On Thursday, Oct 1 at 6:30 p.m., Trinity students gathered in the Hist Conversation Room to celebrate the launch of the first issue of volume fifteen of non-profit literary publication Trinity Journal of Literary Translation (JoLT), founded in 2013. The theme of JoLT’s latest edition is “Rebellion,” a sentiment which is alive at the heart of each carefully-translated piece of poetry and prose, from Baudelaire to Machado and beyond. This issue invites readers to “consider interpretations of rebellion through a wide range of literary genres in translation: self-affirmation, resistance to oppression, empowerment of people.” As artfully-dressed students sipped white wine from stemmed glasses, JoLT Editor-in-Chief Jules Nati introduced the issue and invited contributors to read their translated pieces.
First, Tyna Szwiec, a postgraduate student who grew up in Poland, read her English- translation of “Do prostego człowieka,” (or “To the Simple Man”) by Julian Tuwim, a poem which challenges propaganda and conveys anti-war sentiments. Szwiec read the piece first in English and again in Polish, bringing new life to the piece with its original linguistic form. Next, Cyril Huziev read from his translation of Russian poet Zinaida Hippius’s “Zametki o chelovechestve,” or “Notes on Humanity,” a convention-breaking piece that explores the “political and social cataclysms” of 20th century Russia, as noted in Huziev’s introduction to the piece.
Next, Deputy Editor of JoLT and Polish native Jes Paluchowska read from their translation of the 1939 Polish poem “Runą” by Zbigniew Turek, who wrote under the pseudonym Adam Śreżoga. “When read vertically, it praises Stalin and the Soviet regime, but upon horizontal reading the text reveals itself to be pro-Polish propaganda,” reads Paluchowska’s introduction to the translated work. Each translated piece is printed next to its original form, allowing readers to experience the works in their full configurations.
Over eight different languages are represented in the issue, from Irish to Kazakh to Czech, and many of the translators who read at the launch offered context to the works they translated, drawing from their own cultural knowledge to enrich the experience of reading and listening to the pieces.
Published twice yearly, the issues also feature student-produced artwork that enhances the translations with visual manifestations of the issue’s theme. Fourteen of approximately thirty submitted translations were published in this issue, selected by a staff of twelve editors. Editor-in-Chief Jules Nati explained that translation can be a personal and intimate form of understanding a piece of text. “For translations, you think your own voice disappears behind the translations, but it’s actually not true,” Nati said. “With every word chosen, you can also see how the person translating is feeling.”
For those interested in trying their hand at translating a favorite work, JoLT is currently accepting submissions for the next issue of their fifteenth volume, centered around the theme of “Mysticism.” Submissions close Sunday, October 25 and can be sent to trinityjolt@gmail.com. Submissions are also open for visual art related to the theme of mysticism. The newest issue can be read virtually on JoLT’s website.
