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Paruir Sevak's last interview
by Jack Aslanian
http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2012-03-03-paruir-sevak-s-last-interview
Published: Saturday March 03, 2012
Paruir Sevak. Via Noev-Kovcheg.ru
Paruir Sevak published in English translation
Oakland, Calif. - On June 14, 1971, the Czech journalist Jiri Skoumal,
husband of the well-known translator from Armenian Ludmila Motalova,
headed for the village of Chanakhchi [Sevak's birthplace and home, now
called Zangakatun - Trans.] to meet Sevak and record him and, in
addition, to deliver to the poet the Czech version of his "The
Irrepressible Bell Tower." It was impossible to imagine that three
days after that conversation Sevak would no longer be alive.
The notes of that interview have been preserved, which we present
without change.
Q - What are you occupied with now, Paruir?
PS - Well, first of all, it is two years since I delivered the
manuscript of a book. It'll be published soon. I was occupied with
that publication sponsored by the government. And second, now that I'm
working in the Academy [National Academy of Sciences], Institute of
Literature, I'm working on a book, Sayat Nova and the Armenian Middle
Ages. I'll probably finish by year-end. For now those are my most
pressing projects. I have many ideas and plans - something for the
future. After which I must occupy myself with the translation of
Grikor Naregatzi's [10th century, sanctified poet, theologian,
philosopher] Book of Lamentations (poem) - also under the auspices of
the Academy. That won't be a poetic translation but a scholarly
interpretation. Which, I should by the way add, has been one of my
dreams - for years, for my entire life. As soon as I finish Sayat Nova
and the Armenian Middle Ages, I will move on to that project.
Q - Are you not going to translate Frik [13th century Armenian poet]?
PS - Indeed; before Naregatzi, one of my ideas was to translate Frik.
But because Naregatzi is in the works now, after Naregatzi I'll move
on ... my next scholarly project will be Frik.
Q - Paruir, what do you consider essential for a writer?
PS - First and foremost, independent thinking, free thinking, and
avoiding telling half truths. Without that, even if God has given one
great talent, there won't be anything at all.
Q - They say that adverse experience is very useful to a writer ...
PS - Bad experience ...? Without doubt; and whoever has said that has
been absolutely right. But unfortunately, it is possible to have a bad
trial, and benefiting from that experience still go on doing bad work.
["Experience" and "trial" are homonymous in Armenian. Trans.] That too
exists. So that, if you do not fail on a bad trial, do not feel that
you've erred, you may work badly all your life. And, thank God, there
are so many writers who pursued bad trials to the very end.
Q - Do you have an idea which you're, perhaps, afraid of realizing?
PS - Many, many. I have many such ideas. First and foremost, I am
unable to realize [them] because I fear my own abilities. Yet, because
I'm soon turning fifty, if I am unable to act now I'll never be able
to act. Probably, all that I've thought of, all that I've postponed
over years, I shall strive to accomplish henceforth.
Q - Paruir, in your opinion what are the main traits of contemporary
Armenian literature?
PS - First and foremost, our fresh literary thinking - something that
was rare some ten years ago. I consider that the most important.
Q - Someone has told me, or I've read somewhere, that mankind must be
prepared for a cosmic age. What do you think about that?
PS - In my opinion the issues of a cosmic age and of literature are
entirely different. It is possible to fly to the moon and return, yet
remain the same man. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare man not for
flights away from the earth, but to do something so that he can take
those flights on earth, if just from one country to another.
Q - Soon the Czech reader will encounter your book. Would you like to
say something to him?
PS - First of all I would like very much for your readers to know how
much an entire nation, Armenians, likes and feels indebted to Ludmilla
Motalova, because of whom Armenian literature today resounds in
Czechoslovakia. Coming to Czechoslovakia and in general the Czech and
Slovak people, with all my heart, as brother can wish to brother, I
wish them good fortune, happiness, and the best future.
Translator's Note: This had been a faithful translation of an Armenian
text at Hovik Charkchyan's Blog http://hovikcharkhchyan.wordpress.com
(accessed in January 2012). The blogger's sources or the circumstances
under which the text of the interview found its way into the blog are
unknown to the translator. The translator has no financial or
commercial interest in the act of translation of this piece or in its
dissemination and publication. Although the translator retains
copyright to this English translation, use is allowed provided that
credit is given to the translator.
By way of disclosure: Paruir Sevak: Selected Poems Translated by Jack
Aslanian was published in Yerevan in January 2011 pursuant to a
written consent given to the translator by both of Sevak's sons (and
the translator has earmarked the proceeds from the sales of those
translations to be disbursed as charitable donations to undertakings
that benefit Armenian literature and literary personae). The
translation of the blog is made without commentary. Except that, for
those who are not insiders, or are xenophone and unfamiliar with
Armenian culture, brief explicatory notes are presented within
brackets ([]).
by Jack Aslanian
http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2012-03-03-paruir-sevak-s-last-interview
Published: Saturday March 03, 2012
Paruir Sevak. Via Noev-Kovcheg.ru
Paruir Sevak published in English translation
Oakland, Calif. - On June 14, 1971, the Czech journalist Jiri Skoumal,
husband of the well-known translator from Armenian Ludmila Motalova,
headed for the village of Chanakhchi [Sevak's birthplace and home, now
called Zangakatun - Trans.] to meet Sevak and record him and, in
addition, to deliver to the poet the Czech version of his "The
Irrepressible Bell Tower." It was impossible to imagine that three
days after that conversation Sevak would no longer be alive.
The notes of that interview have been preserved, which we present
without change.
Q - What are you occupied with now, Paruir?
PS - Well, first of all, it is two years since I delivered the
manuscript of a book. It'll be published soon. I was occupied with
that publication sponsored by the government. And second, now that I'm
working in the Academy [National Academy of Sciences], Institute of
Literature, I'm working on a book, Sayat Nova and the Armenian Middle
Ages. I'll probably finish by year-end. For now those are my most
pressing projects. I have many ideas and plans - something for the
future. After which I must occupy myself with the translation of
Grikor Naregatzi's [10th century, sanctified poet, theologian,
philosopher] Book of Lamentations (poem) - also under the auspices of
the Academy. That won't be a poetic translation but a scholarly
interpretation. Which, I should by the way add, has been one of my
dreams - for years, for my entire life. As soon as I finish Sayat Nova
and the Armenian Middle Ages, I will move on to that project.
Q - Are you not going to translate Frik [13th century Armenian poet]?
PS - Indeed; before Naregatzi, one of my ideas was to translate Frik.
But because Naregatzi is in the works now, after Naregatzi I'll move
on ... my next scholarly project will be Frik.
Q - Paruir, what do you consider essential for a writer?
PS - First and foremost, independent thinking, free thinking, and
avoiding telling half truths. Without that, even if God has given one
great talent, there won't be anything at all.
Q - They say that adverse experience is very useful to a writer ...
PS - Bad experience ...? Without doubt; and whoever has said that has
been absolutely right. But unfortunately, it is possible to have a bad
trial, and benefiting from that experience still go on doing bad work.
["Experience" and "trial" are homonymous in Armenian. Trans.] That too
exists. So that, if you do not fail on a bad trial, do not feel that
you've erred, you may work badly all your life. And, thank God, there
are so many writers who pursued bad trials to the very end.
Q - Do you have an idea which you're, perhaps, afraid of realizing?
PS - Many, many. I have many such ideas. First and foremost, I am
unable to realize [them] because I fear my own abilities. Yet, because
I'm soon turning fifty, if I am unable to act now I'll never be able
to act. Probably, all that I've thought of, all that I've postponed
over years, I shall strive to accomplish henceforth.
Q - Paruir, in your opinion what are the main traits of contemporary
Armenian literature?
PS - First and foremost, our fresh literary thinking - something that
was rare some ten years ago. I consider that the most important.
Q - Someone has told me, or I've read somewhere, that mankind must be
prepared for a cosmic age. What do you think about that?
PS - In my opinion the issues of a cosmic age and of literature are
entirely different. It is possible to fly to the moon and return, yet
remain the same man. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare man not for
flights away from the earth, but to do something so that he can take
those flights on earth, if just from one country to another.
Q - Soon the Czech reader will encounter your book. Would you like to
say something to him?
PS - First of all I would like very much for your readers to know how
much an entire nation, Armenians, likes and feels indebted to Ludmilla
Motalova, because of whom Armenian literature today resounds in
Czechoslovakia. Coming to Czechoslovakia and in general the Czech and
Slovak people, with all my heart, as brother can wish to brother, I
wish them good fortune, happiness, and the best future.
Translator's Note: This had been a faithful translation of an Armenian
text at Hovik Charkchyan's Blog http://hovikcharkhchyan.wordpress.com
(accessed in January 2012). The blogger's sources or the circumstances
under which the text of the interview found its way into the blog are
unknown to the translator. The translator has no financial or
commercial interest in the act of translation of this piece or in its
dissemination and publication. Although the translator retains
copyright to this English translation, use is allowed provided that
credit is given to the translator.
By way of disclosure: Paruir Sevak: Selected Poems Translated by Jack
Aslanian was published in Yerevan in January 2011 pursuant to a
written consent given to the translator by both of Sevak's sons (and
the translator has earmarked the proceeds from the sales of those
translations to be disbursed as charitable donations to undertakings
that benefit Armenian literature and literary personae). The
translation of the blog is made without commentary. Except that, for
those who are not insiders, or are xenophone and unfamiliar with
Armenian culture, brief explicatory notes are presented within
brackets ([]).