乱伦小可爱

乱伦小可爱 Associate Professor of German Studies Daniel Bowles received some welcome news recently, when he learned that the English-language version of Swiss author Christian Kracht鈥檚 novel Eurotrash鈥攚hich Bowles translated from its original German鈥攈as been longlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize.

The annual prize, split equally between author and translator, recognizes fiction from around the world that has been translated into English and published in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland. Eurotrash is one of 13 titles鈥攔epresenting novels and short story collections鈥攐n the longlist. The six-book International Booker Prize shortlist will be released on April 8, and the winner will be announced at a ceremony in London on May 20.

Eurotrash follows the odyssey of Christian, a jaded writer who embarks on a tragicomic road trip with his elderly mother and her ill-gotten wealth. The novel has received plaudits from major reviewers such as Publishers Weekly and The Times (U.K.), which included it among the 鈥淏est Books of 2024.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 a tremendous and humbling honor to be recognized, together with the author,鈥� said Bowles, who is working in Hamburg, Germany, this semester. 鈥淔or a translator, the International Booker Prize is as close to the Nobel Prize for Literature as one can get, so I鈥檓 pretty excited. To have been involved with one of 13 books chosen from among 154 nominations from all around the world is also immensely gratifying.鈥�

For Bowles, the experience of working with Kracht has been an honor in and of itself: They鈥檝e collaborated on several translations, beginning with Kracht鈥檚 2012 novel, Imperium, which earned Bowles the Goethe-Institut鈥檚 Helen & Kurt Wolff Translator鈥檚 Prize.

鈥淐hristian is a leading voice in contemporary German literature and already enjoys a strong following in the German-speaking world, so I鈥檓 all the happier to be a part of this recognition of his work among Anglophone readerships,鈥� said Bowles. 鈥淗aving written Imperium, he was looking for a translator and contacted me to gauge my interest after he鈥檇 read my translations of two books by Thomas Meinecke, which he鈥檇 enjoyed. At the time, I was already a fan of his first three novels so there was no question in my mind whether to send him a sample.

鈥淥nce it was official and I had completed a draft, he traveled to Boston the weekend before the 2013 Marathon bombing to look through the manuscript with me. Because of the lockdown order, we spent the week holed up inside reading the manuscript aloud to one another, from beginning to end. That started a tradition we鈥檝e kept going to this day. I have enormous respect for the beauty of his writing in German, and he rightfully keeps his writing process private, so I only ever see the German original once it鈥檚 in corrected galleys.鈥�

Bowles鈥檚 job goes beyond the more familiar idea of what a translator does: making words in one language understandable for people who speak or read in a different language.

鈥淲ith 鈥榣iterary translation,鈥� there鈥檚 the implication that the translator is dealing with a work of art, shepherding and transforming it from one language into another, from one culture to another,鈥� he explained. 鈥淟iterature is, after all, art: an artful use of language in written form. But every linguistic culture has its own aesthetic proclivities, its own ways of producing and judging literary art. So, it鈥檚 vital to understand and recognize what those are and to find ways to render them in a different language where they convey a similar feeling, tone, atmosphere, meaning, and so forth. It鈥檚 not just about the words but about contexts, subtexts, and aesthetics, too.鈥�

Reading鈥斺�渄eeply, carefully, and a lot鈥濃�攊s a must for an effective literary translator, said Bowles.

鈥淲hen I was in high school, I was very fortunate to have literature teachers who helped me develop a sense for the aesthetics of language and who encouraged my lifelong enthusiasm for reading. And I鈥檓 very lucky to be here at 乱伦小可爱 where my research and teaching involve making sense, with my students, of that documentation of human cultures and creativity and wisdom in literature. That鈥檚 valuable practice and opportunity for encountering the formativeness of literature as art. The best part? There鈥檚 always more to read and grapple with.鈥�

Bowles is already at work on the translation of Kracht鈥檚 newest novel, Air, which is being published in German this month. 鈥淓ach of his novels is so vastly different from the one before, and this is no exception, save for the beauty and sound of his writing.鈥�

In addition, two other English translations of Bowles鈥攁uthor of the 2015 book The Ends of Satire: Legacies of Satire in Postwar German Writing鈥攁re scheduled for publication later this year: a new novel by German author Jan Philipp Sendker, and Uwe Wittstock鈥檚 nonfiction book Marseille 1940, which recounts how German Jewish and leftist refugees in France escaped fascism with the help of Varian Fry鈥檚 Emergency Rescue Committee.