Published Book or Work by:
BALKAN WRITERS IN ACTION-A CULTURAL INTERPRETATION OF THE BALKAN SHORT STORIES AND POEMS
|Published by TURKISH AUTHORS ASSOCIATION (TAA)
|ISBN: ISBN 975-7872-21-0
|Language is the repository of the riches of the highly specialised cultural experiences of linguistic communities. When a language is lost, all of us lose the knowledge contained in that language's words and grammar. This knowledge can never be recovered if that language has not been studied or recorded, if no or only a limited number of literary works are written in that language, or if these literary works are not translated into other languages, or if no literary works are translated into that language. It is this knowledge which helps us in learning the different ways of thinking about life, of approaching our day-to-day existence in the world. No other language can be used for a linguistic group to communicate with their spirits. There are many groups in the world whose languages are threatened by turmoil, loss of identity, and marginalisation. When a group is unable to fully recall their own language, they are unable to speak any other language as native speakers. In the end they lose their history, their community, their literary traditions and their cohesiveness with their own language. Finally, such communities become aware of the fact that their language, culture, literature and values are not able to compete with those from the outside. The loss of language brings loss of identity, loss of literature, loss of sense of community, loss of traditional spirituality, loss of literary traditions. Therefore it is necessary for us to identify which languages and literatures are endangered around the world. They, their speakers and writers need our support, protection and respect.
As it is stated in the Universal Declaration on cultural Diversity of UNESCO, culture should be regarded as the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual, literary, creative and emotional features of society or a social group. It encompasses, in addition to art and literature, life styles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs. Culture is at the heart of contemporary debates about identity, social cohesion, and the development of a knowledge based economy. Cultural diversity and the exercice of cultural rights are related to each other and it is necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image; to preserve and promote the fruitful diversity of cultures.
The process of globalization is facilitated by the rapid development of new information and communication technologies. It is necessary to create conditions for renewed dialogue among cultures and civilizations. Because the following facts should always be kept in our minds: Safeguarding creativity in literature and freedom of expression; supporting literary genres; highlighting the fact that the authors organizations in the world should contribute to the promotion of education in literature; supporting the idea that all languages have equal rights; avoiding autocensorship; encouraging literray texts to be written, read in small, endangered and minority languages, and then to be translated into the world languages; establishing bridges and networks of communication among cultures in order to promote the culture of peace; protecting cultural diversity in the world; creating networks of communication between the writers' organizations, writers, readers, translators, publishers and media all over the world.
There should be solidarity in the world, among human beings, cultures, linguitic groups and literatures of these, on the basis of recognition of
-awareness of the unity of humankind
-the development of intercultural exchanges
The best guarantees of international peace and security are:
-to have respect for the diversity of cultures
-to be tolerant
-to have dialogue and cooperation in a climate of mutual trust and understanding
This book is a selection of the short stories, poems, paragraphs taken from the novels, essays written and researches made by the Balkan writers and academics. It is one of the series of the three anthology projects proposed to International P.E.N., by the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee (TaLRC) of the Turkish PEN Center. It is, at the same time, a modest research presenting the reader an opportunity to see that the Balkans has always been a region of rich intercultural and interliterary dialogue which, unfortunately, has throughout history often been jeopardized as a result of harsh and violent developments. Thus, the book aims at uncovering and displaying how the following topics are reflected in the literary Works of the Balkan writers. Politics of identity, cultural specifications of the Region, hybrid identities, language and identity, reconstruction and deconstruction of the urban culture, the role of religion and imperialism in identity formation, dislocations and relocations of ethnic, cultural and religious identity in the region, historical reinventions of identity in the South East corner of Europe.
Some of the short story writers, poets, novelists, essayists, academics, researchers and translators from the Balkan countries from whose works passages are taken are as follows: Klairi Aggelidov (Cyprus), Sabri Alagöz (Bulgaria), Nazım Alpman (Turkey), İnci Aral (Turkey), Anton Akerc (Macedonia), Ivo Andric (Serbo-Croatia), M.Sadık Aslankara (Turkey), Sreten Asonovic (Montenegro), Nadezhda Azhgikhina (Albania), Beki L. Bahar (Turkey), Yaşar Bodur (Turkey), Maja Bojadzievska (Macedonia), Terry Carlbom (Sweden), Fran Celestin (Ukraine), Magda Carneci (Romania), Gökhan Cengizhan (Turkey), Jaklin Çelik (Turkey), Diana Çuli (Albania), Leyla Erbil (Turkey), Moris Farhi (Turkish-Jewis), Semih Gümüş (Turkey), Derviş Günday (Turkey), Tarık Günersel (Turkey), Emine Güreli (Turkey), Durhan Hatipoğlu (Bulgaria), Irfan Horozovic (Bosnia), Niyazi Hüseyin (Bulgaria), Ljubisa Georgievski (Macedonia), Ayse Kilimci (Turkey), Vera Mutafchieva (Bulgaria), Dragoslav Mihailovic (Serbia), Odysseas Elitis (Greece), Suat Engüllü (Bulgaria), Ana Jelnikar (Slovenia), Yosip Osti (Slovenia), Alek Popov (Bulgaria), Miroslav Krleja (Croatia), Mateja Matevski (Macedonia), Çetin Öner (Turkey), Halil İbrahim Özcan (Turkey), Carles Simic (Slovenia), Ismail Kadare (Albania), Özcan Karabulut (Turkey), Mehmet Kansu (Cyprus), Sonja Karavanja (Slovenia), Edvard Kocbek (Slovenia), Kata Kulavkova (Macedonia), Matjaz Kmecl (Slovenia), Mariya Leontic (Macedonia), Gancho Savov (Montenegro), Danilo Kis (Jewish Serbian-Hungarian), Pйter Krasztev (Bulgaria), Predrag Palavestra (Serbia), Bendevi Palandöken (Turkey), Kevser Ruhi (Turkey), Svetlana Slapsak (Yugoslavia), Iztok Osojnik (Slovenia), Tekgül Özcan (Turkey), Işıl Özgentürk (Turkey), Remzi Özmen (Turkey), Elizabeta Seleva (Macedonia), Radovan Pavlovski (Macedonia), Luan Starova (Macedonia), Stevan Raickovic (Serbia), Pannos Ioannides (Cyprus), Nayia Roussou (Cyprus), İsmail Tunalı (Bulgaria), Çiğdem Ülker (Turkey), Eugene Schoulgin (Norway), Petros Styliano (Cyprus), Hasine Şen (Turkey), Aydın Şimşek (Turkey), Nemika Tuğcu (Turkey), Orhan Tüleylioğlu (Turkey), Gane Todorovski (Macedonia), Tuncer Uçarol (Turkey).
Turkish Authors Association (TAA)
Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee
The Turkish PEN Center
, Language and Literature
, Literary Criticism
, Social Sciences
, Women's Issues/Studies
||You must be logged in to add a comment