/ world today news/ In Bulgaria, our acquaintance with the work of the famous Romanian poet and Herder Laureate, Ana Blandiana (what a wonderful, ringing name – bell-ringing! – just like for her), our acquaintance with her work, I say, began already in the middle of the seventies of the last century and has continued without interruption for four decades now.
Now, in the jubilee seventy-fifth year of her birth, we have a special occasion to return to this work and look at it in its impressive diversity and inner unity. We owe this new meeting with Blandiana to the inspired translator and popularizer of Romanian poetry in our country, Ognyan Stamboliev, who has recreated in Bulgarian great names such as: Mihai Eminescu, Lucian Blaga, Ion Luka Carajale, Ioan Slavich, Lucian Blaga, Panait Istrati, Nikita Stanescu, Marin Sorescu , Mircea Dinescu, Emil Cioran, Mircea Eliade, Matej Vishniek and others. In a volume of about 500 pages / an excellent edition of “Gaia Libris” entitled “Inhabited by words”, today he brings us a representative anthology of Anna Blandiana, whose content flows from essays to poetry, her interesting fantastic prose, reflections and aphoristic fragments to interviews and surveys. As a result, a complete portrait of the writer stands out before us. We know that Blandiana is fatally connected with the resistance of the Romanian people against the Ceausescu dictatorship and with the preparations for the great change in December 1989, and with the further intense efforts to bring about that change. We remember this important part of her biography and expect that in her texts – poetry and prose – social and political themes will prevail. And they do come out again and again, but almost never in a bare, declarative way. One can feel the author’s commitment to the burning problems of today and tomorrow in her country and the world in which she lives, but these problems always lead her to thoughts and worries about man, much more comprehensive than our daily existence.
Yordan Radichkov used to say that we Bulgarians are a nation of monologists. It turns out that not only Bulgarians are like that. In the essay “To lead a dialogue” Blandiana states: “We are all constantly monologuing.” And ends with the conclusion: “In the end, democracy is nothing but dialogue – an action in which the majority listens carefully, kindly and with respect (and respect breeds self-respect!) to the critical opinion of the majority.” How decisive is this observation for us fledgling democracies from the eastern edge of Europe! In the book, we come across insights of this kind again and again, which illuminate the path of our development today.
However, the main highlights of what is collected in “People of Words” are much more philosophical and elevated above the current: man and nature, morality, art and literature. And although the nerve of our contemporary is felt in each of these topics, the immeasurable volumes of eternity also open up in them. The temporal echoes in the infinite and acquires an impermanent value. It turns out that our responsibility is not only to today, but to the integrity of being.
It also respects the rich genre palette of the works included in the volume: lyrical miniatures, parables, stories, impressions… Blandiana’s prose is no less poetic than her poems, and is often more unyielding in its pursuits. We can certainly relate to the author herself what she says about others: “In my opinion, there is nothing more touching and more vulnerable than the prose of the great poet. A persistent effort to name the unnameable. It’s like a halo trying to take the shape of a hat.”
Finally, let’s note what is usually omitted in reviews of translated editions – the role of the translator in their creation. The Bulgarian language is admirably mastered, flexible, expressive and melodious Ognyan Stamboliev presents us with this colorful selection of the work of the Romanian poetess. And something characteristic of a true translator – in his own jubilee year, he prefers, instead of standing on the front stage himself, to highlight one of his favorite authors and present her as she really deserves and as he certainly knows how to do. does. Congratulations to both of you!
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Ana Blandiana, “Inhabited by Words”, selection and translation Ognyan Stamboliev, Sofia
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