Book Launch 1:
Translingualism, Translation and Caribbean Poetry. Mother Tongue has Crossed the Ocean (de Windt Ayoubi & Muysken)
- Date: June 26, Tuesday
- Time: 17:30-18:15
- Location: Harmonie Building, Marie Loke Zaal (1313.0034)
- Presenter: Hilda de Windt Ayoubi
In the book “Translingualism, Translation and Caribbean Poetry. Mother Tongue has crossed the Ocean/Lenga di Mama a krusa Laman”, by Pieter C. Muysken and Hilda de Windt Ayoubi, AUP 2022, there are approximately 60 translations of the poem “Lenga di Mama”/ “Mother Tongue”, written by Hilda de Windt Ayoubi in her mother tongue Papiamento and for the first time translated into Dutch by Pieter Muysken and published in www.stemmenvanafrika.nl. The poem deals with the development and preservation of the mother tongue, particularly, through poetry and translation. During three years, Hilda interviewed the translators who gave their opinion not only in the mother tongue, but also on the importance of translation and arts, particularly, poetry for the conservation of the mother tongue. Furthermore, three other poems in the mother tongue, each one focusing on another aspect, complement her vision in the mother tongue. In addition, there are two essays, respectively by Pieter Muysken and Hilda de Windt Ayoubi. In his essay, Pieter Muysken considers the role of translation for language loss and revitalization, and also the gain and loss of translating a text. In her introductory essay, Hilda gives an outline of the Papiamentu/o history and its actual status and the impact of translations on a minority language and people. In Hilda’s presentation, she will explain how this book came about, from the very early start in 2014 until it was published in 2022. She will also talk about the different parts of the book, how to navigate the book, and the main objectives of the book.
During this session, readings in Frisian from Jeltsje and Pytsje Feenstra will also be staged.
Short bio of the author:
Hilda de Windt Ayoubi was born and raised in Curaçao. She studied at Radboud and UOC and has a master’s degree in Spanish and a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations. She was a secondary teacher of Spanish and Literature for 25 years and a lecturer for 8 years at the University of Curacao where she taught Communication, Method Analysis, Pedagogics, Spanish Grammar and Syntaxis. She also visited a
Painting/Arts Academy for four years. She writes mostly in Dutch, French, English, Papiamento and Spanish. Her poems were published for 10 years in the Amigoe newspaper and in some anthologies or on websites. Her works include several translations, and (socially-charged/ language-related) poetry books, Gedicht,
illustrated with her own paintings (2018), and the bilingual book, Geef me je Taal. Dat Ik Je Beter Versta (2019). For her Papiamento translation of Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, she was awarded the Kahlil Gibran Chair at the University of Maryland. In 2019 she received UNESCO’s Certificate of Merit for her work in Papiamento. The partly bilingual book, Translingualism, Translation and Caribbean Poetry. Mother Tongue has Crossed the Ocean on the conservation of language which she wrote with Professor Pieter Muysken (Radboud), was published in 2022 (AUP). The book includes almost 60 translations of the main Poem “Lenga di Mama”(Mother Tongue) and essays by Muysken and de Windt.