With: Abdilatif Abdalla, Nomakhwezi Becker (online), Anni Domingo, Gcina Mhlophe (online), Gomolemo Moagi, Mshaï Mwangola (online), Jane Obuchi (online), Jess Oliveria, Francis Canon Omondi, Coumba Touré and Wangũi wa Goro; Music: Eugene Skeef

A multilingual event

In Germany, only a small fraction of the diverse and multilingual literature of the African continent is heard, especially that of the languages of Africa that are not part of the colonial legacy and have hardly been translated. For the festival opening, we invite you to listen to some of these languages and meet African authors and translators from countries such as Kenya, Mali, South Africa, Senegal, Sierra Leone and from the African diaspora of Great Britain, Brazil and Germany. On this evening, Abdilatif Abdalla, Nomakhwezi Becker, Anni Domingo, Gcina Mhlophe, Gomolemo Moagi, Mshaï Mwangola, Jane Obuchi, Jess Oliveria, Francis Canon Omondi, Coumba Touré and Wangũiwa Goro will read in Swahili, Zulu, Sierra Leonean Creole, Sesotho, Ekegusii, Luo, Wolof, Bambara, Kikuyu and others. For the first time in Berlin, they can be experienced in their original languages, together with translations of their poetry. The translator, author and curator Wangũi wa Goro will be moderating the evening, which will also feature musical accompaniment by the musician, poet and composer Eugene Skeef.

Afterwards, the festival exhibition will be opened with a reception in the Breuer Hall (ground floor).

With: Marieke Heimburger, Miquel Cabal Guarro and Margit Walsø; Moderation: Holger Fock

In English

Pandemics, war, inflation and the economic situation strongly influence the socio-economic conditions of translators. In addition, there is the rapid spread of AI programmes that translate entire documents in seconds. These phenomena, as well as the outlook for future developments, are shaping up differently in individual European countries, but this is also due to differences in funding regimes and infrastructures. The guests on the panel are all active in central roles in organisations that deal with national and European perspectives, such as the VdÜ (Verband deutschsprachiger Übersetzer:innen literarischer und wissenschaftlicher Werke), NORLA (Norwegian Literature Abroad) and CEATL (European Council of Literary Translators’ Associations). Together, they will discuss emerging dynamics, the changing socio-economic conditions of translators and the political possibilities for securing and improving them beyond borders with the translator and former CEATL president Holger Fock.

With: Anna Zilahi, Owen Good and Rita Süveges; Moderation: Birgit Schneider

In English

With the multilingual book project extrodæsia – Encyclopedia Towards a Post-Anthropocentric World, the interdisciplinary artist group xtro realm from Hungary has created a linguistic basis for the transfer of knowledge about human-influenced climate change. For the first time, philosophical thought concepts on the topic have been translated into Hungarian and supplemented with poetic and visual discussions. The poet Anna Zilahi, the translator Owen Good and the visual artist Rita Süveges talk about the transmedial translatability of post-anthropocene world views and the role of translations for political-ecological discourses.
An event of the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin in cooperation with translationale berlin.

With: Nina Restemeier and Benjamin Rodatz; Moderation: André Hansen

In German

Artificial intelligence is revolutionising many workflows. Since the advent of large language models like ChatGPT, there are new possibilities for automatic language processing. So will AI also play a role in literary translation? Can and do professionals want to work with it? Literary translator Nina Restemeier and AI researcher Benjamin Rodatz get to the bottom of this question by translating an English text by Rajesh Parameswaran live with the help of an AI system. Their goal: to get the system to provide meaningful answers, creative ideas and translation recommendations through targeted queries. In the process, they will sound out the current state of the art and formulate wishes for further developments. Literary translator André Hansen will moderate the event. An event in cooperation with the international literature festival berlin (ilb).

With: Irina Bondas, Lydia Dimitrow, Andreas Jandl and Alexander Sitzmann; Moderation: Dorota Stroińska

In German

Every man-made literary translation is the result of a unique relationship that a person establishes with a literary text. The transformation of a foreign-language work into its new linguistic form is subjectively coloured. It is clear that the mind and language muscles are working at full speed, but beyond that, how physical is this process? What role do our senses, our perception and imagination, our memories and emotions or our breathing rhythm play in translation? Two female and two male translators talk about language as a feat of strength, about the delights and risks of injury of the translating subject and performatively convey their artistic translation practice.

With: Mariana Dimópulos, Magda Heydel and Uljana Wolf; Moderation: Isabel Fargo Cole

In English

Three translators and writers reflect on the rootedness of translation in lived life and human dialogue. Mariana Dimópulos is a writer herself (Imminence, Giramondo, 2019) and reinvents the hierarchy between author and translator in her translations of J. M. Coetzee’s work. Uljana Wolf’s poems and essays (Etymologischer Gossip, kookbooks, 2022) explore translingualism as a way of blurring the boundaries between the familiar and the foreign. Magda Heydel is a Polish translator (including of Virginia Woolf) and scholar of translation, history and memory. Moderated by Isabel Fargo Cole, the trio will discuss translation as a relational art that weaves together different experiences of (self-)expression, body and memory.

With: Aleksandra Szymańska (Instytut Kultury Miejskiej, Gdańsk/Polen), Dagny Kurdwanowska (Found in Translation Festival, Gdańsk/Polen), Enrica Fei (BookMarchs – L’altra voce, Marche/Italien), Helen Bowell (Poetry Translation Center, London/Großbritannien), Jess Oliveira (TRACALA within African Literature Association Annual Meeting), Nausikaa Angelotti (Babel Festival, Bellinzona/Schweiz), Simone Schröder (Internationales Literaturfestival Berlin – ilb), Stefanie Hirsbrunner (African Book Festival, Berlin), Tamara Zimet (Edinburgh International Book Festival, Schottland), Anna Schlossbauer (TOLEDO), Tania Rodionova, Yuliia Didokha und Dzvinka Pinchuk (Translatorium, Chmelnyzkyj/Ukraine), Henning Bochert, Annina Lehmann, Aurélie Maurin, Dorota Stroińska, Asmus Trautsch (translationale berlin) and Wangũi wa Goro (SIDENSI/Africa in Translation Symposium); Project coordination: Anna Schlossbauer (TOLEDO)

In English and German

Sharing Pool, the international exchange platform for literature festivals, invites you on a tour of discovery taking in talks with festival makers from nine different countries. The meeting will be preceded by a three-day workshop, for which the actors will come together at the invitation of translationale berlin to share their experiences with translation formats and exchange perspectives on future cooperation. Initiated in 2019 by the Babel Festival in Bellinzona, Sharing Pool is now dedicated for the second time – in collaboration with the TOLEDO programme – entirely to literary translation and puts translation festivals in the spotlight. Come by, lots of materials, new insights and a few drinks await you!

With: Ouma Katrina Esau (online); Moderation: Tom Güldemann and Christfried Naumann

In English

Ouma Katrina Esau is the last living person who can speak N|uu fluently, one of the oldest languages spoken in South Africa. During apartheid, it was suppressed like other indigenous languages of South Africa, so Ouma Katrina Esau stopped speaking her mother tongue. After the end of apartheid, as the last surviving speaker, she began teaching N|uu at home and in schools. She has since contributed to the writing of the language and to publications such as children’s books about N|uu. Two African scholars from the Humboldt University in Berlin who are researching N|uu will be talking to 90-year-old Ouma Katrina Esau, who will be streamed live from Upington, about her language and the attempts to translate and thus save it for future generations.
An event in cooperation with the Seminar for African Studies at Humboldt University Berlin.

With: Verena Regensburger and Henning Bochert

In German

London-based playwright Eve Leigh has written a night play about pain and the internet with Midnight Movie (2019). With her pain-free, digital body, the narrative voice encounters various digital ghosts. The play is explicitly inclusive. We will show the recording of Verena Regensburger’s digital production at the Münchner Kammerspiele for the Stückemarkt of the Theatertreffen 2021, which focuses on these aspects. As an introduction, the director and translator Henning Bochert will be talking about the linguistic and translationale aspects in their work with the text.

With: Wangũi wa Goro and Manfred Metzner; Moderation: Asmus Trautsch

In English

In recent years, the visibility of Afro-German authors has increased; the number of translations by African authors has also grown. But why are there still hardly any publications that translate from African languages that, unlike Hausa, Swahili or Amharic, were not formerly under colonial influence, not to mention from small languages that are often threatened with extinction? Manfred Metzner, publisher of Das Wunderhorn, which has long been responsible for a programme focussing on African literature, and the translator, author and scholar Wangũi wa Goro, whose goal is to translate more literature from Africa into European languages, will be talking in the festival exhibition’s room about why this is and looking at possible ways for more translations to be done.

With: Najat Hussan,  Mohamad Hadi (online) and Ahmed Farouk; Moderation: Günther Orth

In German

In recent years, some German-language novels such as Kenah Cusanit’s Babel (Hanser, 2019) or Hannah Dübgen’s Über Land (dtv. 2017), which also deal with ancient Babylon and Iraq, have enjoyed success. This is also where the translator Najat Essa Hasan come from, who has translated Dübgen’s book into Arabic and published it with the Beirut-based press Dar Al-Rafidain run by  Mohamad Hadi, who is committed to the dissemination of German-language literature in Arabic. The translator Ahmed Farouk has translated German-language authors such as Kafka, Sebald and Grass for the Egyptian market. The three guests will be talking to the Islamic scholar, author and translator Stefan Weidner about the publicity for German-language literature in Arabic translation in the Middle East and Maghreb.

With: Melody Makeda Ledwon, Simoné Goldschmidt–Lechner and Rahab Njeri; Moderation: Tomi Adeaga and Wangũi wa Goro

In English

The question of who is translated by whom from which African languages – and who is not – must be discussed from an intersectional perspective. In this round table with translators working in the field of intersectionality, moderated by Tomi Adeaga and Wangũi wa Goro, the conditions of publication and translation of African and Afro-European authors will be discussed as well as the problems and opportunities faced by authors and translators from the LGTBQIA+ community in African countries.

With: Jelica Šumič Riha, Rado Riha and Gregor Moder; Moderation: Urška P. Černe

In Slovenian and German (with interpretation)

Three philosophers from Ljubljana, who have themselves translated from German and French into Slovenian, talk with Urška P. Černe about the role of translation in Slovenian theory formation. The famous Ljubljana School of Psychoanalysis, which includes Slavoj Žižek and Mladen Dolar as well as the panel’s guests, has taken theory from other languages, especially German and French, and developed it further in Slovenian since the 1970s. Later, Slovenian thought has in turn exerted a great influence on other language areas. What role do translation processes between languages, discourses and media play in the development and reception of philosophical thought in Slovenia? How does a theoretical discourse change through the injection of translated terms and texts? And what does translation have to do with psychoanalysis?
This event concludes the City of Translators Ljubljana series, which invites you to explore the city as a setting for translators: TOLEDO – Cities of Translators (www.toledo-programm.de/cities_of_translators)
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With: Florian Bissig, Jonis Hartmann, Marion Kraft and Daniela Seel

In German

We will be taking a look at new publications from the TOLEDO cosmos – with a focus on the translation of African-American literature. The starting point is Phillis Wheatley, who was the first African American to publish a book of poetry in 1773. Translator Florian Bissig and his mentor Jonis Hartmann report on the challenges of the first German translation 250 years later. Marion Kraft and Daniela Seel, who wrote a two-part TOLEDO journal on their Amanda Gorman translation, tell us how important Phillis Wheatley is as an inspiration in the struggle for recognition of African-American literature to this day. Together they will be talking about the poetry of protest and to finish with will be taking a dive with us into Alexis Pauline Gumb’s book Undrowned – Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals (AK Press, 2020), which weaves together naturalist observations with practices of Black Feminism.

With: Jess Oliveira; Moderation: Peggy Piesche

In English

The festival address looks at the resonance of African language influences in the translations of writers of African descent. It will discuss how attention to these remnants helps translation within the Black Atlantic. How do Black authors’ oral traditions, non-linear perceptions of time and unique linguistic styles intersect with colonial languages? Starting from the fact that the reception of Carolina M. de Jesus, both in Brazil and in the Global North, has not understood her “pretuguês” or “Black Portuguese” until recently, Afro-Brazilian translator, author and researcher Jess Oliveira will explore the strategies used in translation by authors such as May Ayim and tatiananascimento who challenge German and Portuguese linguistic norms. Following the talk, Peggy Piesche will join Jess Oliveira and the audience in conversation.

With: Aly Keïta

The balafon, musical forerunner of the xylophone, is originally the instrument of the griot, the storyteller, singer and poet of the oral tradition of West Africa. As a musician, Aly Keïta invokes this tradition, but puts this thousand-year-old instrument into a modern context. Keïta’s Afro-pop repertoire, which he presents today at translationale berlin, is driven by the rhythms of funk, although his preference for complex jazz arrangements sets him apart from the majority of balafonists. Winner of the 2022 German Jazz Award in the Special Instruments category, he says, “I want my music to be alive and full of energy, hope and love, music that I can share with the audience and through which the audience and I can share our joy.”

With: Thomas Brückner and Ida Hadjivayanis

In English

The Tanzanian Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah, who lives in the UK, has long written his works in English. They have been translated into many languages of the world, including languages of Africa. Ida Hadjivayanis has translated several of Gurnah’sbooks into the author’s mother tongue Swahili, and Thomas Brücknerhas translated them into German. The two translators will be engaging in dialogue about the particularities of translating the novelist and exploring the various challenges involved in translating an African author into a (different) language of Africa or a (different) European language. From there, they will move on to further reflections on translating African authors both from and into African languages.

With: Tania Rodionowa

In Ukrainian, German and English

Being Ukrainian today often means being uncomfortable, overreacting, being radical, perceiving things on a different level, being triggered by many things, being strangers and ultimately alone. This is not because the world does not support Ukrainians, but because there are some things that can never be understood by those who have not experienced the same trauma and are lucky enough not to have to carry such a burden. Experience is untranslatable. War is untranslatable. Poet, translator and cultural manager Tania Rodionova presents a performance recounting her experience of untranslatability as she tried to communicate with people abroad while living through the trauma of war.

With: Claudia Dathe, Ganna Gnedkowa, Maria Weissenböck and Oleksandra Hryhorenko

In German and Ukrainian (with interpretation)

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 changed everything for Ukrainians. Including the language. They are learning how to talk to foreigners about the war and seek understanding. Dialogue is the best means of deep, complex communication, both verbally and non-verbally. We invite Ukrainian and German translators to engage in a dialogue about translating cultures and war experiences. Each of the translators will speak in her mother tongue and try to be on the same page despite the different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. There will be no moderation, which means for each of the translators a special empirical experience in creating and succeeding in communication.

With: Wiam El-Tamami, Dora Cheng, Dinara Rasuleva and Gomolemo Moagi; Moderation: Dzekashu MacViban

In English

The authors Dora Cheng (drama), Wiam El-Tamami (essay) and Dinara Rasuleva and Gomolemo Moagi (poetry) will be reading from their multilingual texts and talking to Dzekashu MacViban about the very different roles that translation plays in their work.

With: Eva Schestag and Kristof Magnusson (online); Moderation: Myriam Alfano

In German

Unsere Geschichte (Matthes& Seitz, 2023) is Rao Pingru’s narrative of his life recorded in words and pictures against the backdrop of historical events in 20th Century China: the war against Japan, the civil war, Mao’s seizure of power, the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution. But the drama of the settings takes a back seat to the poetry of Rao Pingru’ssimple language, the vividness of his colour drawings and his equanimity in the face of the imponderables of fate. Myriam Alfano will be talking with Kristof Magnusson and Eva Schestag about the relationship between word and image and the art of writing and translation.
 

With: Wangũi wa Goro, Mark Tumba,  Abdul Samiu Saliou, Chris Lopatta, Corazon Herbsthofer and Joana Adu-Gyamfi; Music: Eugene Skeef; Installation: Henning Bochert

In German and English

In 1976, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo published their play about the hero of the Kenyan independence struggle Kĩmathi wa Wachiuri, who was executed by the British colonial government in 1957. Some of the scenes from this famous drama will be read scenically by actors in German and Swahili. Wangũi wa Goro will explain the political and literary context of the drama. The music for the reading will be played by the South African musician Eugene Skeef, who was involved in the London premiere in 1984. Some of the songs from the play can also be heard.

Followed by a reception on the ground floor of the Collegium Hungaricum.