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Raffi, The Fool,
translated from Armenian by Donald Abcarian (London and Reading:
Taderon Press, 2005), 236
pp., ISBN
1-90-3656-58-3,
paperback, GB£14.00/US$22.00.
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Set at the time of the Russo-Turkish
war of 1877–78, The Fool provides invaluable glimpses into
social conditions in western Armenia at the time. It portrays the
development of an Armenian civil rights movement in Ottoman Turkey.
In the course of a romantic and
hopeful novel, Raffi depicts in detail the way of life of Armenian
peasants, their psychology, and the conditions under which they
survived. He also portrays the central ideas that fuelled Armenian
radical intellectuals of the day.
The Fool is an account of a
heroic struggle to defend the ordinary people from the depredations
and avarice of Ottoman authorities, neighboring peoples, and a
corrupt Armenian establishment. It is the story of a revolutionary
struggle to establish a just and civil society in Armenia.
The Fool is arguably the
single most important work of literature dealing with the Armenian
Question in Ottoman Turkey. Raffi depicts many of the actual figures
and settings involved in the events of the time. The classical
clarity and drama of its dialogue, the Armenian aphorisms that play
such an important role throughout the story, the philosophical depth
and moral passion embodied in it all make this novel a remarkable
encounter with one of the greatest creative minds in modern Armenian
history.
Donald Abcarian's new translation
includes extensive notes and a glossary.
Click
here for an interview with the translator, Donald Abcarian.
Click
here for a report on the London launch of the book. The report
includes descriptions of the book's main characters.
About the Author
Raffi (né Hakob Melik-Hakobian) was
born in 1835 in Bayajuk, near Salmas, in northwestern Persia. He
died in Tiflis in 1888. He was a prolific and popular writer who
contributed to Krikor Ardzrouni’s Tiflis-based liberal periodical,
Mshak (Cultivator). Among his other principal works of
fiction are Jalaleddin, Gharib Mshetsi (The exile from
Moush), Khachagoghi Hishatakarane (The diary of a
cross-stealer), Kaitzer (Sparks), Davit Bek, and
Samuel.
About the Translator
Donald Abcarian was born and raised
in Fresno, California, where his family was part of the extensive
Armenian-American community that has settled there since the turn of
the century. His earliest influences, including the Armenian
language, derived from that milieu. He graduated from the University
of California at Berkeley with a degree in philosophy, and has
pursued a lifelong interest in languages and world literature.
Having studied several European
languages over the years, Abcarian in 1996 took up the challenge of
learning to decipher the written language of his ancestors. This
translation is the culmination of that process. |