unesco courier - treasure of litterature world 068108eo

7/30/2019 UNESCO Courier - Treasure of Litterature World 068108eo

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The International Yearof Peace

FORTY years ago, the Second World War came to an end. Thatterrible conflict which, for the first time in the history of mankind,had affected every continent, caused immeasurable destruction and

led to the death or mutilation of tens ofmillions of persons, ended in Asiawith an event which was in itself an unprecedented warning: the explosionof the two atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.It was immediately clear that the effects of the newweapons could extendfar beyond the field of hostilities themselves and that civilians as well asmilitary, women and children aswell as combattants, would notbe spared.Itwas in this climate that the United Nations systemwas created and thatthe Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization was adopted in London on 16 November 1945.Unesco was assigned the task of contributing to the establishment of

international peace and the common prosperity of humanity throughco-operation between the nations in the fields of intellectual life. In LonBlum's fine words , itwas called upon to become the "moral and intellectualconscience of humanity."The task was all the more important since the Second World War hadbeen far more ideological in character than its predecessor. As Unesco's

Constitution states, it had been made possible by "the denial of thedemocratic principles of the dignity, equality and mutual respect of men,and by the propagation, in their place, through ignorance and prejudice, ofthe doctrine of the inequality of men and races".Accordingly, one of the fundamental tasks assigned to Unesco was to

"develop and to increase the means of communication between... peoplesand to employ thesemeans for the purposes ofmutual understanding and atruer and more perfect knowledge of each other's lives".As well as its immediate goals reconciling states of mind that the warhadbrought into conflict Unesco waspledged to call into being averitable"intellectual and moral solidarity", on a planetary scale, with the aim ofproviding a lasting foundation for peace.In the last four decades, Unesco has striven unremittingly to achieve this


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The CourierA window open on the world

Editorial

THE Unesco Courier presents itsbest wishes for 1986 to the readersof its thirty-two language editions

all over the world.We salute the new editions of the maga

zine in Swedish and Basque whichhave appeared in 1985 and those, inHausaand Vietnamese, which will soon beappearing.We express our hopes for closer co

operation between peoples and culturesand for world peace.The year 1986 has been declared the"International Year of Peace" by the

United Nations system. On this occasionthe Director-General of Unesco, Mr.Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow, delivers a message to all the peoples of the world (seeopposite page).It would have been impossible to imagine a more fitting theme to mark the

opening of the International Year ofPeace than that of our J anuary issue whichpresents the "Unesco Collection of Representative Works", a library of worldliterature and a meeting point of worldcultures.

Cover: Photo George Ducret and GeorgesServat, Unesco

The introduction of new production tech

J anuary 198639th year

2 The International Year of P eaceby Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow

4 Unesco's General Conference5 A library of world classicsby Edouard J . Maunick

7 E leven Nobel Laureates9 'Knowledge of the Orient'An imaginative publishing projectin partnership with Unescoby Etiemble

11 In the world of menby Chuang Tzu

12 The originality of J apanese literatureby Ren de Ceccatty14 Winds

by Sei Shonagon15 African voices

by Sophie Bessis16 The Song of Lawino

by Okot P 'Bitek17 Tradition and experiment in Arabic letters

by Abdellatif Laabi19 The citadel of Aleppo

by Ibn Batutah20 Northern lights: the writers of Scandinavia

by J ean-Clarence Lambert21 The farewell

by Par Lagerkvist23 Latin America, a world apart

by J orge Enrique Adoum26 'Gauderios'

by Concolorcorvo


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Unesco 's General C onferenceby Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow

THE 23rd Session of Unesco's General Conference, whichmet in Sofia from 8 October to 8 November 1 985, wasattended by 154 delegations from Member States, in

cluding 98 ministers and 47 persons of ministerial rank. Alsorepresented were 8 United Nations bodies, 21 internationalgovernmental organizations and 80 non-governmental organizations^ a total of almost 1 ,900 participants.

During the Session, notable for intensive and purposefulactivity taking place in a spirit of dialogue and mutual comprehension, the General Conference accomplished the unprecedented task of approving a programme and budgetsubject toa priority system by virtue ofwhich three-quarters of scheduledactivities have been accorded firstpriority, whilst the remainderhave had to be accorded second priority owing to lack offinancial provision. The budgetary ceiling, defined on thesebases, was unanimously adopted by the States present.The General Conference also enabled a consensus to be

reached in all the fields of Unesco's activities, notably in those

Agreement was reached on the main lines of a programme forWorld Culture Decade.The Genera l Conference also decided to create an inter

governmentalprogramme in informatics, to launch amajor newregional project on the rational use and conservation of waterresources in rural Asia and in the Pacific, and to prepare aspecial aid programme for Africa in the fields of scientific andtechnological research and of research and development.The attachment of Member States, and of their educational,

scientific and cultural communities, tomultilateral co-operationwas forcefully reaffirmed. Unesco's specific vocation covering all aspects of intellectual co-operation was given particular endorsement by the Conference. And this vocation wasoutstandingly illustrated by the essential role played in the workof the specialized commissions by experts from different delegations who found constructive and mutually satisfactorysolutions to all the questions they examined.

Finally, the participating delegations emphasized the import


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"The essential nature of the role of the poet and thewriterwhich is to communicate and in so doing to bring us all closer togethercan never be over-emphasized.The Unesco Collection of Representative Works is the focal point at which theirworks converge so that, after translation, they can be made available to the widestpossible audience."


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^nvolves the evaluation and re-evaluation of each of thoseelements which we recognize as component parts of ourculture. Among those components we could list, our purpose here is to examinemore closely the literary element andto list and describe what Unesco has achieved in this fieldsince 1948 through the Unesco Collection of RepresentativeWorks.This project, whose purpose is tomake available in trans

lation in two international languages, English and French,themasterpieces ofworld literature, is a godsend to those forwhom reading is a passion; and for those forwhom reading isa lively interest, what a tempting display it offers of bookswhose quality and content can open uphitherto unsuspectedhorizons.There is, however, far more to the Unesco Collection ofRepresentative Works than these few introductory remarkssuggest. The Collection is central to Unesco's action in

favour of the strengthening of cultural identity and inter-cultural relations. For there can beno doubt that the peoplesof the world long to reach out beyond the events of theirhistory of yesterday and today and to discover, behind their

ways and customs, their traditions, beliefs andvalues, something thatwill better confirm their existence in theworld andconsolidate their place in the universal concert.This should not, however, be taken as indicating a hankering after the past, or a rejection of the present and of whatthe outsideworld has to offer. On the contrary, everyhumangroup needs to seek out its roots the better tounderstand andto come to terms with the changing contemporary world andto accept with open arms the riches that stem from relationships and exchanges with others. Yet these activities, ofcardinal importance as they are, cannot bear fruit in acontext of conflict. Only peaceful contact between culturesequally confident of their worth and importance can bemutually enriching. At a time in history when the atomicmenace hangs over us all and when we run the terrible risk ofseeing the age-old heritage built up by human genius disappear for ever, this is the objective that Unesco is workingconstantly to achieve.Among the accumulated riches of the past, to which thepresent is continuously adding, must be counted the diffe

rent literatures from every corner of the globe, an ever-CONT INUED PAGE 8

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Poet, dramatist and novelist, the Swedishwriter Par Lagerkvist (1891-1974) wasawarded the Nobel Prize for literature in1951. Two ofhis novels have been publishedin French in the Unesco Collection:Ames Masques (Sjarlanas Maskerad) in1974 and L'Exil de la Terre (Gasthos Verk-ligheten; Eng. trans. Guest of Reality) in1977.

The Indian writer Rabindranath Tagore(1861-1941; Nobel P rize for literature,1913). Several of his works, translatedfrom Bengali into French and English, feature in the Collection.

The Greek poet George Seferis (1900-1971; Nobel P rize for literature, 1963). Aselection ofhis workappears in an anthologypublished in the Collection in Englishunder the title Six Poets ofModern Greece(1960).

The Icelandic writer Halldr Kiljan Lax-ness (born 1902; Nobel P rize for literature,1955) is the author of major works of fiction. La C loche d'Islande, a French translation of his novel Islandslukkan (The Bell ofIceland, 1943J was published in the Unesco Collection in 1979.

The J apanese novelist YasunariKawabata(1899-1972; Nobel Prize, 1968). Several ofhis novels feature In theCollectionboth inFrench and English translation. One ofthem, Yukiguni (Snow Country, 1948) hasalso been translated into Italian and Indonesian.

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The F innish writer Frans Eemil S illanp(1888-1964; Nobel P rize for literature,1939). Of his novels, written in Finnish,Hiltu ja Ragnar (1923) has been translatedinto French in the Unesco Collectionandpublished in 1974 under the title Hiltu etRagnar (Histoire de Deux Enfants desHommes).

The French writer Albert Camus (1913-1960; Nobel P rize for literature, 1957). AnIndonesian translation of his novel LaPeste (The P lague, 1947) has been publishedintheCollectionunderthe titleSam-par (1985).

The Greek poet Odysseus Elytis (born1911; Nobel P rize for literature, 1979) isrepresented in S ix Poets of ModernGreece (1960).

The Yugoslav writer Ivo Andric (1892-

The Spanish poet Vicente Aleixandre(1898-1984; Nobel P rize for literature,1977). His work appears in the Collectionin a French translation, P osie Totale,(1977).


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Eleven Nobel Laureates

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'Knowledge of the Orient'An imaginative publishing project

in partnershipwith Unesco

by Etiemble

IT is a Saturday towards the end ofNovember 1985 and my desk is littered with a dozen or so press cuttings. All of them, without exception, en

thuse aboutthe publication, at last, of thefirst six re-issues of the Connaissance del'Orient ("Knowledge of the Orient")Series, agreeably presented at a priceaffordable by the interested but less well-off readers often the most zealous intheir thirst for knowledge. Indian,Chinese and J apanese authors are represented in this first batch of re-issues, tobe followed next Spring by an equallyrich, successful and well-produced batchof masterpieces.

So this seems an appropriate momentforme to recount how and why I was led,inexorably, to launch this Series, whichhas received the generous support ofUnesco, and why I should never havebeen able to guide it, successfully I hope,without the vigilant backing of this oftenmisjudged organization.No sooner had I arrived in P aris, in

1927, to enter the hypokhgne (the preparatory class for those wishing to enterthe prestigious Ecole Normale Suprieure) of the Lyce Louis-le-Grand, than Ibegan to spend the greater part of myleisure hours in bookshops which, in

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fConsidered to be one of the masters ofJ apanese prose, lhara Saikaku (1647-1693) was the creator of the realistic storyin J apan. Several of his works have beentranslated into French and English in theUnesco Collection. Above, illustrationfrom a French version of Koshoku Gonin(1689), published in the Connaissance del'O rient series under the title C inqAmoureuses in 1959 and 1979. It showstwo characters giving an outdoordramaticperformance.

those happy times, allowed students withopen minds butempty pockets to browseat will through the books that interestedthem. I divided my time between threesuch understanding bookshops, readingtwenty pages in one, thirty in another andten in the third, and buying, each timethat this was possible, one of thosebooks I had already read but which Iwanted to keep for my future library.As you can imagine, young provincialas I then was, guided, or rather mis

guided until then by two schoolmasterswhose religious fanaticism limited theirliterary repertoire to Bossuet, Pascal andThomas Aquinas, I threw myself into thereading of the Manu-smrti (the Sanskritcode of law), the Life of the Buddha andSouli de Morant's two-volume study onConfucius.Subsequently, when this young provincial, newly-arrived at the Rue d'Ulm(the site of the Ecole Normale Suprieure), was asked by the director of literary studies, Monsieur Clestin Bougie,

for which higher degree he intended tostudy, he. replied: "Philosophy". To thefurther astonishment of Monsieur Bougie, the impudent young man added:"This, of course, means that I shall enrollimmediately at the School of OrientalLanguages and for all the classes of advanced Chinese studies, since it seemsto me to be unthinkable to aspire to ahigher degree in philosophy which covers only European philosophy.


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cf: .--Connaissance de l'Orient Series, whichwas under the patronage of, and partlyfinanced by, Unesco. It had not beeneasy to bring this aboutand itwas thanksto J ean Thomas, at that time DeputyDirector-General of Unesco, who decided that itwas of the utmost importanceto the modern conception of the dissemination of culture thatmyproposed Seriesshould receive Unesco backing, that theproject was able to go ahead.

I owe a great deal to J ean Thomas, butthe mostmunificentpresenthe evergaveme, as well as to all those who read in theFrench language, was the support helent to my project. Over thirty full years,from 1 956 to 1 986, the Connaissance del'OrientSees has continued to progressand to open itself out to an increasingrange ofwriting genres and of languagesfrom what can broadly be termed theOrient.Always insisting on direct translationfrom the original text, and having the

services o f the best translators for eachlanguage and for each author, I think Ican safely say that, thanks to Unesco, Ihave been able to complete a large partof my far-fetched projectto enable my

CONTINUED OVERLEAFIllustration from Le Rve dans le PavillonRouge ("The Dream of the Red Chamber"),a French translation ofHong lou meng, thegreat 18th-century Chinese novel by CaoXueqin (c. 1715-1763). The translation (2vols.) appeared in the Unesco Collectionof Representative Works In 1981 in theprestigious Bibliothque de la P liade Collection published by the Paris house ofGallimard.

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/#e world ofmen Cwfl*s rzMCARPENTER Shih went to Ch'i and, when he got toCrooked Shaft, he saw a serrate oak standing by the

village shrine. It was broad enough to shelter severalthousand oxen and measured a hundred spans around,towering above the hills. The lowest branches were eightyfeet from the ground, and a dozen or so of them could havebeen made into boats. There were so many sightseers that

abuse. Their big limbs are broken off, their little limbs areyanked around. Their utility makes life miserable for them,and so they don't get to finish out the years Heaven gavethem, but are cut off in mid-journey. They bring it onthemselves the pulling and tearing of the common mob.And it's the same way with all other things.

time no


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compatriots, rather than waste their timeon fashionable trifles, to read masterpieces of the highest civilizations, presented in all their most diverse forms:from India, Sukasaptati (Les Contes duPerroquet) and Shrikanto; from China,works of Chuang-tzu (see extract p. 11)and Lieh-tzu(1), as well as Rcits d'uneVie Fugitive ("Tales of a Fugitive Life") byChen Fou and the Prgrinations d'unClochard ("Wanderings of a Tramp") LiuNgo's masterpiece, not forgetting, ofcourse, Le Rve dans le Pavillon Rouge("The Dream of the Red Chamber") byCao Xueqin.One problem, however, still preoccu

pied me. To fulfil my own dearest wishesand those of Unesco, those volumes nowsold out in their original, highly-pricedprinting would have to be re-issued in afine new Series which would be cheaperbut even more attractive than the Foliopaperback edition, since it would be amatter of reprinting masterpieces chosenfrom among masterpieces.When Moenis Taha Hussein, the man

responsible for the Series at Unesco (itwas his father who had introduced me tothe writings of Ibn Khaldn, Al-Ma'arri,Al-Mutanabbi and others), reached theage of retirement, I discussed the situation with his successor and was happilysurprised to learn that he had alreadypersuaded Antoine Gallimard to reprint,in an attractive new series (format,covers, paper, inks all play their part)those titles that are out of print but whichcannot, at present, be reprinted in theoriginal series, but which in this way willbe ensured a wider dissemination.

Now, it is precisely the aim of Unescoand of myself to offer to cultures perhapsa little too closed in on themselves thekeys to such works as the VedicHymns{2), the Secret Traditions of theA/o(3), by Zeami, the Pillow-Book of SeiShonagon (see extract page 14), theVetala-pancavimsatikaw, Chuang-tzu'sComplete Works, and the marvelousSong of the Road (5), on which SatyajitRay based his film Pather Panchali,which won the Grand Pr ix at the Cannes

The originality of J apaneseliterature

A whole series of paradoxes hasgiven J apanese literature aunique place in the his tory of

world culture. But its distinctiveness doesnot isolate it: we need only consider LadyMurasaki's The Tale of Genji,w whichdates from the beginning of the eleventhcentury andwhich is a delight to read, notonly for specialists in classical J apaneseliterature or even just for lovers of thingsJ apanese, but also for all who are interested in the structure of the novel, and,more generally, in psychological relationships as these can be depicted by anovelist.

The Tale ofGenji, which is surprisinglymodern in its style of narration, has twoaltogether remarkable features. Firstly,although it appeared at the dawn ofwritten J apanese culture, it is a novel;secondly, its author is a woman. Thesetwo characteristics in themselves revealthe amazing originality of J apanese literature: it starts with the genre which, in all

other cultures, is a late development,and, moreover, women are not only immediately accepted in literature, but arein the vanguard. This novel was preceded by collections of poetry, historicaland mythological chronicles and folktales, but there is no comparable example of such an early emergence of thenovel genre in literary history.The "court diaries" of the Heian period

(794-1185) herald or echo thisachievement, in which another specialfeature should be noted: the drifting ofthe story between poetry and prose, withmany waka (poems of thirty-one syllables) breaking up the steady pace of thenarrative. Although classical J apanese

Woodcut below, by Masakazu Kuwata, isan Illustration from Modern J apaneseStories: an Anthology, first published intheCollection in 1961.


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by Ren de Ceccatty

Above, cover illustrationofan English version of Natsume Soseki's second novel,Botchan, published in the Unesco Collection in 1973. Outstandingly popular withJ apanese readers ever since it was firstpublished in 1906, Botchan is the humorously told story of the son of a well-to-dofamily who is obliged by misfortune tobecome a teacher in a remote countryschool. French andEnglish translations ofother novels by Soseki, including I am aCat (Wagahai Wa Neko De Aru), 1905, andKokoro also feature in the Collection.

presents difficulties for twentieth-centuryJ apanese readers, and although thesediaries require translation into modernparlance, it is astonishing how close thisworld of "court ladies" seems to us. Whydowe recognize ourselves in Izumi Shiki-bu, in Michitsuna's mother and in SeiShonagon? Why do the notions of theephemeral, the world's inconstancy, andnostalgic longing still touch a nerve in us?These earliest introspective narratives,in their sumptuous setting and in thehierarchical world of the court, alsospeak with a personal voice that istimeless.

The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon(c.966-early eleventh century; see extract overleaf) or, later, in the Kamakuraperiod (1 185-1333), the Hjki, still havea sort of transparency and self-evidencethat enable their authors to show usourselves whether the character is anabandoned woman or a hermit lost in themountains. This intimacy, which spans

Cover illustration, below, for J ournaux deVoyage ("Travel Diaries") by MatsuoMunefusa, known as Bash, published Inthe Collection in French in 1976. Bashwas one of thegreatpoets of 1 7th-centuryJ apan and the peerless master of haiku,3-line poems with a total of 17 syllableswhich encapsulate moments of heightened emotion or reflection and whichBash often insertedIn his narrative textsor travelogues. The haiku poetic form isstill practiced in J apan.


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The Tale of the Lady Ochikubo (Ochikubo-monogatari), Is one of the earliest novelsof the Heian period (794-1185), the goldenage of J apanese literature. Written by ananonymous 10th-century author, thenovel Is a precursor of the C inderellastory. Above, cover illustration of anEnglish-language translation published inthe Unesco Collection In 1971.

the centuries, will continue to be found inthe most modern works of literature. Theintrospective novels of the early twentieth century, despite major historical andlinguistic upheavals, undoubtedly bearwitness to that rare homogeneity. Weread the masterpieces of Natsum Sse-ki (1867-1 91 6)(2) or Nagai Kaf (1879-1959)


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African voicesby Sophie Bessis

SINCE it was supposed to have nohistory and, apart from a few interesting customs, scarcely anycivilization, Africa was long thought tohave no literature. But through contact

with "the white man's school" a numberof writers emerged during this centuryand gradually imposed themselves. Thismovement may perhaps be said to havebegun with Batouala, the "negro novel"by the West Indian Ren Maran who wonthe Goncourt P rize in 1921. It continuedwith Leopold Sdar Senghor and Amadou Hampt B and expanded with thecoming of age of the post-independencegenerations, leading to a flowering oftalent in poetry and the novel in the present decade. The existence in Africa of a

plentiful and varied literature in whichthere is no lack of talent is now beyonddispute.While African literature was gaining its

letters of nobility and a degree of international recognition, its range was alsowidening with the realization that thewritten word was not the only medium forworks of literature. Initially thanks to theperseverance of a few, and later becauseof a growing awareness of its extraordinary richness, oral literature began to becollected, recorded in writing and insome cases translated into major worldlanguages. Thus, entire civilizations withtheir creation myths and epics made theirentry into world literature, from whichthey had previously been excluded be-

Cover illustration for Anthem of the Decades (A Zulu Epic Dedicated to theWomen of Africa), by Mazls i Kunene(1981). It depicts two women from theharem of King Mpande. AnotherZulu epicby the same author, Emperor Shaka theGreat, published in English in 1979, alsofeatures in the Unesco Collection of Representative Works. (See Unesco Courier,August 1985).


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cause of their oral form and because thelanguages to which they belonged werenot widely known. The time will sooncome if it has not arrived alreadywhen a person cannot claim to be cultivated unless he or she is familiar with theepics of the Mandingo or the Mvet.In this context, the Unesco Collectionof Representative Works is playing a rolewhich it intends to develop further. In thefirst place, an incomparable informationnetwork enables it to identify from amongrecently discovered epic and mythological tales as well as from contemporarywritings those works which deserve to beincluded in the world pantheon of literature. Even more important, it can transmit them beyond the relatively limitedreaderships of local languages by havingthem translated into major world languages.Several translations have already

been produced, and French-speakingreaders now have access to the sacredtexts of Black Africa'1 > accounts of theirAfrican travels by a number of Mediterranean writers and, more recently, to theSong of Lawino by the Ugandan poetOkot P'Bitek (see extract below), which

has been translated fromAcholi. F or English-speaking readers there is a seriesof the great Zulu epics collected by Maz-isi Kunene(2), as well as anthologies ofAfrican prose and poetry(3). The Fan-tang, a mystical poem of the Peulshepherds and a masterpiece of the oraltradition, and the Samba Gueladiegni,translated from Wolof, will also soon beavailable in F rench.

It is to be hoped that Unesco as it hasalready done for other works will produce translations of certain works fromtheir national languages into other, notnecessarily international, languages. Bydoing so itwould fulfil one of its purposes,that of widening contacts between differentcultures.

SOPHIE BESS IS , who holds T unisian andFrench nationality, is assistant editor-in-chiefofthe Paris-based magazine J eune Afrique. Afterteaching history at the University of Yaounde(Cameroon), she became a journalist specializing in the economicproblems of the Third World.A former director of the magazine Afrique-agriculture, she has published a number of studiesincluding L'Arme Alimentaire (1979) and La Dernire Frontire (1983).

"When an old man dies a whole librarydisappears with him. " This famous remarkwasmade byAmadou Hampt B, above,the great Malian scholar who has been apioneerin committing works of theAfricanoral tradition to writing and making themmore widely known. Hampte B wrote thepreface to Textes Sacrs d'Afrique Noire, acollection of sacred writings from BlackAfrica published in the Unesco Collectionin 1965.

The Song ofLawino by okotp'BitekMy husband read much, with the Whites,He has read everything, in depth,He is as learned as the Whites,But readinghas done for him.It has cut him off from his people,He is like a trunkWithout roots.He runs down everything Acholi,He saysThat the customs of the BlacksAre blackBecause his eyes have burst,And he wears black glasses,And at his houseIt is as black as in a forest!My husband's house

Or hollow-cheeked, sullen and vengeful-looking,P ictures of men and womenLong dead.My husband's desk is coveredWith a frightening pile of papers.They look like the giant climbing plants of the forestOr the Kituba treeThat smothers other trees to death.Some stand on end,Others lie on their backs.They are all mixed togetherLike the legs of young peopleDancing the orak,Or the feet of planksIn a goggo fence.They are jumbled togetherLike the legs of giant climbing plantsIn the impenetrable forest.


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ton Khaldun, born In Tunis in 1332, spentmuchofhis life innorthAfricaandAndalusia, and died in Cairo In 1406. His majorwork, a universalhistory of the Arabs, thePersians and the Berbers, is preceded bythe Muqaddimah (an introduction to history), a French translation of which waspublished in the Collection in 1967 underthe title Discours sur l'Histoire Universelle. Above, page ofa velum manuscriptdating from 1733 of the Muqaddimah, inwhich Ibn Khaldun sets forth a theory onthe evolution of human societies whichwas farahead ofhis time. A philosopherofhistory, Ibn Khaldun was also a a precursor of modern sociology.

Tradition and experimentinArabic letters

by Abdellatif Laabi

THE world audience reached byArab literature has not alwaysbeen commensurate with the im

portance and originality of an ancientliterary tradition that is still very muchalive.This literature is still widely regarded

as a domain for scholars and those whoare, for a variety of reasons, "lovers" of

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the Arab world. In other words, althoughit is acknowledged to have a prestigiouspast, it is not so often recognized asforming part of the contemporary literaryscene.The Unesco Programme for the Trans

lation of Literary Works can make a bigcontribution to re-establishing the dialogue. Making national literatures known^

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Al-Ghazali (1058-1111) was one of thegreatestphilosophersof Islam. Convincedthat itwas impossible to achieve certaintyby reason alone, he wrote a celebratedtreatise, Tahafut al-falasifa (The Incoherence of the P hilosophers), to refute thecertainties of thephilosophers ofhis time.His work was in its turn attacked by IbnRushd (Averros) in his Tahafut al-tahafut(The Incoherence of the Incoherence),which has been translated Into English inthe Unesco Collection (1954). Several ofAl-Ghazali's works have been published inthe Collection in English, French and Spanish, including the mystical autobiography he wrote shortly before his death,Erreur et Dlivrance ("Error and Deliverance") published in French in 1959.Above, the first page of a 13th-centuryPersianmanuscriptofa workbyAl-Ghazali, "The Way to Happiness", which illustratedaposterdesignedbyAliSarmadifora Round Table devoted to Al-Ghazali heldunder Unesco auspices in Paris on 9 and10 December 1985.

in majorworld languages is perhaps oneof the soundest ways of building bridgesbetween different cultural regions andcommunicating specific visions of theworld to humanity as a whole.

In quantitative terms at least, Unesco's

sense, with the "Travels of IbnBatutah" (1) and "The Configuration ofthe Earth" by Ibn Hauqal (2). Thesetravellers' accounts are far from being ofmerely technical interest. In the Arab tradition, they are part of a special literarygenre, the Rihla (itinerary or journey) inwhich the explorer also displays his literary, historical and philosophical culture.Next, a historical tour with Ibn Khal-

dn's Muqaddimah ("Discourse on theHistory of the Universe") (3). This is anessential work whose contribution tocontemporary historical and sociologicalthought on both sides of the Mediterranean has not yet been exhausted.Thanks to the Muqadimmah, a work ofuniversal scope, a breakthrough wasmade in the Arab and Maghreb context inreinterpreting history with the aid of anappropriate methodology.A tour in the realm of pure thoughtwiththe philosophical works of AI Farabi (4),Ibn Rushd (Averros) (5), Ibn Sina

(Avicenna)


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Cover illustration o/Voyages d'lbn Battuta("The Travels of Ibn Batutah")published inthe Collection in a bilingual (French-Arab)edition in 1979. Ibn Batutah (1304-1377)was the greatest Muslim traveller of theMiddle Ages. After long journeys throughArabia, Asia Minor, Russia, India, China,Black Africa, the Sahara and the Sudan, hewrote his Rihla (Travels), an account ofexceptional documentary value in whichpicturesque observations and fragmentsofpoetry aremingled with descriptions ofthe countries he visited and of the customs of their peoples.

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Northern lights :thewriters ofScandinavia

by J ean-Clarence Lambert

Above, jacketIllustration orThe BleachingYard (Bleikeplassen) a workby theNorwegian novelist Tarjei Vesaas (1897-1970) inwhich the hero is driven by obscure innerforces to commit irreparable acts. In addition to this translation published in 1981,

SCANDINAVIAN literature is bothlittle-known and misunderstood. Itwas written in minor languages

and for long itwas read only by a handfulof specialists.It was not until the second half o f the

nineteenth century with the arrival of theIbsen/Strindberg generation that Scandinavian literature came to the forefrontof the European literary scene. Translations of their works into the major languages proliferated, although, as wasonly to be expected, the selection ofworks translated was haphazard. Manyinexplicable gaps remain which must atall costs be filled.A great deal more has still to be done.

Little Iceland has an impressive literaturedating back to the Middle- Ages. After aperiod of decline starting in the fifteenthcentury it has experienced a miraculousrenaissance in the twentieth century.Norwegian literature, which dates back amere two centuries, nevertheless burstupon the world with an immediate, striking impact. Danish and Swedish literature goes back a century further andindeed includes a number of even olderworks of considerable importance,although these were mainly written inLatin. The literature of Finland, which iswritten in both Swedish and Finnish,dates from the Romantic period. Here wehave five different literatures whichtogether form an imposing new mountainrange in the literary landscape. The morewe explore itthe more we become awareof its density, its complexity and its richoriginality.


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The volumes published in translationwith the aid of Unesco seem to me, forthe most part, to be fitting staging-pointsin this journey of exploration. The Unesco Collection would, perhaps, benefitfrom a more clearly mapped out routewhich would make itpossible to establishthe links between the various works thathave been translated. Among the workstranslated into French one would l ike tosee Renauld-Krantz's invaluable Anthologie de la Posie Nordique Ancienne("Anthology of Ancient Nordic Poetry",Paris, 1 964) and my own Anthologie dela P osie Sudoise ("Anthology ofSwedish Poetry", Paris, 1971), whichhead the list, followed up by translationsof anthologies of Danish and Finnishpoetry, since, at least until recent times,poetryhas been the most important component in Nordic literature.Although Iceland has been relatively

well represented in the Collection, especially as far as translations into Englishare concerned, a major effort is stillneeded with regard to Danish literature. Itis high time the world had access to SaxoGrammaticus (c.1150-c.1206), the Dan

ish historian in whose Gesta DanorumShakespeare may well have found themodel for Hamlet, to Nikola i FrederikGrundtvig (1783-1872), the architect ofthe Scandinavian identity, to J ohannesV. J ensen (1873-1950; Nobel Prize forliterature, 1944), to the metaphysicalpoet Paul La Cour (1902-1956), and toOle Sarvig (1921-1981), not to mentionliving poets.As far as Norwegian literature is con

cerned, we should be able to becomebetter acquainted with the majestic writings of such men as Knut Hamsun (1 859-1952; Nobel Prize 1920) and Hans ErnstKinck (1865-1926) through translations,if not of their complete works, at least ofwide selections ofthem. The works of theSwedish writer August Strindberg havenow been translated in to F rench andtheir translation into German will shortlybe completed. (Since Sweden is themost powerful of the Scandinavian countries, publishers' interest is more easilyattracted to Swedish writers).Unesco should promote the translation

of writers who seem to have been left onthe sidelines, such as Carl Michael Bell

man, the great poetof European Rococo,or Romantics such as Erik J ohn Stagne-lius (1783-1823) and Carl J onas LoveAlmquist (1793-1866), equals in geniusand in misfortune to the great Germanwriters. Coming closer to the presentday, an effort is needed to draw attentionto the universality of Gunnar Ekelf(1 907-1 968). With regard to Finland, newtranslations are needed of the Kalevala(See Unesco Courier, August 1985) andofJ ohan Ludvig Runeberg. Finally, itis tobe hoped that there will be new editionsof certain works with which the Collectionwas begun and which remain essential.

J EAN-CLARENCE LAMBERT is a French poetand specialist in the literature of northernEurope, on which he has written a number ofessays, as wellas editing an anthologyof Swedishpoetry (Anthologie de la Posie Sudoise desOrigines Nos J ours, co-publishedwith Unesco,1971). With Roger Caillois, a former director ofthe Unesco P rogramme for the Translation ofLiterary Works, he produced another anthologyofpoetry Trsor de la Posie Universelle (1958).He is also the author of La P osie Pour Quo iFaire? (1978) and a collection ofpoems Le Noiret l'Azur (1980).

The farewellby Par Lagerkvist

THEY came to the lake and crossed the narrow railwayline that ran along the shore. At that late hour therewere no trains. J ust as at a level crossing the railway

lines seem to vanish on either side into the distance, soeverything appeared deserted. A lone track-watchmanwended his wayhome in the gathering darkness, while in thedistance could be heard the sound of a track maintenancetrolley receding into the forest.The road had become muddy at the edge of the lake andthe girl's rubber boots sank into the slime. They had to take

to the bank, walking side by side, her delicate hand in his. Hewas aware of her warmth, of her breathing. They walked on

She gave the impression that there was nothing animal inher. Why?He sensed suddenly, obscurely, that there was somethinghopeless in this purity, this goodness, in the light thatsurrounded her, something that he seemed to recognize.Yes, she reminded him of something he had encounteredbefore.Whatwas so terrifying about such people was that qualitythey hadwhich conjured up the image of perfection, whichseemed towant to impose its own certainty, its total serenity.Once one discovered it, everything seemed even morebleak. Suddenly a warmth was revealed that life could not


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Through the language barrier

In its P rogramme for the translation ofliteraryworks, Unesco sponsors the translation andpublication of classics of worldliterature not only in French and Englishbut in other languages. Several works byEuropean authors including Aristotle,Descartes, Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire,Durkheim and Bergson, have been published in Arabic. Above, a portrait of theGerman philosopher and mathematicianGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, whose philosophical treatise the Monadologieappeared in the Collection in Arabic in1956.

-The signature of William Shakespeare(1564-1616), one of thegreatestdramatistsofall time. The Collectionfeatures Indonesian translations of three Shakespeareplays, Hamlet, King Lear and Romeo andJ uliet published in 1975 and 1976.

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The work of the Geneva-born writer andphilosopher J ean-J acques Rousseau(1712-1778) has profoundly influenced thedevelopment ofmodern political thought.The ArabicseriesoftheUnescoCollectionfeatures a number of his major writings,translated from the original French: the


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Latin America, aworld apartby J orge Enrique Adoum

SINCE the conquistadors did notcome with their wives but withslaves, triple miscegenation must

have begun on the day the first Spaniards landed in America. The Portuguese arrived soon afterwards. Bothempires imposed their language andtheir religion, superimposing them onthose of the indigenous population. Columbus discovered the marvels he hadwanted to discover: the estuary of one ofthe rivers of paradise, Amazons, menwith dogs' heads. Bernai Diaz del Castillo, the Spanish chronicler who took partin the conquest of Mexico with Cortes,describes what he has seen as "like thetales of enchantment in the book Amadisof Gaul". (More than four centuries later,Alejo Carpentier, "having fallen underthe spell of the land of Haiti" and "seenthe magic signs on the red roads of theCentral Plateau", found himself "impelled to bring themarvels of reality closer to the wearying task of striving to con

jure up the marvellous".) The Discovererand the chroniclers of the Indies werealso poets: they had to invent words forthings they had never seen, and to findways of spelling such words as cacique,hamaca, guayaba and pina. And whetherwith Caliban (a deformation of caribe) orwith the "noble savage" hopefully soughton these shores, America came to be

Below, detail of cover design for theFrench version of the "Songs of Nezahual-coyotl"great lord and libertine, despotand benefactor of the people ofAnahuac(ancient Mexico), enlightened legislatorand lyric poet. In a preface, the Frenchwriter J .M.G. Le Clzio (who has translatedInto French "The ChronicleofMichoacn"and such Maya texts as "The P ropheciesof Chilam Balam") notes how "...this poetry, with all the symbolic splendour of theNhuatl language, with this musical andalliterative rhythm whichmade itthemostcreative andmelodious language of IndianAmerica, resounds in us with the disquieting profundity of a prophecy."

part of the world map of the Europeans.And nature began to take the leading rolein a literature which began with the lettersand the journal of the Discoverer.

In the preface to his Nueva crnica ybuen gobierno, Guarnan Poma de Ayalaannounces that his material is taken fromsome "unwritten stories", from "thequipos ' and memories and narratives...of the old eye-witnesses". A contemporary of his, the first eye-witness who hadlearned how to write, was the Inca Garci-laso de la Vega, the son of a Spanishcaptain and an Indian princess: "I wasborn eight years after the Spaniards settled in my country. I grew up there untilthe age of twenty". In his ComentariosReales de Los Incas (1), which date fromthe same period as the chronicle of Pomade Ayala (c. 1 600),we find, as itwere, thefirst evidence of a hybrid form of writing,' A systemof coloured threads used bythe Incastor writing and calculating.

/* -*-'*--

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Detail from the coverofthe French translation of Iracema, the novel or prose-poemby the Brazilian writer J os de Alencar(1829-1877). This work published in 1865describes the love between the ChristianP ortuguese soldierMartim and the Indianmaiden Iracema ("lips ofhoney" in Guarani), keeper of the temple, who Is punishedby fate for violating the taboos other tribe.This work by Alencar was Important lessfor its subject (love between Indian andwhite was a common theme in the 19th-century Latin-American novel) than as"the explosion of a new language of greatpoetic wealth, subversive and sensual: theP ortuguese of Brazil".

since the language is adapted to thedetails of the world it is describing, suchas the mythological lacustrine origin ofthe Incas, andthe feeling ofhuman dreadat hearing for the first time the sound ofneighing beneath the cathedral-vault ofthe forest. Thus the Comentarios are the>first authentic account by a criolloanon-indigenous person born in the NewWorld of his life and the lives of hisancestors. (The other Inca, the author ofEl Lazarillo de Ciegos Caminantes (2), is

The "Royal Commentaries on the Origin ofthe Incas", by Garcilaso de la Vega (ElInca) are one of the firstmajorworks written in Spanish byamestizoa Latin American of mixed race. In them the authordescribes all aspects of Inca society, Including laws, farming methods, sacredrites, occupations, building techniques,flora, fauna, clothing and nutrition, tracesthe history of the ancientpeoples of Peruand describes the early days of the Conquest. Below, an illustration produced byanother famous mestizo of the sameperiod, Guarnan Poma de Ayala, for hiswork Nueva Crnica y Buen Gobierno. Adepiction of the "Coia Raiml" celebration,"the solemn feast of queen Coia" whichtookplace in September, itwas chosen asthe cover illustration for a French editionof the "Commentaries".

SETIEMBRE

spurious since it is known that Don Calixto Bustamente Inca, alias Concolorcor-vo, was actually a Spanish postal inspector, Alonso Carri de la Vandera. (Seeextract page 26).

In his famous Carta de J amaica, datedthe 6th of September 1815 (3), SimnBolvar defined us as "a small humanrace" in "aworld apart", "neither Spanishnor Indian". Nor negro. And justas America, thanks to Columbus, gave the worldthe total concept of the earth, so, thanksto Bolivar, who at the head of his raggedarmy liberated us from our colonial servitude, America also gave theworld its firstconcept of full independence.But after the decisive battle of

Ayacucho in 1824 freedom had to beimprovised, groped towards. And Americawas passing from viceroys to recalcitrant chiefs, to military or theocratic dictators, and they in their turn were followed

Atipa, published in 1885, is the first novelwritten in the crele of French Guyana. Itsauthor, Alfred Parpou (pseudonym of M.Mteyrand) was thegrandson of an Indianchief, Cprou. This work, recently republished in the Collection with a condensedtranslation in French, is a satire onGuyanese life in the secondhalfof the 19th

by civilian presidents. This search for amode of being became acute when itbecame a quest for a mode of expression. After centuries of poetry which hadbeen an extension of Spanish poetryepics, eucharistie plays, epigrams thenovel took its first faltering steps in 1816with El Periquillo Sarniento by Fernndez de Lizardi, and even then it boretraces of the picaresque. Then cameromanticism and the love betweenbrothers and sisters of different raceswho are unaware of their kinship (Cu-mand by J uan Len Mera, CeciliaValds byCirilo Mndez) or blighted love(Maria by J orge Isaacs (4)); the novel began to assert itself as an art-form. Thefirst major novelist who wrote severalnovels, unlike his predecessors, wasJ oaqum Mara Machado de Assis (5).With his Memorias Postumas de BrazCubas, Don Casmurro, Quincas Borba,

century and contains descriptions of barsand markets, as well as accounts of political and religious events. The centralcharacter, Atipa, is a philosopher giftedwith common sense and traditionalpopular wisdom. Below, landing stage at Marl-pasoula, a village on the river Maroni inFrench Guyana.


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The "Apostle ofAmerican Independence",the Cuban J os Marti (1853-1895), above,is one of thegreat figures ofLatin America.He is the author of a vast body of workranging from political essays (such as thestill topical Nuestra Amrica ("Our America"), to portraits ofLatin American heroesand poets, criticism of art and literature,popularpoems such as those in his collection Versos Sencillos, and a children'smagazine, La Edad deOro, entirely writtenby him "so that children can learn howpeople lived in the past and how they livetoday in America and elsewhere in theworld". A selection ofhis works publishedin the Collection in French (PagesChoisies,) gives a good idea of Marti's versatility.

and Yaya Garcia, he broke with thenaturalism that was emerging in Europe(which would find its finest heir in thestories of Horacio Quiroga (6)) and withromanticism that was dying in America.And although the vision of the poets wasstill a romantic one, J os Hernndez succeeded, in Martn Fierro, in writing anepic about a gaucho in the language of

In his biography of Facundo Quiroga,Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (9) expounded awhole programme: civilizationor barbarism, with the city pitted againstthe country; the Seis Ensayos en Buscade Nuestra Expresin, by Pedro Henr-quez Urea, and the Siete Ensayos deInterpretacin de la Realidad Peruana,by J os Carlos Maritegui, are searchinginvestigations of the American identityand attempts to structure its destiny.

Even today, in some Latin Americancountries, writing is an activity of the privileged, of those who have been able tolearn to read, of those who have time tothink. The novelist, brought up in the city,is astonished todiscover thevirgin forest,plains, rivers and mountains and to seemen as the victims of nature. After picturesque romanticizing of the Creole,and paternalistic accounts of local customs and manners, realism (with LaVorgine by J os Eustacio Rivera, DonSegundo Sombra by Ricardo Giraldes,Doa Barbara by Rmulo Gallegos) tookroot so firmly in America that for a time itwas regarded as the only indigenousliterary "monoculture". But, given the un-marvellous aspects of the Latin American situation poverty, lice and thelash to take the sordid realities of everyday life as a literary theme was considered intolerable, not only by official culture but also by the authorities: J orgeIcaza was labelled unpatriotic for hisHuasipungo, and Alcides Arguedas (10)

n

A 3-part anthology of letters, speechesand proclamations by Simn Bolvar theLiberator (1783-1830), above, has beenpublished in the Unesco Collection inFrench. It contains texts such as theAngostura speech and the famous Letterfrom J amaica which revealBolivar's loveof liberty and the literary style of a manwho was said to "wield the pen as well ashe did the sword".

The Brazilians were perhaps the first toproclaim the independence of the language: Graciliano Ramos


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"America is the country of the future,"wrote Hegel. "In times to come, its historical importance will be made plain,perhaps in the struggle between Northand South America.... but philosophersdo not make prophecies." Latin American culture has achieved continentalstature; it forms a clearly defined, seamless whole. We have moved from a literature of experience to a literature ofthought, and both are the outcome of aculture which is not a finished productbutis still in the process of becoming, watching itself grow in its own mirror.J ORGE ENRIQUE ADOUNI, Ecuadorian poetand writer, has taken part in Unesco's programme on Latin-American cultures and is currently a member of the editorial staffof the Unesco Courier. He has published several volumesof poetry, and his play about the Spanish conquestof the Inca empire, published in English asThe Sun Trampled Beneath the Horses' Hooves(The Massachusetts Review, Winter-Spring1974) has also been translated into French,Swedish and Polish and performed in severalcountries of Europe and Latin America.

The tragic life of the Uruguayan writerHoracio Quiroga (1878-1937) from theviolent death of his father, the suicide of aclose relation in his presence, the suicideofhis firstwifeandanaccidentinwhichhekilled his best friend while handling a pistoltook him to "the frontiers of a specialcondition, abyssal, luminous as hell", before ending with his own suicide. After1912 he lived in voluntary exile in the jungle province ofMisiones in Argentina, anddescribedinhis stories the innocentmonstrosity of childhood, the inclemency ofthe virgin forest,man's confrontation withhis destiny, the boundaries of the unrealand the inexplicable. Left, Illustration byFelipe Herrera for the cover of a Frenchedition of Quiroga's famous anthology ofstories Cuentos de Amor, de Locura y deMuerte ("Tales of Love, Madness andDeath", 1917).

'Gauderios'by Concolorcorvo

THESE are youths born in Montevideo and the neighbouring districts. With ragged underclothes andworse outer garments, they try to cover themselves

with one or two ponchos, from which, along with the saddlecloth of their horses, they make a bed, with the saddleserving as a pillow. To the accompanimentof a guitar, whichthey learn to play very badly, they sing, out of tune, manyballadswhich they ruin, andmanywhich they getout of theirown heads, usually treating of love. They wander over thecountryside at their will, and to the great pleasure of thesemi-civilized settlers, they eat at the latter's expense andspend entire weeks stretched out on a hide, singing andplaying. Ifthey lose a horse or it is stolen from them, anotheris given to them, or they take one from the open country,

tongue which they roast in embers. Another time they maytake a fancy to the caracuces, the bones containing themarrow, which they turn over and over with a small stick,and they feast upon that delightful substance; but thegreatest monstrosity is to see them kill a cow, extract thetripe and all the fat which theypile together in the belly, andwithmerely a live coal or apiece of dry cow dung they set fireto that fat; as soon as it begins to burn and the fire spreads tothe fatmeat and bones, it produces an extraordinary illumination, and then they close up the belly again, allowing theanimal to breath fire through its mouth and nostrils, leavingit all night or a considerable part of the day so that it will bewell roasted. In themorning or in the afternoon, the gauderios gather around it, andwith his knife eachcuts off the piece


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From the heartofEastern Europeby Edgar Reichman

THE history of the peoples of Eastern Europe has been marked byterrifying upheavals, not least ofwhich were the after-effects of the greatmigrations. The Lay of Igor's Campaign,

a monumental work acknowledged by allthe great Slav literatures, dates back tothe twelfth century. In the sixteenth century J an Kochanowski laid the foundations of a humanist P olish culture. Twocenturies later, the Moldavian P rinceCantemir recounted the rise and declineof the Ottoman empire. And yet, in theage of Villon, Cervantes andShakespeare, published literature wasrare, largely comprising sacred writingsin Slavonic, folk-tales and historicalchronicles, the work of printers scatteredfrom the Balkans to the Urals. At thisperiod, the rich and original Slav culturewas essentially oral.With theadventof the nineteenth cen

tury, the extension of the Gutenberggalaxy fostered the emergence of national feeling, from Sofia to P rague and Warsaw, from Budapest to Kiev. The militantPolish poet Adam Mickiewicz opposedboth Tsarist absolutism and Austrian authority. Sandor Petofi(1), also a poet,gave vehement expression to the aspirations of the Magyars. In Transylvania, themovement known as the Transylvanianschool stressed the Latin origin of theRomanian language and people, whileon the other side of the Carpathians,Mihail Eminescu(2) shaped the languageinto the form ithas today. The work of the

Ukrainian Taras Shevchenko(3), a freedserf who was to die for his struggleagainst serfdom, marks the beginningsof a literature that is, unfortunately, stilllittle known. In Shalom Aleichem(4), theJ ews also found their bard, who restoredthe beauty of Y iddish, later enhanced byIsaac Bashevis Singer. It is to these authors belonging to languages and literatures which are not widely known and towhich we owe such writers as Capek,Andric(5), Ady(6) and Arghezi, that thepublishing effortof the Unesco Collectionof Representative Works is devoted.Consequently it should come as no surprise that such great giants ofworld liter-

'. '; y

i i1=

ature as Gogol, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Dostoievsky, Esenin, Pushkin, Mayakovsky,Musil, Kafka, and Canetti are not on thelist.Then came the twentieth century. InOctober 1917 the guns of the battleshipAurora, anchored off Petrograd, hailed

the birth of a new world. Weeds wereineluctably spreading in the ruins of theDual Monarchy and of the empire of theautocratic Tsars. Hungarians and Romanians, Czechs and Slovaks, Slovenes,Serbo-Croats and Bulgarians had longbeen writing in their national languages,thereby enriching the heritage ofhumanity(7). Today as in the past theyexpress their rejection of tyranny and thearbitrary, hatred of war, attachment to

Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani (1658-1725),knownas "the FatherofGeorgia", devotedhis life to letters, politics and religion. Oneof his major achievements was the compilation of a dictionary of the Georgianlanguage. In addition to many religiouswritings, he lefta remarkableaccountofa"J ourney in Europe" which he made on adiplomatic mission to the courts ofLouisXIV of France and Pope Clement XI andwhich was the firstpiece of travelwriting inGeorgian literature. The culmination of hisliterary career was "The Truth of Lying", acollection of stories, parables, fables,maxims and riddles which is one of thegreatworks of Georgian prose. Left, illustration from the French translation, published in the Collection in 1984 under thetitle Vrit du Mensonge.


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_

Above painting of St. Nikita from themonasteryofManas ia, In Yugoslavia, featured as thejacket illustration ofMarko theP rince, Serbo-Croat Heroic Songs, a collection of orally transmitted Serbianpoems, many of them translated into English for the first time in this work published in the Collection In 1984. They belong to one of the richestepic traditions inEurope. A legendary hero of this poetry,Marko the P rince is a crafty and valiantfighterwith superhuman force, directly inspired by a 14th-century historical figure,Marko Kraljevich.

their country and also love of life in all itsdiversity.What they have to say is spoken from

the heart of European awareness, stricken with wounds that are slow to heal.Over forty years have elapsed since theend of the Second World War. How canwe forget the martyrdom of those menand women of culture murdered in coldblood by the Nazis? They include theHungarian poet Mikls Radnti(8), killedon a forced marchaftertheevacuation ofthe campwhere he had been a prisoner,the Romanian writer Benjamin Fondan,caught in Paris by the occupation anddeported to Auschwitz, the Polish educa

Portrait of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov(1860-1904), the Russian playwright andshort-story writer whose works rankamong the great classics of world literature. A collection of his stories andplaystranslated into P ersian was published inthe Collection in 1962.

Nartskij epos ('The Book of Heroes,Legends of the Narts") is one of the mostcelebrated traditional works of theOssetes, the last descendants of theancient Scythians, who were driven backinto themountains of the Caucasus duringthe great invasions. Pathos, comedy andthegrandiose aremingled in this vastcanvas of epic stories in verse and prosewhich tell of fabulous heroes, the Narts.The Collection includes a selection of thestories translated into Frenchand Italian.Below, cover illus tration ofthe Italian version, II Libro degli Eroi, Leggene sui Narti.

Above, the Hungarian lyric poet MiklsRadnti (1909-1944). Of J ewish origin,Radnti wrotemanyofhis poems in labourcamps where he was imprisoned duringthe Second World War. In autumn 1944,the camp where he was held in Yugoslaviawas evacuated as the Nazi troops retreated, and Radnti was ordered tomarchtowards Austria through Hungary where,unable to walk any further, he was shot.His lastpoems were found in thepocketofhis coatwhen his corpse was exhumed. Ata time when, as he wrote, "poets die" and"reason disintegrates", Radnti soughtorder, harmony, and intellectual clarity,qualities displayed inpoetrywhich revealshis pronounced taste for classicism. Aselection of his poems, Marche Force,was published in the Collection in French(1975).


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Cover illustration ofDavid de Sassoun, aFrench version of a medieval Armenianepic comprising anonymous popularpoems transmitted by the oral tradition. Itwas published in the Collection in 1964. Aversion of the epic in English, entitledDaredevils of Sassoun, has also been published in the Collection (see below).

J alalimeets his master


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Publishers' impressions"Allen & Unwin have had a long andfruitful association with Unesco book projects. It started, I believe, when SirJ ulianHuxley, the first Director-General, andthe man who claimed to have added theS to Unesco, told us of the imaginativeproject for a multi-volumed History ofMankind that would break the old tradition ofviewing world history from a purelynational standpoint. We were delightedto be chosen as the English publisher,thoughwe hardly anticipated that itwouldtake over twenty years to come to completion. But meanwhile, particularlythroughout the 1960s and 1970s, theUnesco Collection of RepresentativeWorks was establishing itself anotherglobal project that helped to bring greatworks from minority languages before alarger, English language audience. Manypublishers participated in this continuingscheme which Unesco underwrote andencouraged. We must have publishedover thirty such titles, mostof them books

A descendant of Tamerlane and GenghisKhan, Sultan Zahlr Ud-din MuhammadBabur began life in central Asia and in theearly 16th century conquered northern India where he founded the Mogul empire. Afearsome warrior chief, Babur was also aman of letters whose memoirs, written inChagatai, are a document of outstandinghistorical and literary importance. AFrench translation, Le Livre de Babur, waspublished in the Unesco Collection in1980. Miniature, below, depicting a Mogulwarrior and his horse, is from the 15th-century Conqueror's Album preserved inthe Topkapi Museum, Istanbul.

A selection of Khmer stories, translatedinto English from an anthologypublishedby the Buddhist Institute of Phnom Penh,today the capital of Democratic Kampuchea, appeared in the Unesco Collection in 1972 underthetitle Mr BasketKnifeandOther Khmer Folktales. The workwasillustrated by a young Khmer artist, Siso-wath Kulachad, one of whose drawings isshown above.

of great distinction that without the support of the Unesco series would neverhave appeared on our list. It is invidiousto single out individual titles, but I amparticularly fond of P remchand's The Giftof a Cow, Arberry's vivid translations ofthe Persian Tales from the Masnavi, theArmenian classic Daredevils ofSassoun,and the elegant anthology of Bengalipoetry that Deban Bhattacharya translated under the title TheMirrorof the Sky."And although nowadays on a moremodest level, the series continues andserves the world community well. Ourmost recentadditions to the Unesco treasure house have been a first ever translation of the old Catalan classic C urial andGuelfa, and a new translation of the morerecent Czech author Karel Capek's mordant satire War with the Newts. "

Rayner UnwinLondon

P hotographed at Saigon (today Ho ChiMinh-Ville) in 1963, this elderly Vietnamese writing Chinese characters (below) could be taken to symbolize the history of the poetic tradition in Vietnam, asrevealed in Anthologie de la Posie Vietnamienne, a collection of Vietnamese poetrypublished in the Collection in French in1981. Han, or classical Chinese, was oncethe language of culture in Vietnam, andimposed formal rigour on scholarly poetry.Butaround theend of the 18th century asynthesis took place between scholarlypoetry and the ancient tradition ofpopularpoetry, giving birth to the modern Vietnamese language.


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c

i,..3**.

Le Vent du Nord-Est ("The North-EastWind") is the firstmodern Malaysian novelto bepublished In the Collection in French(1982). An outstanding example of aflourishing popular literature, itdescribesthe daily life of Saleh, a fisherman on theeastcoastof the Malaypeninsula which isperiodically ravaged by the north-eastmonsoon. Above cover illustration, depicting fishing boats on a heavy sea.

"In our opinion the Unesco Collection ofRepresentative Works, several of whichhave been published by us, is of capitalimportance in promoting knowledge ofliteratures that are unjustly ignored andneglected. The dictates of the markettake no account of certain culturalaspects which are sometimes of greatimportance but do not correspond to thetaste of the moment."In the fie ld of culture there are the

strong and the weak, the powerful andthe obscure. It is to the credit of theUnesco Collection that it takes noaccount of such considerations, whichhave to do with ideology and business,

" 'A region and an international organization. The world literary heritage.' Theseare the keywords behind a decentralizedpublishing undertaking which, in thespace of a few years, enabled us to create a catalogue in sixteen linguistic fieldswith almost 200 titles, four of which wereproposed and supported by Unesco: LeVent du Nord-est (Malaysia); Le Tempset l'Eau (Iceland); Le GrandAppareillage(Greece), and Lillelord (Norway). Andsince they are four masterpieces, that isno small achievement. We are proud ofthese four, but we are no less proud ofthe others, those which could have, orperhaps should have, had their place inthe Unesco Collection of RepresentativeWorks. We hope with all our heart for abig expansion of this Collection."

Actes Sud publishersArles, France

"Thanks to Unesco, Aubier have beenable to publish works by two relativelyunknown figures of world literatureHalldor Laxness of Iceland and CountessLeonora Christina of Denmark. Souvenirs de Misre, which we are now publishing, is the portrait of a remarkablewoman, a king's daughter who, in theseventeenth century, began by makinghistory before becoming its witness andrelating with what talent! her twentyyears of captivity in the sinister Blue Tower of Copenhagen Castle. May we addthat these books would never have seenthe light without the enthusiasm, patience and talent of their remarkabletranslators, to whom our thanks are due."These are two examples among

many others, which show that the Unesco Collection of Representative Worksmeets an essential need. It may be theonlyCollection that establishes a real linkbetween different cultures."

Aubier publishersParis


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Notes The information on this and the opposite pagehas beentaken from the catalogue of the Unesco Collection ofRepresentative Works. The catalogue may be obtainedfrom the Section for the Dissemination of Cultures,Unesco, 7 Place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris. Works inthe Collectionmay be obtained either through booksellers or directly from the publishers who can also informprospective purchasers or inquirers whether or not agiven title is still available in print.

Notes to article by Edouard J . Maunick,page 5(1) Upanichaden (Sanskrit). Trans, by Paul Thieme.Stuttgart, Reclam J un., 1965. 99 pp. (Asiatische Reihe,Universal Bibliothek, 8723). In English in the Collection:The Beginnings of Indian Philosophy. Selections fromthe Rig Veda, AtharvaVeda, Upanisads andMahabhar-ata. Trans, with an introduction, notes and glossarialindex by Franklin Edgerton. London, Allen & Unwin,1965. 362 pp.; Cambridge (Mass.), Harvard UniversityPress, 1965. 362 pp. In French: panishads du Yoga,Paris, 1971, 1974.(2) Kawabata, Yasunari. Negeri salju (Yukiguni).Trans, into Indonesian byAnas Ma'ruf from the Englishversion by Edward Seidensticker: Snow Country. NewYork, Knopf, 1 956; London, Seeker&Warburg, 1 957. X+ 175 pp.; Tokyo, Charles E. Tuttle, 1957, 32nd impr.1981. 175 pp. (Novel). Also trans, into French andItalian in the Collection. English translations of otherworks by Kawabata in the Collection: The Lake (Mi-zuumi). Trans, by Reiko Tsukimura. London, PeterOwen, 1977. 160 pp.; The Sound of the Mountain(Yama no Oto). Trans, by E. Seidensticker. London,Seeker & Warburg, 1971. 277 pp.; New York, Knopf,1971. (Novel); Thousand Cranes (Sembazuru). Trans,by E. Seidensticker. Tokyo, Charles E. Tuttle, 1 960. 1 47pp. (Novel); Snow Country and ThousandCranes. Twonovels in one volume trans, by E. Se idensticker. NewYork, Knopf, 1969, 8th impr. 1978. X + 175 pp. + 147PP -(3) Fa'iz, Ahmed. Ktszerelem(Urdu). Budapest, Europa Konyvkiad, 1979. 76 pp. (Poems). Trans, intoHungarian by Garai Gbor from the English version byV.G. Kiernan: Poems. Trans., introduction and notes byV.G. Kiernan. London, Allen & Unwin, 1971. 288 pp.(Bilingual edition); Edition for Pakistan only: Karachi,Oxford University Press, 1973. Also translated fromUrdu into French, Paris, 1 979.(4) Aristotle. Constitution of Athens (Dustur Al-Athi-niyin). Translated into Arabic with notes by Father Augustin Barbara. Beirut, Lebanese Commission for theTranslation of GreatWorks, 1967. 189 pp. (Treatise).(5) Six Poets ofModern Greece. C.P. Cavafy, AnghelosSikelianos, George Seferis, D.I. Antoniou, OdysseusElytis, Nikos Gatsos. Trans, by Edmund Keeley andPhilip Sherrard. London, Thames & Hudson, 1960. 192pp.; New York, Knopf, 1961. 192 pp.(6) See above, note (2).(7)Aleixandre,Vicente. (Spain). Posie Totale. Translated into French by Roger Noel-Mayer. Paris, Gallimard, 1977. 252 pp.(8) Anthologie de la Posie Chinoise Classique. Introduction by Paul Demiville; selected by A . d'Hormon;translated by a group of translators under the supervi

(15) Three Contemporary J apanese Poets: AnzaiHitoshi, Shiraishi Kazuko, Tanikawa Shuntaro. Trans,and introduction by Graeme Wilson and Atsumi Ikuko.London, London Magazine Editions, 1972. 80 pp.(16) Pomes Mystiques Bengalis (ChantsBuls) (Hr-mani). Trans., with introduction and commentary byMahmud Shah Qureshi. Paris, Librairie Sa int-Germain-des-Prs, 1977. 261 pp.(17) Flower and Song (Poems of the Aztec Peoples)(Mexico). Trans, and introduction by Edward Kissamand Michael Schmidt. London, Anvil Press Poetry,1977. 143 pp.(18) Mileva, Leda (Bulgaria). Le Bel Epouvantai!.Trans, by J ordanka Bossolova. Paris, Editions Saint-Germain-des-Prs, 1979. 60 pp. (Poetry for children).(19) Lahtela, Markku (Finland). J e t'aime, Vent Noir(Rakastan Sinua, Musta Tuuli). Foreword byMirja Bol-gar; trans, by Lucie Albertini, Eugne Guillevic andPertti Laakso. Paris, Obsidiane, 1982. 88 pp., illus.(Poems). (Bilingual edition).(20) Anthologie de la Posie Nordique Ancienne (DesOrigines la Fin duMoyenAge). Trans, and preface byRenauld-Krantz. Paris, Gallimard, 1964. 276 pp.(21) Dante Alighieri (Italy). Vita Nova. Introduction,trans., notes and appendices by Andr Pzard. Paris,Nagel, 1953. 253 pp.(22) Camoes, Luis de (Portugal). Les Lusiades (OsLusiadas). Trans, by Roger Bismut. Paris, Socitd'Edition Les Belles Lettres (newedition), 1 980. 282 pp.illus. (Epic)(23) La Posie Arabe. Chosen and with preface byRen Khawam. Paris, Seghers, 1960. 282 pp., illus.(24) Poems from Korea. Selected and translated byPeterLee. New York, J ohn Day, 1 964. 1 96 pp.; London,Allen & Unwin, 1973; Honolulu, University Press ofHawaii, 1974; Anthologie de la Posie Corenne.Chosenand trans, by PeterHyun andHisikMine. Paris,Librairie Saint-Germain-des-P rs, 1 972. 200 pp.(25) Un Demi-Sicle de Posie;anthologie de la Cration Potique entre les Annes 1900-1950. Dilbeek,Belgium, La Maison du Pote, vol. Ill, 1956, selection ofworks by 63 poets from 34 countries, 346 pp.; vol. IV,1 959, 72 poets from 42 countries, 380 pp.; vol. V, 1 961 ,75 poets from 40 countries, 380 pp.; vol. VI, 1963, 90poets from 45 countries, 395 pp.

Notes to article by Etiemble,page 9

Notes to article by Ren de Ceccatty,page 12(1) The Tale of Genji (GenjiMonogatari). Translated byArthur Waley. London, Allen & Unwin, 1971; Tokyo,Charles E. Tuttle, 1972, 8th imp. 1980. Vol. I, 537 pp.;vol II, 598 pp. Also in the Collection in French translation: Le Dit du Genji (1977, 1978).(2)Natsume, Sosekl. I Am a Cat:a Novel(WagahaiWaNeko DeAru). Translated by Katsue Shibata and Moto-nori Kai. London, PeterOwen, 1 971 . 431 pp. Also in theCollection in French translation: J e Suis un Chat (1 978);Kokoro. A novel translated with a foreword by EdwinMcClellan. Chicago, Henry Regnery, 1957, 1967. 248pp.; London, Peter Owen, 1968; Tokyo, Charles E.Tuttle, 1969, 4th impr. 248 pp. Also in the Collection inFrench translation: Le Pauvre Coeur des Hommes,1957, 1979.English translations of other works by Soseki in theCollection include: And Then (Sorekara). Trans, byNorma Moore Field. Baton Rouge and L ondon,Louisiana State University Press, 1978; Tokyo, University of Tokyo Press, 1978; Botchan, trans, by AlanTurney, London, Peter Owen, 1973; and Grass on theWayside (Michikusa), trans, by Edwin McClellan. Chicago and London, University of Chicago Press, 1969;Tokyo, Charles E. Tuttle, 1971.(3) Nagai, Kafu. Kafu the Scribbler: The Life and Writings of Nagai Kafu (1879-1959). A biography by E.Seidensticker, plus The RiverSumida (Sumida Gawa),The Peony Garden (Botan-no-kyaku), A Strange Talefrom East of the River (Bokuto kidan). The Decoration(Kunsho) and other stories, vi + 360 pp. StanfordUniversity Press, 1968. In French in the Collection: LaSumida (Sumidagawa), 1975.(4)Tanizaki, J unichiro. Diaryofa MadOldMan (FutenRojin no Nikki). Trans, by Howard Hibbett. New York,Knopf, 1965; London, Seeker&Warburg, 1965; Toronto, Random House of Canada, 1 965; Tokyo, Charles E.Tuttle, 1968, 6th Impr. 1977. 180 pp.(Novel); TheMakioka Sisters (Sasame Yuki). Trans, by EdwardSeidensticker, New York, Knopf, 1957. 532 pp.; London, Seeker & Warburg, 1958. 530 pp.; New York,Grasset & Dunlap, 1971. 530 pp.; Tokyo, Charles E.Turtle, 1958, 19th impr., 1981. 530 pp. (Novel.) InFrench in theCollection:Eloge de l'Ombre (In'eiraisan),Paris, 1977.(5) Ab, Kobo. Inter Ice Age 4 (Dai Yon Kampyo-ki).Trans, by E. Dale Saunders. New York, A. Knopf, 1970;London, J onathan Cape, 1971. 228 pp.; 77ie Man whoTurned into a Stick (Three Related Plays) (Bo ni NattaOtoko). Trans, by Donald Keene. Tokyo, University ofTokyo Press, 1977. 84 pp.; The Woman in the Dunes(Suna no Onna). Trans, by E. Dale Saunders. NewYork, Knopf, 1 964. 244 pp. ; London, Seeker&Warburg,1963. 241 pp.; Tokyo, Charles E. Tuttle, 1967, 11th

242 pp.


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Notes to article by Sophie Bessis,page 15(1 ) Textes Sacrs d'Afrique Noire. Chosen and introduced by Germaine Dleterlen. Preface by AmadouHampt B. Paris, Gallimard, 1965. 277 pp.(2) Kunene, Mazisi. Anthem of the Decades (A ZuluEpic) (Nhlokomo yeMinyaka). Trans, by the author.London, Ibadan, Nairobi and J ohannesburg, Heine-mann, 1 981 . 312 pp.; Emperor Shaka the Great (A ZuluEpic).. Trans, by the author. London, Ibadan, Nairobi,Lusaka and J ohannesburg, Heinemann, 1979. 438 pp.(3) Poems fromBlackAfrica. Ed. by Langston Hughes.Bloomington and London, Indiana University Press,1963, 8th impr., 1970. 160 pp. illus.; Poetic HeritageIgbo Traditional Verse. Trans, with an introduction byRomanus N. Egudu and Donatus I. Nwoga. Enugu(Nigeria), Nwankwo-lfejika & Co. Ltd, 1971. 137 pp.;Selection of African Prose. Selection and introductionbyW.H.Whiteley; preface byChinuaAchebe; trans, bya group of translators. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1964.Vol. I Traditional Oral Texts, 199 pp.; Vol. II, WrittenProse, 185 pp.

(14) As-Sayyb, Badr Shaker. (Iraq). Le Golfe et leFleuve. 1977. Trans, and presented by Andr Miquel.Paris, Sindbad, 1977. 94 pp. (Selected poems).(15) Darwish, Mahmoud. Rien qu'une Autre Anne.Anthology of poems, 1966-1982. Trans, by AbdellatlfLaabi. Paris, Les Editions de Minuit, 1983. 237 pp.

Notes to article by Abdellatif Laabi,page 17(1) Ibn Batutah. In French: Voyages d'lbn Battta.Trans, by C. Defremeryand B.R. Sanguinetti; reissue of1854 editionwith new preface by VincentMonteil. Paris,Editions Anthropos, 1979. (Bilingual edition).(2) Ibn Hauqal. In French: Configuration de la Terre(Kitab surat al-ard). Introduction and trans, by J .H.Kramers and Gaston Wiet. Beirut, International Commission for the Translation of Great Beirut; Paris,Maisonneuve et Larose, 1964.(3) Ibn Khaldun. In French: Discours sur l'HistoireUniverselle (Al-Muqadimma). Trans., introduction andnotes by VincentMonteil. Beirut, International Commission for the Translation of Great Works. 1967-1968;Paris, Sindbad, 1978.(4) Al-Farabi. In French: Ides des Habitants de la CitVertueuse (Kitab Ara' Ahl Al-Madinat al-Fadilat).(1980). Trans., introduction and notes by YoussefKaram, J . Chlala and A. J aussen. Beirut, LebaneseCommission for the Translation of GreatWorks. 1980,286 pp. (Bilingual edition).(5) Averros (Ibn Rushd). On theHarmonyofReligionand Philosophy (Kitab fas Al-Maqal). Trans, by GeorgeF. Hourani, London, Luzac, 1961; The Incoherence ofthe Incoherence (Tahafut al-Tahafut). Trans., introduction and notes by Simon van den Bergh. London, Luzac,1 954 and 1 978; Three Short Commentaries on Aristotle's "Topics", "Rhetoric", and "Poetics". Ed. and trans,by Charles E. Butterworth. Albany, State University ofNew York Press, 1977. (Bilingual edition).(6)Avicenna (Ibn Sina). In French:Livre des Directiveset Remarques (Kitab al-lsarat wa l-tanbihat). (1951).Trans, with introduction and notes by A.-M. Goichon.Beirut, International Commission for the Translation ofGreatWorks. Paris, Vrin, 1951. 553 pp.(7) Al-Ghazali. O Disciple! (Ayyuha l-walad). Trans, byGeorges H. Scherer. Beirut, Catholic Press, 1951. (Bilingual edition); also translated into Spanish as O hijo!

Notes to the article by J orge EnriqueAdoum, page 23(1) Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (Peru). CommentairesRoyaux sur le Prou des Incas (Comentarios Reales).Trans, with notes byRen L. F . Durand; introduction byMarcel Bataillon. Paris, Franois Maspro, 1982 (3vols).(2) Concolorcorvo (Alonso Carri de la Vandera).(Peru)E lLazarillo;A Guide forInexperiencedTravellersbetween Buenos Aires and Lima, 1773 (Lazarillo deCiegos Caminantes). Trans, by Walter D. Kline.Bloomington (Ind.), Indiana UniversityPress, 1965. 315pp. (Travel book). Also in the Collection in French:Itinraire de Buenos Aires Lima, Paris, 1962.(3) Bolvar, Simn (Venezuela). In French: PagesChoisies (Choixde Lettres, Discours etP roclamations).Trans, by Charles V. Aubrun; introduction by A. Uslar-Pietri. Paris, Institut des Hautes Etudes de l'AmriqueLatine, 1 966. 239 pp.(4) Isaacs, J orge (Colombia). In French: Mara. Trans,byMathilde Poms. Paris, Pion, 1959. 283 pp. (Novel).(5) Machado de Assis, J oaquim Maria (Brazil). YayaGarcia. Trans, by R.L. Scott Buccleuch. London, PeterOwen, 1976. 220 pp. (Novel). Also in the Collection inFrench: Quincas Borba. Paris, 1955.(6) Quiroga, Horacio (Uruguay). Contes d'Amour, deFolie et de Mort (Cuentos de Amor, de Locura y deMuerte), trans, by Frdric Chambert. Paris, EditionsA.-M. Mtallli/Unesco, 1984. 193 pp.(7)Marti, J os (Cuba). Pages Choisies. Trans, byMaxDaireaux, J os Carner and Emile Noulet. Paris, Nagel,1953.399 pp.(8) Rod, J os Enrique (Uruguay). In French: Motifsde Prote (Motivos de Proteo). Trans, by Victor Crastre.Paris, Institut de Hautes Etudes de l'Amrique Latine,1966. 303 pp.(9) Sarmiento, Domingo F. (Argentina). Travels. ASelection (Viajes en Europa, Africa y Amrica). Trans,by Ins Muoz. Washington, D.C., Pan-American Union, 1963. xxxii+297 pp. (Narrative). Also in the Collection in French: Facundo. Paris, 1964.(10) Argiledas, Alcides (Bolivia). In French: Race deBronze (Raza de Bronce). Paris, 1960.(11) Ramos, Graciliano (Brazil). Childhood (Infancia).Trans, by Celso de Oliveira; introduction by AshleyBrown. London, Peter Owen, 1979. 174 pp. (Novel).(12) Andrade, Mario de (Brazil). In French:Macounama ou le Hros sansAucun Caractre (Macu-nama, O Heroi sem Nenhum Carcter). Trans, byJ acques Thlrot. Paris, Flammarion, 1979. 249 pp.(Novel)(13) Guimaraes Rosa, J oao (Brazil). In French: Premires Histoires (Primeiras Estrias). Trans, by InsOseki Depr. Paris, Editions A.-M. Mtaill, 1982. 205

Notes to article by Edgar Reichman,page 27(1) Petfi, Sandor (Hungary). In French: Pomes.Chosen and presented by J ean Rousselot; trans, by G.Kassai and F. Kaczander. Budapest, Corvina publishers, 1971. 172 pp.(2) Eminescu, Mihail (Romania). The Last Romantic:Mihail Eminescu. Trans, by R. MacGregor-Hastie. IowaCity, University of Iowa Press, 1972. 129 pp. (Poetry).(3) Shevchenko, Taras (Ukraine SSR). In French:Choix de Pomes. Preface, selection and trans, byGuillevic; introduction byAlexandre Deitch and MaximeRylski. Paris, Editions Seghers, 1964. 180pp.;i.ePe/n-tre (story), followed by Fragments du J ournal. Trans,from the Russian by Guillevic and J acqueline Lafond.Paris, Gallimard, 1964. 195 pp.(4) Aleichem, Shalom. In French: Tvi le Laitier(Tewje derMilchiger). Trans, from Yiddish by EdmondFleg. Paris, Albin Michel, 1962. Reissued 1972 underthe title Un Violon sur le Toit. 186 pp. (Novel).(5) Andritch, Ivo (Yugos lavia). In French: L'Elphantdu Vizir (Rcits de Bosnie et d'ailleurs). Trans, fromSerbo-Croat by J anine Matillon; preface by PredragMatvejevitch. Paris, Publications Orientalistes deFrance, 1977. 182 pp.(6) Ady, Endre (Hungary). In French: Choix dePomes. Presented by Gyrgy Rdnay; poemsselected byGuillevic and Lszl Gara; trans, bya groupof translators. Paris, Seghers, 1967.192 pp.(7) Anthology of ContemporaryRomanian Poetry. Ed.and trans, by R. MacGregor-Hastie. London, PeterOwen; ChesterSprings (Pa.), Dufour, 1 969. 1 66 pp.; 44Hungarian Short Stories (by 44 Hungarian authors).Trans, by a group of translators; selection by Lajos liles,with a preface byOP . Snow. Budapest, Corvina Kiad,1979. 733 pp.; J zsef, Attila (Hungary). SelectedPoems and Texts. Ed. by George Gmri and J amesAtlas and trans, by J ohn Btki. Cheadle (UK), CarcanetPress, 1973. 103 pp.; Karlnthy, Frlgyes (Hungary).Please Sir! (Tanr r krem). Trans, by Istvn Farkas.Budapest, Corvina, 1968. 80 pp. (Short stories); Len-gyel, J zsef (Hungary). Prenn Drifting (Prenn Ferenchnyatott lete). Trans, by Nona Duczynska. London,Peter Owen, 1966. 293 pp. (Novel); Marko the Prince(Serbo CroatHeroic Songs) Trans, byAnn Penningtonand Peter Levi. London, Duckworth, 1984. 173 pp.;Potrc, Ivan (Yugoslavia). The Land and the Flesh (NaKmetih). Trans, from the Slovenian by H. Leeming.London, Peter Owen, 1969. 263 pp. (Novel); Re-breanu, Liviu (Romania). Ion. Trans, by A. Hilliard.London, PeterOwen, 1 965. 410 pp. (Novel); The Uprising (Rascoala). Trans, by P. Granjean and S. Hanauer.London, Peter Owen, 1965. 410 pp. (Novel);Sadoveanu, Mihail (Romania). TheHatchet(Baltagul).Trans, by Eugenia Farca. London, Allen & Unwin, 1965.1 62pp. (Novel); Stancu, Zaharla (Romania). A Gamblewith Death (J ocul cu moartea). Trans, by R.A. Hilliard.London, Peter Owen, 1969. 201 pp. (Novel); In French:Anthologie de Nouvelles Bulgares. Paris, Les EditeursFranais Runis, 1 972; Nouvelles Hongroises. Anthologies des XIXe etXXe Sicles. Paris, Editions Seghers,1961; Nouvelles Roumaines. Anthologie des Prosateurs Roumains. Paris, Editions Seghers, 1962;Nouvelles Slovnes (Yugoslavia). Paris, EditionsSeghers, 1969. Nouvelles Tchques et Slovaques.Paris, Editions Seghers, 1 965; In Spanish: Antologa dela Poesa Hngara (Desde el siglo XIII hasta nuestrosdas). Budapest, Corvina Klado, 1981.(8) Radnti, Mikls (Hungary). In French: Marche Force (ErltetettMenet). Poems, followed by Le Mois des


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1 986 Year of Peace / 1

1986 has been proclaimed the International Year of Peace by the UnitedNations. A Unesco-sponsored international symposium entitled "Philosophicalreflection on the Foundations of P eace inthe P resent World S ituation" was held atUnesco's Paris Headquarters from 3 to 6December 1 985. Itwas attended by independent specialists in a number of disciplines, from all the world's geoculturalregions, and by representatives of otherUnited Nations agencies, trades unionsand other non-governmental organizations.

At the outset itwas pointed out that areview of world events showed the un-tenability of the claim that the world hasenjoyed a period of peace since theSecond World War came to an end andcertain countries came to possess nuclearweapons. It is true that the balance ofterror causes peace to prevail betweenStates situated, for the most part, in thenorthern hemisphere. But never beforehas war embroiled so many States in thesouthern hemisphere, in many of which,for the last decade or so, famine hasclaimed an average of 60 million livesannually.Thus it seems that peace is not coter

minous with the absence of war in various parts of the world: true peace canonly be indivisible. Given the destructivepower of nuclear weapons, which nowmakes it possible to annihilate thewholeof humanity, the notion of universalpeace is no longer an ideal but a condition for the survival of the human species.Participants in the symposium also in

sisted on the fact that between the stateof peace, with the serenity that accompa-

In each issue published during1986, proclaimed International Yearof Peace by the United Nations, theUnesco Courier will report on different events being held internationally in connection with this event.The first text in the series appearsbelow.

m)nies it, and the state ofwar, synonymouswith death, there is an intermediate stagein which humanity merely achievesphysical survival, a situation that shouldnot be confused with the true contours ofpeace. Man, in his physical and spiritualtotality, is and must remain at the heart ofanyconception of authenticworld peace.This should not be forgotten at a timewhen the development of the neutronbomb perversely makes it possible tosave material goods while destroyingpeople.What ethical attitudes are necessary

and what specific steps should be taken

for the patient construction of such apeace? In any design for peace, settingaside questions of disarmament andarmament, the participants thought thatthe material crisis (famine, unemployment, debt) could eventually be surmounted. It is the spiritual crisis, with itsattendant intolerance, racism, and conflicts of values, that divides the worldtoday. Any ethical vision of peace or anyaction to promote peace must lead ultimately to the total liberty of man by gradually breaking down the barriers of individual and collective intolerance. If thisliberty, from an ethical point of view,essentially belongs to every person, it isalso a responsibility for every State. Consequently there must be a constantsearch for a simultaneous and reciprocalbalance between human rights, for eachindividual, and the rights of peoples, forall nations; for a balance between thematerial and spiritual needs of all men;between economic and technological development on the one hand and culturaland political development on the other;between being and possessing.

It was unanimously felt that theachievement of an indivisible peace inspirit and in practice will mean demilit

unesco courier - treasure of litterature world 068108eo

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