New editions of classic Argentine works were published in the context of the "Programa Sur" translation programme, sponsored by the Argentine Foreign Ministry.
Through the "Programa Sur" translation programme, coordinated by the Directorate for Cultural Affairs of the Argentine Foreign Ministry, the first edition of the book "Fictions: ten stories", a selection of stories written by Jorge Luis Borges, has been published in India.
This is the first time that the great Argentine author has been translated from Spanish into Hindi, one of the official languages of the Republic of India, thanks to the support of the Argentine Embassy in that country. The work published is a selection of ten stories from "Fictions", which include some of the most famous ones written by Borges, such as "The South", "The Library of Babel" and "Funes the Memorious".
The new book was presented last 12 January at the New Delhi Book Fair, and was attended by the publisher, the translators, the press and the public. Various specialized Indian journalists commended the efforts to make the works of Borges available to readers in Hindi, which were previously only available in English.
In addition, another work of Argentine literature, "Martín Fierro", has recently been translated into Bengali, the second most spoken language in India after Hindi and the official language of Bangladesh. This gaucho poem written by José Hernandez has already been translated into over thirty languages. In this case, a special Spanish-Bengali bilingual edition was issued with original illustrations by Pablo Ramírez Arnol, an Argentine artist living in Mumbai, which makes it a truly unique edition.
The translation of "Martín Fierro" into Bengali was a complex process, given that it uses poetic language full of regional turns of phrase and gaucho slang, for which the literary translators required the continuous guidance and assistance of the Argentine Embassy.
The purpose of the "Programa Sur" translation programme is to foster Argentine literature abroad and to fund the publication of works by Argentine authors in any language other than Spanish, thus promoting Argentine culture around the world. It is the most important programme of its kind among Spanish-speaking nations and has funded the translation of over 1,254 Argentine works into 47 languages from 43 countries since its creation.
Press release No. 012/18
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