Lögberg-Heimskringla - 23.11.1972, Blaðsíða 2

2
LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 23. NÓVEMBER 1972
Högberg - Jöcimskmsía
ÚJrlUi tí in tiujltiili
Dr. RICHARD BECK:
Timely Translations trom Present-day
lcelandic Literature
Haraldur J. Hamar and
Heimir Hannesson, co-editors
of the highly successful and
widely read periodical Atlan-
tica & Iceland Review, have
expanded their field of cul-
tural activity with the project-
ed publication of a series of
books under the general title
of Iceland Review Library, in
which Iceland Review, to use
their own words, “plans to
present significant samples of
Icelandic w r i t i n g, old and
new, to the Egnlish-speaking
reader.” This is, indeed, a
most commendable undertak-
ing, and especially timely
with respect to present-day
Icelandic literature.
The two first volumes in
the series have already ap-
peared, the first one, Poems
of Today (From Twenty-five
Icelandic Poets), last fall, the
second one, Shorí Slories of
Today (By Twelve Modern
Icelandic Authors), this past
summer. Both are translated
by Alan Boucher, who is
well-known to readers of Ice-
land Review for his transla-
tions and other noteworthy
contributions. Some of his
translations have also been
reprinted in Lögberg-Heims-
kringla. The volumes under
review will be dealt with in
the order of appearance,
Poems of Today receiving
first consideration.
Mr. Boucher’s forword to it
opens with the fol'l'owing
statemfent: “That poetry is un-
translatable is a truism and,
like most truisms, no more
than partly true. All transla-
tion is more or less an ap-
proximation, though there is
little doubt that the loss is
proportionately greater in the
case of poetry.”
After considerable experi-
ence in the field of evaluat-
ing and editing translations
from Icelandic poetry into
English, and for years discuss-
ing with my University stu-
dents such and similar trans-
lations from the other Scandi-
navian literatures, I am heart-
ily in agreement with Mr.
Boucher’s succinct statement
on the subject. Furthermore,
the contention that poetry is
untranslatable, is refuted by
the fact, that there are al-
ready available in English and
other languages many very
fine translations from Icelan-
dic poetry, and, on the other
hand, Icelandic literature has,
as is well-known, been great-
ly enriched by excellent
translations of works of poet-
ry and individual poems from
many lamguages.
Mr. Boucher also lays down
in the forword the guide lines
which he has followed in se-
lecting the poems for transla-
tion, and the limits which he
has placed upon himself in
that respect:
“For the choice of poems,
as for their interpretation, I
take full responsibility. It has
been based as much on trans-
latability as intrinsic merit,
•and a number of poems —
and poets — have reluctantly
excluded either for lack of
space or because I felt myself
unable to do them even rudi-
mentary justice. How far T
have succeeded with the
twenty-five included here, I
leave others to judge.”
It has always been my firm
conviction that an appraisai
of a literary or a scholarly
work, not least a work such
as the one here under review,
should be made in the light
of the author’s purpose and
how well he achieved his goal.
I shall apply that yardstick
in my brief estimate of Mr.
Boucher’s Poems of Today.
A comparison with previous
collections of translations into
English from Icelandic, and
with other anthologies of such
translations from the Scandi-
navian languages, Icelandic
included, reveals that only the
six oldest poets included in
Poefs of Today are represent-
ed in the collections and an-
thologies referred to above,
and, as is natural, because of
the date of publications, only
in the most recent ones. This
is not said in criticism of the
collectors of transliators of
such volumes of translations,
but rather to emphasize the
timeliness of Mr. Boucher’s
collection, in presenting, for
the first time in book form,
selected poems by the middle-
age and younger group of con-
temporary Icelandic p o e t s .
Therein lies the specific and
important value of Poems of
Today as a pioneer work in
the field.
A careful comparison of a
n u m b e r of his translations
with the original poems at-
tests that he has not only suc-
ceeded remarkably well in re-
taining the thought content of
these, but also, in a rich mea-
sure, their rhythmical quality
and imagery, a 1 o n g with,
what is most important, their
flavor and spirit.
While I lament that he has,
for the reasons already quoted
in his forword, reluctantly
left out a number of poets,
which I would doubtless have
liked to see represented, and
while not aU of those in-
cluded are equally to my lik-
ing — which is, of course, a
personal opinion — I find my-
self in agreement with his
concluding statement of the
forword, when he says of
these poets generally:
“Though they span the pre-
sent century, I believe that
they have a characteristic in
common: they are all feeling
their way towards a poetic
idiom that will speak for the
age in which we live. This is
the voice of the Iceland of
today.”
And this is the heart of the
matter of the purpose of this
collection: To make that voice
heard beyond the shores of
Iceland in the idiom of the
far-flung English-speaking
world. And it is a voice defi-
nitely worth hearing.
Then I turn to Mr. Bouch-
er’s collection of translations
Short Siories of Today for a
short discussion, in as much
as Miss Caroline Gunnarsson,
the editor of Lögberg-Heims-
kringla, has recently (Octo-
ber 12) on this page evaluated
the collection concisely and
deservedly with high praise,
and also reprinted one of the
notable short stories included.
However, before going on
to my brief consideration of
the collection, it is both fair
and proper to do so against
the background set forth in
the following paragraph in
the translator’s introductory
note:
“The choice of stories in
this small collection, for
which I admit sole responsi-
bility, has been hmited by
length. Within these limits I
have tried to make it as re-
presentative as possible,
though much whose quality
would otherwise have de-
manded inclusion has inevit-
ably had to be omitted. The
stories are arranged in order
of the date of birth of each
author, as in my earlier col-
lection of modem Icelandic
poems. I hope they will give
some idea, in miniature, of
what is going on in writing
today in Iceland, where the
pull between past and pre-
sent is so crucial.”
A number of Icelandic short
stories, primarily by writers
of the 19th and the early half
of the 20th century, have ap-
peared in an English transla-
tion in periodicals and in spe-
cial collections or anthologies.
To the best of my knowledge,
h o w e v e r, only two of the
twelve stories included in
Shori Siories of Today, have
previously appeared in an
English translation, both of
t h e m in The American-
Scandinavian Review. name-
ly, “The Bottomless Pit” by
Guðmundur Daníelsson,
translated by Mrs. Mekkin S.
Perkins, and “Cruelty” by
Halldór Stefánsson, translated
by Hallberg Hallmundsson.
This fact, in itself, indicates
how welcome an addition Mr.
Boucher’s collection of Ice-
landic short stories in his
English translation is to those
already available in that lan-
guage, and all the more so,
as the stories, which he has
selected, are, in terms of qual-
ity, worthy of in inclusion in
a collection of this kind.
The translations of these,
which I have been in a posi-
tion to compare with the Ice-
landic originals, reveal rare
accuracy in language, along
with effectively retaining the
descriptive element and the
character portrayal. Further,
they make excellent reading
in their English garb. I am
c e r t a i n that this deserved
praise applies equally to the
other stories in the collection,
which I have not had at hand
in the Icelandic.
With these splendid trans-
lations of his from present-
day Icelandic p o e t r y and
short stories Alan Boucher
has rendered Iceland a great
service, for which we Iceland-
ers everywhere have special
reason to be grateful. The edi-
tors of Iceland Review also
deserve sincere thanks for
launching this series of books,
which has begun in such a
promising fashion.
The books are very attrac-
tive in appearance, and the
price of each is $4.00. They
can be ordered from Atlantica
& Iceland Review, P.O. Box
1238, Reykjavík, Iceland, post-
free by surface mail, but there
is a small extra charge for
air mail.
Dr. Beck is the Compiler
and Editor of Icelandic Lyrics
(1930, reprinted 1956), of Ice-
landic Poems a n d Stories
(1943, reprinted 1968), and the
Author of History of Icelandic
Poeis 1800-1940 (1950), which
have become reference works
in the field.
Mlillilillliilillllllilllllililliliiiiiilillilllilliliiiilililiinilg
1CHURCH CHATI
| By J. V. ARVIDSON |
^lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllili-
Christmas is coming! I hate
to mention Christmas so early
in the fall, but we are beginn-
ing to see the “signs of the
Season” all around us. In the
stores, and on the downtown
streets decorations are al-
ready in evidence. So, if your
mind is set on that therne
already it is perhaps a good
thing to mention some of our
activities during December.
On December lOth at 7
o’clock p.m. we will again
have a “Santa Lucia” program
to usher in the season. We
hope that many wiil be pre-
sent for this annual event.
On December 17th at 7
o ’ c 1 o c k p.m. the Sunday
School will have their annual
concert in the Church. The
theme of the concert will be
Christmas Around the World.
It will.be worth attending, as
usual.
On December 24th* we wil'l
f o 11 o w the usual Sunday
morning Schedule: 9:45 a.m.
Sunday Church School 9:45
and 11:00 a.m. The Service.
Beginning at 11 o’clock that
night we will have the Mid-
night Christmas Communion
Service. This will be the only
Christmas Service, so plan
early to be present.
On December 26th Boxing
Day: Pastor Ingthor Isfeld
will be present to lead an
Icelandic Christmas Service.
This Service wil be held at
7:00 o’clock. After this Ser-
vice there will be a program
and a lunch hour. Welcome!
On Sunday, December 31st,
there will be only One morn-
ing Service at 10:30 a.m. and
perhaps we will have a cup
of coffee after that Service!
Beztu laxveiðiár
Það er haft eftir fjölmiðlum
(Public relations p e o p 1 e —
distributors of news releases)
að veiðimeistari frá Banda-
ríkjunum hafi kveðið upp um
það að beztu laxveiðiámar á
íslandi væru hinar beztu í
heimi, og hafði hann rennt
fyrir lax í nokkrum ám þeg-
ar hann lét þau orð falla.
Blaðið Dagur á Akureyri læt-
ur þess getið um leið og það
hefir þetta eftir, að um líkt
leyti hafi verið frá því sagt að
kona ein útlend og loðin um
lófana hafi leigt sér þotu til
í s 1 a n d s . Svo dvaldi hún
nokkra daga við laxveiðar og
lét þotuna bíða á meðan.
Kostnaður hennar við ána var
um 100 þúsund kr. á dag.