are mainly unknown because they don't belong to a major literature. Recently, though, it seems as if more and more publishing houses from around the world have realized about the vigour of this invisible literature. :)

But it is not as if the interest of the Anglosphere is that little. English is still the third or fourth language to which most Catalan books have been translated. (Obviously Catalan shouldn't be compared to Spanish, but to languages of a similar size: Swedish, Czech, Greek, Hungarian...) It's rather the choice of the translated works what surprised me. But I'm convinced this will be gradually solved. ;)

I'm a reader of world literature, translated into English of course. I've tried to find examples of Catalan literature in English but, outside of a few examples (poems, short folk tales and such) in Spanish anthologies, there's not much that I've been able to find. There aren't any particular publishing firms that specialize in English translations of Catalan books and the Catalans who write in English that I've found tend to be slightly on the amateur side and usually located online (i.e. I've got an e-book that this fellow wrote, in English, about the British involvement in the Catalonia region during the War of the Spanish Succession). Ties in with my interest in European history as it leads up to the American Revolution and in European literature in general. Try introducing Cervantes or Malory or some other noted European writer to the usual American idiot, people used to Harry Potter or those awful Twilight books, and you can see why I usually won't talk to people about what I'm reading.

[Comte Arnau]

Teresa Pàmies, an intellectual woman who had to live in exile but started to write when she came back to Catalonia in the '70s, has died today in Granada at the age of 93.

http://www.ara.cat/cultura/Teresa_Pamies_ARAIMA20120313_0093_23.jpg

I've searched online one of her first and best-known works, Testament a Praga (1970), which she wrote in collaboration with her father. And yes, apparently it exists in English. :thumb001:

http://www.unprsouth.com/A_testament_in_prague.JPG