Cinematographer and translator Zaven Boyajyan gave a public lecture dedicated to William Saroyan’s 115th birthday under the title “Saroyan Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” at the National Library of Armenia, referring to Saroyan’s past and present translations and the appreciation of his literary heritage in today’s perceptions. “The interest in Saroyan in Armenia was initially very negative, especially during the Stalin period… Of course, I don’t want to expand on that topic; what happened- happened. Today, we will rather talk about the positive,” said the translator at the beginning of the lecture. Then he continued. “Saroyan’s works have been translated in the Diaspora Armenian press since the second half of the 1930s.”
Regarding Soviet Armenia, he also said: “The first book is a collection of Saroyan’s works published in 1959 under the title “Many Miles per Hour.” My knowledge of Saroyan began with that collection in many people’s homes. It was considered a decent enough publication then, but the collection was translated from the intermediary language, Russian.
However, some experienced people translated some works, for example, Armenian writer Khachik Hrachyan. Among other things, Zaven Boyajyan reflected on why, being one of the most famous American writers, he gradually received a cooler reception. He added that if we follow Saroyan’s literature over the decades, we will see that Armenian motifs increasingly occupy a central place there. According to the Facebook page of the National Library of Armenia, Saroyan’s collection of plays, “The Hours of Your Life,” is among the ten most requested fiction books of the National Library.
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Gohar HAKOBYAN
(Photos: Facebook of the National Library)
