"Translating Libya: The Modern Libyan Short Story"
Event Featuring:
Overview
Launching his new book at the Middle East Institute, Dr. Ethan Chorin presented his compilation of 16 short stories that represent important landmarks in modern Libyan short fiction. The book introduces the works of Libyan fiction writers to an English-speaking audience which remains largely unexposed to Libyan society. After decades of isolation, Libya’s recent rapprochement with the West presents an opportunity to rediscover a land rich in its literary tradition, with tales ranging from traditional legends to contemporary social critiques.
Event Summary
Dr. Chorin began his discussion by explaining the origins of the book: In August 2004, Ethan Chorin was stationed in Libya as a commercial and economic attaché facilitating contacts between U.S.-based corporations and potential Libyan partners. His work required him to be constantly on the move, helping American companies interact with their Libyan counterparts. It was during this time that Dr. Chorin and his colleagues began to trade stories that they had heard in their encounters with the locals. One tale, a story about an imaginary desert village attacked by a swarm of locusts and the bizarre efforts of the people to rid themselves of the infestation, sparked Dr. Chorin’s interest in compiling a collection of Libyan short stories. Feeling that the story offered an important insight into Libya’s experience with foreign occupation, Dr. Chorin asked himself: “How do I translate this?”
Dr. Chorin, who described his book as “unusual,” quickly realized that the more stories he found, the more he became aware of the need for Libyan short fiction to be available to the Western world. The stories exhibit a number of different styles, with origins that range from the early 1900s to the present day. In his discussion, Dr. Chorin noted that he included short essays detailing the history and context of each tale, explaining how each reflects Libyan culture and history in general. Dr. Chorin also explained how difficult it was to collect all of the stories — he spent six months trying to find one story before giving up, only to stumble upon it at a later date, three weeks before his duties in Libya ended. Dr. Chorin gathered the stories from many sources, scouring flea markets, online blogs, and “Lonely Planet” guides.
Dr. Chorin stated that the stories reflect a range of influences. Geographic and cultural divides within Libya account for differences in the style and content of some of the tales; he pointed out that writers in Tripoli employ a very different tone from their counterparts in Benghazi. The political environment in which authors lived as well as their cultures and traditions also had a unique impact on the stories. Egyptian and Greek enclaves in Libya exercised a significant influence on the tales. According to Dr. Chorin, the Egyptians often contributed stories with happy endings, while the Libyans had a penchant for stories with dire or grim resolutions.
An overriding theme of the stories contained in the book is one of pessimism and a sense of dark comedy. In Dr. Chorin’s opinion, this illustrates the world view that Libyans acquired from decades of foreign domination. However, he said that his interactions with Libyans were very positive. He described the Libyans as very warm and receptive to Americans and Western culture. Though the relationship between Libya and the United States has been filled with enmity, recent events have shown that this may soon change. It is Dr. Chorin’s hope that this transformation will begin a new, positive era of friendship between Libya and the United States.
About this Event
This book launch event took place in the Middle East Institute's Boardman Room on September 5th, 2008.
Speaker Details
Ethan Chorin is a senior fellow in the CSIS Middle East Program. His research focuses on the culture and economics of the Middle East, with a particular focus on Iran, the Arabian Peninsula, and Libya. Before joining CSIS, he was one of a small number of Farsi-speaking Foreign Service Officers posted to the Gulf. Prior to that, he served as a commercial/economic attaché to Libya. Before entering government, he cofounded Ishtirak, a consulting firm focused on Islamic markets and investments. Chorin has been the recipient of Fulbright and Fulbright Hays grants, as well as a Jean Monnet Fellowship to France’s Ecole Polytechnique. He speaks Arabic, Farsi, French, and Hebrew.
Attributions
This event summary was written by Christopher Solomon, a student at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh and currently a Library Intern at the Middle East Institute. This piece was edited by Maxwell Martin, a Publications Intern and graduate from McGill University with a degree in Political Science and Middle East Studies.
