TEHRAN – French author Annie Ernaux, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature, was introduced to Iranian readers in 1989 by a Persian translation of her autobiographical narrative “A Man’s Place” (“La Place”).

Safieh Ruhi was the translator of the book published by Ketabsara just six years after the release of the original edition, which won her the Prix Renaudot in 1984.

The book focuses on her relationship with her father and her experiences growing up in a small town in France, and her subsequent process of moving into adulthood and away from her parents’ place of origin.  

“A Woman’s Story”, an autobiographical novel that describes the cruel realities of old age for Ernaux’s mother who was once vibrant and independent, was her second book published in Persian by Chapakhsh in 1995. Farideh Taherpur was the translator of the book.

There were no Persian translations of Ernaux’s books in Iran until 2013 when Hamshahri published her “The Other Girl” (“L’autre fille”) and another Persian translation of her “A Man’s Place” by Dina Kaviani.

“The Other Girl” was created based on a young editor’s suggestion to Annie Ernaux to write a letter along the lines of the letter to Kafka’s father with an idea of transgression.   

Other Persian translations of “A Man’s Place” and “The Other Girl” by Leila Ghafuri and Leila Kasai were released a year later.

Bahareh Moradi gave a Persian rendition of “Shame” by Ernaux, whose works are mostly autobiographical. It was published by Ney in Persian in 2016.

Another Persian translation of the book by Samaneh Rudbar-Mohammadi came in 2019. It was published by Elmi-Farhangi.

The book is the probing story of the twelve-year-old girl who will become the author herself.

Her “Look at the Lights My Love” (“Regarde les lumières mon amour”) and “The Years” (“Les Années”) were published in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

“The Years” was a Man Booker International shortlisted book. It is a cumulative history of one person and an entire nation ranging from 1940, when the writer is born, to 2006, when the book comes to fruition.

Last Thursday, Ernaux was announced as the winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature for “the courage and clinical acuity” in her books featuring personal memory and social inequality.

Photo: A combination photo shows Annie Ernaux and several Persian editions of her books. 

MMS/YAW