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University of Arkansas Daily Headlines, AR
Jan 31 2007
Translating the World of 'Skylark Farm'
Thanks to a new translation by the University of Arkansas' Geoffrey
Brock, the novel called an 'Armenian Schindler's List' is now
accessible for readers in English.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Geoffrey Brock's translation from Italian of the
debut novel by Antonia Arslan, brings the story of her family's
struggle for survival in the Armenian genocide to the
English-speaking world. The Kirkus Review calls Skylark Farm an
"Armenian Schindler's List." The Bloomberg reviewer praised the
"impressive subtlety" of Brock's translation of Arslan's "powerful
account."
Brock is assistant professor of creative writing and translation in
the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the
University of Arkansas.
In the prologue to her novel, Arslan remembers herself as a small
child savoring the names of relatives who lived all over the world.
She thinks of Arussiag in Beirut, Zareh in Aleppo, Nevart in Fresno
and Michel in Copacabana as travelers.
In fact, they are among the few survivors from her family of the
Armenian genocide of 1915, and she uses bits of memories to write a
novel that tells their story and the story of those killed. Arslan
grew up in Italy, the granddaughter of an Armenian who was living in
Venice at the time of the genocide. The men and boys of his family
back home in Anatolia were killed one night in May and buried beneath
the tennis court of the family's country house, Skylark Farm.
Brock, an award-winning translator of other Italian authors, seeks to
recreate the literary experience of a work in translation. In the
case of Arslan's novel, even the translation of the title was a
question. In Italian, the novel's title is La Masseria delle
Allodole.
"It was a difficult title to translate," Brock said. "The word
'masseria' refers to a kind of farm, though it isn't the standard
word for farm. And in the novel, it's used specifically to refer to a
house that presumably used to be a farmhouse but is now really a
country house. I strongly considered The House of Skylarks as a
title, but the phrase in Italian has a strong rustic overtone that I
wanted to maintain."
Acknowledging the many who helped reconstruct that tragic time,
Arslan thanks "all the gentle, daydreaming Armenians who, in Milan
and Rome and the world over, welcomed me and nourished me with
ancient images and unforeseen kinship and gave me the gift of
treasured memories."
Brock noted that the novel has been very popular in Italy and is
being made into a film by Italian directors, the Taviani brothers.
Brock received the 2006 Lewis Galantière Award from the American
Translators Association for his translations of Umberto Eco's novel,
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. In 2006, he also received the
John Frederick Nims Memorial Prize from Poetry magazine for his
translation of a poem by Giovanni Pascoli. His current projects
include an anthology of 20th century Italian poetry, for which he
received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005, and a second collection of
his own poems, tentatively called Voices Bright Flags.
The American edition of Skylark Farm is published by Alfred A. Knopf,
New York.
###
Contact:
Geoffrey Brock, assistant professor, creative writing and translation
J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences
(479) 575-4238, [email protected]
Barbara Jaquish, science and research communications officer
University Relations
(479) 575-2683, [email protected]
Jan 31 2007
Translating the World of 'Skylark Farm'
Thanks to a new translation by the University of Arkansas' Geoffrey
Brock, the novel called an 'Armenian Schindler's List' is now
accessible for readers in English.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Geoffrey Brock's translation from Italian of the
debut novel by Antonia Arslan, brings the story of her family's
struggle for survival in the Armenian genocide to the
English-speaking world. The Kirkus Review calls Skylark Farm an
"Armenian Schindler's List." The Bloomberg reviewer praised the
"impressive subtlety" of Brock's translation of Arslan's "powerful
account."
Brock is assistant professor of creative writing and translation in
the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the
University of Arkansas.
In the prologue to her novel, Arslan remembers herself as a small
child savoring the names of relatives who lived all over the world.
She thinks of Arussiag in Beirut, Zareh in Aleppo, Nevart in Fresno
and Michel in Copacabana as travelers.
In fact, they are among the few survivors from her family of the
Armenian genocide of 1915, and she uses bits of memories to write a
novel that tells their story and the story of those killed. Arslan
grew up in Italy, the granddaughter of an Armenian who was living in
Venice at the time of the genocide. The men and boys of his family
back home in Anatolia were killed one night in May and buried beneath
the tennis court of the family's country house, Skylark Farm.
Brock, an award-winning translator of other Italian authors, seeks to
recreate the literary experience of a work in translation. In the
case of Arslan's novel, even the translation of the title was a
question. In Italian, the novel's title is La Masseria delle
Allodole.
"It was a difficult title to translate," Brock said. "The word
'masseria' refers to a kind of farm, though it isn't the standard
word for farm. And in the novel, it's used specifically to refer to a
house that presumably used to be a farmhouse but is now really a
country house. I strongly considered The House of Skylarks as a
title, but the phrase in Italian has a strong rustic overtone that I
wanted to maintain."
Acknowledging the many who helped reconstruct that tragic time,
Arslan thanks "all the gentle, daydreaming Armenians who, in Milan
and Rome and the world over, welcomed me and nourished me with
ancient images and unforeseen kinship and gave me the gift of
treasured memories."
Brock noted that the novel has been very popular in Italy and is
being made into a film by Italian directors, the Taviani brothers.
Brock received the 2006 Lewis Galantière Award from the American
Translators Association for his translations of Umberto Eco's novel,
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. In 2006, he also received the
John Frederick Nims Memorial Prize from Poetry magazine for his
translation of a poem by Giovanni Pascoli. His current projects
include an anthology of 20th century Italian poetry, for which he
received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005, and a second collection of
his own poems, tentatively called Voices Bright Flags.
The American edition of Skylark Farm is published by Alfred A. Knopf,
New York.
###
Contact:
Geoffrey Brock, assistant professor, creative writing and translation
J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences
(479) 575-4238, [email protected]
Barbara Jaquish, science and research communications officer
University Relations
(479) 575-2683, [email protected]