2024 is L.M. Montgomery’s 150th birthday! The L.M. Montgomery Institute (LMMI) at the University of Prince Edward Island is celebrating with 150 tributes – celebratory statements or greetings – that reflect upon personal connections to Montgomery or on an aspect of her life, work, or legacy.
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This week we are featuring some of those translators and authors who have been instrumental in extending and expanding Montgomery’s global reach: Eri and Mie Muraoka, Irina Levchenko, Henri Dominique-Paratte, and Aurélie Barbe.
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An epistolary tribute from Eri and Mie Muraoka
親愛なるルーシー・モード・モンゴメリ様、
１５０回目のお誕生日おめでとうございます。
私たちの祖母、村岡花子が、初めてあなたの作品に出会ったのは第二次世界大戦開戦の数年前、カナダ人の友人から彼女の愛読書”Anne of Green Gables”を手渡されたときでした。青春時代の読書が人格形成にどれほど大切かを、自分の経験から実感していた祖母は、あなたの紡ぎ出した人生の真実を伝える言葉に心から共感し、いつかこの物語を日本中の若い人たちに伝えたいと思いました。そして戦争中にこの本を守り、翻訳をしました。１９５２年に初めての日本語訳が『赤毛のアン』として出版されて以来、７０年経った今も”Anne Books”をはじめ、そのほかのあなたの作品は多くの人たちのゆく道を照らし、心に勇気を注ぎ続けています。私たちは、あなたの作品を通じてカナダという国、カナダの文化を知りました。AnneやEmilyについて語り合うことでたくさんの友達ができました。あなたの言葉を通じて祖母の人生観を深く知ることができました。これからもあなたは、あなたの作品とともに私たちの心の中で永遠の存在です。
素晴らしい作品を遺してくださりありがとうございました。
『赤毛のアン』シリーズの翻訳者・村岡花子の孫
村岡恵理・『アンのゆりかご〜村岡花子の生涯』の著者
村岡美枝・『アンの想い出の日々』の翻訳者
Dear Maud,
Happy 150th Birthday!
Our grandmother, Hanako Muraoka, first encountered your novel a few years before World War II started in Japan in 1941. It was when her Canadian friend handed over a copy of her favourite book, Anne of Green Gables, to Hanako. Hanako, who knew from her own experience how important reading good books in adolescence is in shaping one's character, empathized with the beautiful words you spun to convey the truth of life and was strongly encouraged by Anne’s spirit. She wanted to share this story someday with young people all over Japan. She kept the book and translated it secretly during the war. In 1952, the first Japanese translation of Anne of Green Gables was finally published as “Akage no An” and 70 years later, the “Anne” books and your other novels still light the way for many people. Through your novels, we have come to know about Canada and your culture. We have made many friends by talking about Anne and Emily. Through your words, we have learned more about our grandmother’s perspective on life. You will always be in our hearts along with your novels. Thank you very much for the gift of wonderful stories.
Eri and Mie Muraoka
Eri and Mie Muraoka are the granddaughters of Hanako Muraoka, the first translator of the Anne books in Japan. Eri Muraoka is the author of Anne’s Cradle—Life & Works of HANAKO MURAOKA. Mie Muraoka is the translator of The Blythes Are Quoted.
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A tribute from Russian translator Irina Levchenko
Дорогая Мод!
Когда-то ты писала, что нашла родственную душу в «Элизабет» [фон Арним]. Я же нашла свою родственную душу в твоих книгах и дневниках. Благодаря тебе я стала переводить рассказы, рисовать яркими красками, учиться фотографии и цианотипии. Твои слова оказались отражением моего жизненного опыта, моих мыслей о женском творчестве и самовыражении, и о том, как их ограничивает общество.
Мы познакомились на английском. О переводах на русский язык я узнала намного позже. Они звучали по-другому, но заинтересовали меня профессионально. Сквозь призму книг об Ане/Энн я начала изучать роль женщины в своей родной литературе и культуре. Как выяснилось, много еще нужно сделать, чтобы общество стало относиться к женскому опыту с бóльшим вниманием и уважением, и чтобы твой голос зазвучал так, как ты этого заслуживаешь, и по-русски.
Как бы дальше ни сложилась наша с тобой история, я надеюсь, что ты смогла бы считать меня своей правнучкой по духу.
P.S. Я тоже люблю «Элизабет».
Dear Maud,
You once wrote that your “twin soul” must live in Elizabeth [von Arnim]. My “twin soul” must live in your writing. Your words inspired me to translate stories, draw in colour, learn photography and cyanotype. They voiced many of my own experiences and thoughts about female creativity and self-expression, but also about attitudes that restrict them.
We met in English. I encountered translations into my mother tongue, Russian, only years later. They sounded different from your voice, but they piqued my professional curiosity. With Russian Annes, I embarked on researching about a woman’s place in my native literature and culture and found that much has yet to be done there to raise the value of female experience and to give you a Russian voice you deserve.
However my “Montgomery story” unfolds next, I hope you could see me as your spiritual great-granddaughter.
P.S. I love Elizabeth too.
Irina Levchenko fell in love with Anne of Green Gables almost two decades ago, when she was a young Russian student. Since then, her “Montgomery story” has been an important part of her life both personally and professionally. She is currently writing her PhD on Russian translations and reception of Montgomery’s novels at the University of Vienna, Austria, and is happy to be part of the supportive international community of Montgomery fans and scholars.
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A tribute from Acadian writer Henri-Dominique Paratte
Impossible d'ignorer la voix de Lucy Maud au cœur d'Halifax, cette ville devenue Kingsport dans Anne of the Island. Si les Jardins Publics ou le parc Point Pleasant n'affichent pas vraiment de lien privilégié avec celle qui les appréciait pourtant particulièrement, le Vieux Cimetière au coin de Barrington et de Spring Garden affiche une citation incontournable de notre auteure à propos des arbres. Dans cette ville, où elle fut étudiante et journaliste, elle avait un profond besoin de garder un lien avec la nature, les arbres, et les fleurs.
Avoir, par ma traduction de Anne: La Maison aux pignons verts, permis de faire d'une œuvre iconique en anglais un texte incontournable pour les lecteurs francophones était une véritable révolution. Une aventure qui n'aurait pas déplu à Anne, qui aurait peut-être aujourd'hui deux tatouages et un piercing au nombril, dans une ville de plus en plus exagérément moderne...
The voice of Lucy Maud can hardly be ignored in Halifax today, the city called Kingsport in Anne of the Island. Although neither the Public Gardens nor Point Pleasant Park, two of her favourite places in town, advertise much of that relationship, the Old Burial ground, on the corner of Barrington and Spring Garden, about which she wrote, shows for all to see how much she loved trees. In this city, where she lived both as a student and as a journalist, she needed to keep in touch with nature, with trees, with flowers.
Making an iconic text of Anglo Canlit into a well-known work now read by many throughout the francophone world through my translation of Anne of Green Gables into French was at the time a major challenge. Anne would have loved it – and today, maybe, she would have two tattoos and a navel piercing in addition to that French “E.”
Ecrivain acadien, Henri-Dominique Paratte a été avec Ragweed Press et Quebec-Amerique le traducteur de Anne: La Maison aux pignons verts, qui continue de faire autorité. / Acadian writer Henri-Dominique Paratte made the first complete translation of Anne of Green Gables for Ragweed Press and Quebec Amérique.
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A tribute and recording from French translator Aurélie Barbe
C’est pendant mon Master Recherche en traductologie à l’ESIT que je me suis intéressée à l'autrice Lucy Maud Montgomery - et plus précisément aux différentes (re)traductions d'Anne of Green Gables en langue française. Mes travaux ont été l'occasion d'entrer en contact avec Henri-Dominique Paratte, l’un des traducteurs du roman en français - et dont la traduction est toujours en vente aujourd'hui. Lucy Maud m'a aussi emmenée dans les archives de l'éditeur Hachette à l’IMEC - abbaye située en Normandie qui regroupe les archives de nombreux éditeurs – afin de mieux comprendre pourquoi Anne of Green Gables a été oubliée pendant si longtemps en France. Je me suis aussi interrogée sur le public cible des différentes (re)traductions d’Anne of Green Gables en étudiant leur paratexte éditorial et en menant une enquête auprès d’une centaine de lecteurs de tous âges. Ce travail réflexif a évidemment nourri ma pratique d’enseignante en traduction et en anglais.
I became interested in Lucy Maud Montgomery – and especially in the various (re)translations of Anne of Green Gables into French – during my Master’s Degree in Translation Studies at ESIT (École supérieure d'interprètes et de traducteurs). I had the chance to get in touch with one of her French translators, Henri-Dominique Paratte, whose translation is still on sale today. Moreover, this work on Lucy Maud led me to the IMEC (Institut Mémoires de l’édition contemporaine) – which is an abbey located in Normandy containing archives from various publishers – where I could read the archives from Hachette in order to understand why Anne of Green Gables was ignored for so long in France. I also wondered about the target audience of the (re)translations of Anne of Green Gables by reviewing their paratexts and investigating a hundred readers of all ages. This reflexive work has obviously nurtured my teaching practice, both in English and translation.
Listen to Aurélie Barbe’s tribute here:
Aurélie Barbe: Traductrice professionnelle depuis 2006, Aurélie enseigne la traduction professionnelle à l’ESIT - Sorbonne Nouvelle et l’anglais en tant qu’enseignante certifiée permanente à l’Université de Picardie Jules Verne à Amiens en France. / Aurélie has been a professional translator since 2006. She teaches translation at ESIT – Sorbonne Nouvelle and is a qualified permanent English teacher at University (UPJV) in Amiens, France.
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Next week to celebrate Mother’s Day, we will be sharing tributes that recognize the importance of motherhood to Montgomery and her readers.