مقاله در رابطه با شهرت کاترین منسفیلد در ایران توسط غلام مرادی

Issue 2 April 2009 Page 16

There is no doubt that Katherine Mansfield is one of the most famous and popular short

story writers all over the world, including in Iran. She has been introduced and written about a lot in this country. Some of her works have been translated into Farsi, and many topics can be found on her in Iranian media. Here are some examples.

First, a book named

Gholam Moradi

On the Tall Heels was published by Chista Yasrebi and Shaqayeq Qandhari in 2006. It is a collection on the most famous women of the world, and it features a biographical introduction to Katherine Mansfield and also includes the story ‘Psychology’.The website ‘Jashne Ketab’ similarly features a brief biography of Mansfield; a list of her works and characterization in her stories; and a translation of ‘The Wind Blows’ by Pejman Tehranian. On another website, www.dibache.com, we find translations of the stories ‘Miss Brill’ (by Arjang Dorchezadeh) and ‘Germans at Meat’ (by Dena Farhang). Next, according to Fars news agency, ‘Mr and Mrs Dove’ (“Mr. Kabotar and Bano”), translated by Shirin Khaleqi, was discussed by critics in a radio programme on February 25 2009 in Tehran; and the website www.aviny.com marked the anniversary of Mansfield’s death this year. Moreover, an MA thesis entitled ‘Characterization and Technique in the short stories of Katherine Mansfield’ by Maryam Khozan (Shiraz University, 1972) is catalogued on the Iranian Information and Documentation Center website. Finally, on 23 December 2008, the Iran book news agency broadcast news of the preparation for publication of my translation of a selection of Mansfield’s stories, entitled Morvarid. These are just some examples of what has been written about Katherine Mansfield in Iran. By making more relationships with other friends overseas, I hope that we will translate more of her works. But what persuaded me to choose Katherine Mansfield stories to translate has its own story. As an English literature student during the years from 1992-1996, my classmate and I chose English stories to study, among which KM’s attracted me. We were not able to access the foreign sources easily, though, until two years ago when I found Katherine Mansfield: selected stories (edited by Vincent O’Sullivan) at a book exhibition that was held in Tehran. Then I selected the first fourteen stories of the book and translated and published them in 191 pages. But I encountered a lot of challenges in this process. First, it can be difficult to access the foreign sources, because electronic trade is very limited and the provision of the books can be very expensive (about 10 times more than an ordinary price in Iran). Second, like any other translator, I had some trouble with understanding some concepts of the text of the stories. However, I tried my best to find the nearest meaning! Third, I have not been able to find a sponsor to invest in my books and was obliged to publish the book on my own, although it is very difficult for me. Moreover, distribution of the books and delivering them to readers is another problem. Fourth and most important is the government control, by which a publisher is not free to publish any piece he or she wishes. As we delivered Morvarid to be controlled (a process which lasted more than one year), two of the fourteen stories (‘Bains Turcs’ and ‘The Swing of the Pendulum’) were deleted, which astonished us. Nevertheless, Iplan to focus my efforts on KM’s works and try to translate the remaining short stories, her letters and writings about her and make her more and more popular with Iranian readers.

مقاله در رابطه با شهرت کاترین منسفیلد در ایران توسط غلام مرادی منتشر شده در مجله انجمن کاترن منسفیلد