Archives

Balkan Rubaiyat. The post-Ottoman polysystem between East and West

Balkan Rubaiyat. The post-Ottoman polysystem between East and West. R. Mueller.
Paper, online available at Academia.edu, June 2014.

In the Balkans, two important national thinkers produced their own Rubaiyat translations. In 1920, Safvet-Beg Bašağić (1870-1934), Oriental scholar and father of Muslim nationalism in Bosnia, published the first translation of the acclaimed Rubaiyat in a South Slavic language. In 1926, Theofan Stylian Noli (1882-1965), ordained Orthodox priest, national intellectual and once-Prime Minister of Albania, published the first Albanian-language version of the Rubaiyat. What are we to make of the temporal and geographical convergence of these individuals and their text, their parallel projects of making a behemoth of modern world literature—itself situated in an unstable place between East and West—available to audiences in a newly post-Ottoman sphere?

Omar Khayyam, la Poésie Persane et Max Rouquette …

Omar Khayyam, la Poésie Persane et Max Rouquette: Max Rouquette, traducteur, Occitan d’Omar Khayyam: Choix de Roubaïates de Omar Khayyam Traduits en Occitan par Max Rouquette. Roland Pécout.
Les Cahiers Max Rouquette, 2012, 6, pp. 19-39.

Omar Khayyám in Italia

Omar Khayyám in Italia. Angelo M. Piemontese.
Oriente Moderno 54 (1974) 4, pp. 133–151

La fresca riedizione della versione delle Quartine di ‘Omar Khayyam a opera di Francesco Gabrieli, comparsa nelle librerie al principio di quest’anno e gia salutata alia sua pristina stampa (1944) come la prima italiana integrate e originate, in felice concomitanza con il qui festeggiato genetliaco del nostro illustre orientalista (in cui io, non tanto per ostinato vezzo, quanto osservandone gl’interessi ellenistici e l’amore per le lettere clas siche e la tradizione culturale europea, e ritenendone non secondari o trascurabili i fre quenti scritti esulanti dal Pambito orientalistico, preferisco vedere pui globalmente un par ticolare umanista), mi parve Poccasione ideate per addurgli in omaggio un saggio biblio grafico sulla conoscenza di Khayyam in Italia.

Omar and his translator

Omar and his translator. W.F. Prideaux. Ely, Printed by E.H. Blakeney at his private press, Ely, Cambs., 1909. 16 p.

“Bois du vin …”. English, French and German translations in Persian polyglot editions of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

“Bois du vin …”. English, French and German translations in Persian polyglot editions of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Jos Coumans.
In: Persica, 2017-2018, Vol. 26, p. 103-163.

Summary

Many recent editions of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, published in Iran, have more than one translation, sometimes up to thirty or more. Usually they contain the English translation by Edward FitzGerald, accompanied by a text in Persian and translations in French, German, Spanish, Russian, Urdu and so on. However, it is seldom clear who these translators are, as their names are usually not mentioned. In this article I have tried to identify these quatrains: who was the translator and from which edition were the quatrains selected. Nineteen editions, published in Iran between 1955 and 2016 were examined. The analyses are restricted to translations in English, French and German.

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. An updated bibliography

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. An updated bibliography. Jos Coumans. Leiden, Leiden University Press, 2010. 250 p. ISBN: 978-908-72-8096-3

Summary

Since the collected poems of eleventh- and twelfth-century Persian philosopher Omar Khayyám were first translated into English in 1859 by Edward Fitzgerald, the Rubáiyát has become one of the most popular books of verse in the world. In addition to English, it has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Russian, Urdu, and many other languages. It has been published in numerous editions: precious volumes with bejeweled bindings, artist’s books, scholarly and critical editions, forgeries and fake editions, making it a perfect object for both book collectors and lovers of poetry. This comprehensive volume is the first bibliography of Khayyám’s classic work since the first Rubáiyát bibliography by A.G. Potter, which was published in 1929.

Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Appendix I: Manuscripts
Appendix II: Bibliographic references
Appendix III: Statistics
Appendix IV: A word on Potter’s bibliography
Bibliography of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
1. FitzGerald’s versions
2. Other translations
3. Multilingual editions
4. Miniature books
5. Miscellanea
6. Study & criticism
7. Interpretations
Indices

Omar Khayyam’s Ruba’iyat and Rumi’s Masnavi Interpreted

Omar Khayyam’s Ruba’iyat and Rumi’s Masnavi Interpreted. The Politics and Scholarship of Translating Persian Poetry. Amir Theilhaber.
In: Friedrich Rosen. Orientalist Scholarship and International Politics. Berlin, Munich, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2020. viii, 627 pp. ISBN: 978-3-11-063925-4.
Also available as Open Access document.

Summary

In the recently published Friedrich Rosen. Orientalist scholarship and international politics Amir Theilhaber describes the diplomatic career and scholarly-literary productions of Friedrich Rosen “to investigate how politics influenced knowledge generated about the “Orient” and charts the roles knowledge played in political decision-making regarding extra-European regions. This is pursued through analyses of Germans in British imperialist contexts, cultures of lowly diplomatic encounters in Middle Eastern cities, Persian poetry in translation, prestigious Orientalist congresses in northern climes,leveraging knowledge in high-stakes diplomatic encounters, and the making of Germany’s Islam policy up to the Great War.” An extensive chapter 6 deals with Omar Khayyam’s Ruba’iyat and Rumi’s Masnavi, in the context of politics and scholarship of translating Persian Poetry.

Un voyageur dans la tourmente

Un voyageur dans la tourmente : lecture de la pensée d’Omar Khayyâm : avec adaptation de 133 quatrains et de poèmes en arabe de Khayyâm et d’autres auteurs. Fathi Ennaïfer. Tunis : Fathi Ennaïfer, 2018. ISBN: 9789938006216. 249 p.

Summary:
Relecture des quatrains de Khayyam, leur adaptation vérsifiée, des références à ses traducteurs, une réflexion sur sa pensée philosophique.