Leisure=20 =C2=BB Book Review
BOOKS
As prolific translator, Marcel Barang is one of = the=20 leading figures bringing Thai literature to a foreign readership. Born = in=20 southern France, to reach a larger audience he translates more often = into=20 English, in which he is also extremely versatile. Most Thai authors of = note have=20 had a novel or at least a story translated by him, but it is the unknown = talent=20 he unearths out of literary magazines that is of potentially greater = service to=20 Thai culture, as it gives the voices of the future an opportunity to = impress on=20 the world stage. He also translates the Thai short stories printed in = `Outlook'=20 on the first Monday of every month.
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Barang with his daughter, Oramart Aurore.
He trained as a teacher in France with a two-school-year spell in = Cambodia=20 from 1967 to 69, then as a journalist (Reuter's French desk in Fleet = Street;=20 Politique-Hebdo, Le Monde diplomatique, etc) specialising in = Southeast=20 Asian affairs, and had one-year stints in Singapore and Hong Kong before = landing=20 in Thailand on May 12, 1978.
Now employed by one of media magnate and PAD leader = Sondhi =20 Limthongkul's companies (Thai Day Dot Com Co Ltd) to translate what = quality=20 literature he feels warrants it, he is currently putting the finishing = touches=20 on a new translation of Kukrit Pramoj's Si Phaendin (Four Reigns). His=20 association with Sondhi began 36 years ago when they met at a political = rally at=20 Sanam Luang, Sondhi a reporter for Prachathipatai, Barang for Le Monde=20 diplomatique. They became friends, and when Barang occasionally helped = Sondhi=20 out at the time, it was a kindness never forgotten, and he serves as = Barang's=20 patron to this day.
On the day of the interview with Barang at Phra Arthit Road near his = office,=20 his hair freshly combed, face freshly shaved _ complete with a razor cut = _ and=20 dressed in a plaid shirt somewhat warm for the weather, he seems = determined to=20 negate a reputation lingering from his days as proofreader at the now = defunct=20 Thai Day as being very precise with the written word but rather casual = in=20 appearance.
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Marcel Barang with Chart Korbjitti in southern France.
Over the course of the conversation he is characteristically = forthright, full=20 of praise for voices of Thai literature and condemnation for certain = quarters of=20 local bureaucracy. The 64-year-old litterateur recounts his past as a = journalist=20 in the region and the initial rigorous struggles with Thai on = coming to=20 the Kingdom. The process of translation, struggles with the royal = vocabulary in=20 Four Reigns, his favourite prose stylists from around the world, the = local=20 writers with great potential and other topics _ are all detailed through = anecdotes, humour and carefully considered answers.
One of the first questions posed is why Thailand manages to = produce so=20 much quality literature. It dominates the regional SEA Write Awards, = after all.=20 The awards are a little misleading, Barang points out, since a = country=20 with a small population such as Brunei can have a winner every year. The = selection process for others might be more political. He hasn't read = literature=20 from every country in the region but Thai literature does stand = out for=20 its quality. ``It's not just a question of being well written,'' he = says, ``but=20 being able to create plots that make you think.''
Could Thailand one day produce a winner of the Nobel Prize in =20 Literature? ``They should do,'' he muses. ``The only one, though, who = has been=20 really successful in Europe, on the French side, is Saneh Sangsuk.'' = What about=20 Chart Korbjitti? ``Chart has not sold well. Those who really appreciate=20 literature swear by him, as I do, but in terms of public audience he = doesn't get=20 the recognition.''
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The rougher version.
And for the future? ``There is some promising talent. One who could = come up=20 with something very good I think is Siriworn Kaewkan. Another is Panu = Trivej,=20 who I'm told is now back in Thailand [from doctoral studies in the = US].''
Unearthing the talent of the future can be one of the more rewarding = aspects=20 of the job. ``I'm really pleased with the commission of translating one = short=20 story a month for the Bangkok Post,'' he adds. ``It forces me _ every = month,=20 regardless of what else I'm working on _ to vary my style.''
Don't style shifts cause the translator a headache? ``One mistake = made by=20 amateur translators is imposing your own style on a work. You have to = respect=20 what the author says as much as possible. Even some professionals, = to=20 translate the `genius of the language' add here or subtract there
[too much]. But you have to be faithful to the text. Sometimes I = deliberate=20 over adding `the'. Should I add `he' when it is not in the text? It all = boils=20 down to a question of ear. And style.'' In some cases, he adds, texts = need=20 editing as well as translation, and he has to work more closely with the = writer.=20 ``Some of the authors, the younger ones, are reticent to be corrected,'' = he=20 admits. Are Thais rather sensitive to criticism? ``I'm quite forthright, = but I=20 am not criticising them, just individual points of their work.''
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Would he consider translating unpublished works from Thai = writers?=20 ``I'll take a look at it. I think it's known that I'm interested in new = talent.=20 I can't promise the moon, but I'll read it. If I like it, I'll translate = it.''
Does all this exposure to new and classic literature inspire him to = write his=20 own fiction? ``First of all, I have no imagination,'' he answers. = ``Second, I=20 was trained as a journalist. It doesn't really work with literature. I = have a=20 way with words but I'd rather use it for others who have something to = say.''
Would he write an autobiography? ``Well, who am I? I've got nothing = special=20 to say,'' he insists. Yet he has seen so much happen in Thailand and the = region=20 over the past four decades. ``But I have a very, very bad memory. And = I'm not=20 joking about that!'' Entire periods of his life, and times of intense = emotion,=20 have disappeared. ``I was telling Siriworn Kaewkan about my first love, = in=20 Paris, three years of paradise and the most intense time of my life. But = if I=20 were to write about that period, I couldn't write more than four = pages.'' When=20 reading articles from the past _ some political briefs from over 20 = years ago=20 were recently reprinted by Le Monde diplomatique _ what is = remembered=20 (about life in Iran under the Shah, for example) and what comes = out in the=20 article often differ.
The written word is a great cataloguer of memory, and Barang isn't = averse to=20 making use of advancing technology. As a prolific and insightful, = humorous and=20 often acerbic blogger (``the written wor(l)d en deux langues'', at=20 marcelbarang.wordpress.com) he has enlightened and entertained many and = also=20 offended a few. He writes on literary subjects in English or French, as = the mood=20 strikes him, more often English, points out mistakes in the paper or = chronicles=20 his run-ins with bureaucracy or home repairs, and for a change of pace = might=20 translate the ballads of Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen.
Asked what else he does for fun, Barang mentions other literary = diversions _=20 reading the news, cruising the web, correspondence _ or tending his many = plants,=20 household chores and spending time with his daughter, Oramart = Aurore, aka=20 Tam, who turns 23 later this month.
As for international writers, Barang reads voraciously. As = prose=20 stylists he appreciates DeLillo, Updike, McEwan, ``Amis the Son = and Atwood=20 the Shrew'', as well as Mailer, Roth, Saramago ``and so many others = further=20 afield _ Eco, Marquez, Brink, Coetzee, White _ who weren't just stylists = but=20 also could handle a plot with a rigorous fist''. All of which doesn't = stop him=20 from enjoying the odd low-brow thriller. This variety of reading serves = him well=20 when translating different styles of text.
On http://www.thaifiction.com/ he=20 sells some of his translations directly as e-books, which minimises = printing and=20 production costs and allows them to be sold cheaply. Despite this, = interest and=20 sales are not as great as the quality of literature would warrant. = Another site,=20 wanakam.com, sought to achieve the opposite _ by bringing foreign = classics to a=20 Thai readership _ although the project has been discontinued since 2006. = It was=20 successful in training some 40 young freelance Thai translators from = English and=20 also French and generating local interest in foreign fiction. It had a = lively=20 web-board in Thai. Despite the discontinuation of the site, Barang adds, = ``In=20 the last three years, some of the stories we carried have been = printed=20 locally in collections of short stories, and more are in the = pipeline.''
Despite his literary breadth and service to Thai culture, his = de facto=20 role as literary ambassador to the rest of the world, Barang has a = perennial=20 problem renewing his Thai visa. As the only foreigner of a Thai = company in=20 a visa category of ``English language specialist'', he doesn't fit the = usual=20 categories and has to produce reams of circuitous paperwork bordering on = the=20 Kafkaesque. As he points out, none of it has to do with him _ his = qualities or=20 qualifications, awards or publications _ and all has to do with = satisfying the=20 narrow-minded demands of the immigration authorities. That he has a Thai = daughter, won a medal for his work from the Association of Translators = and=20 Interpreters of Thailand in 2007 and has done more than most in the = service of=20 Thai culture, is of little help.
Whether he is officially appreciated or not, though, Thailand and = Thai =20 literature are very lucky to have him.
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It's a little known fact that at least 40,000 Thai women have their = uterus=20 removed each year, and 80% of them are aged between = 40-59.
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