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Gabriela Mistral is still present in the world through translations from Swedish to Guaraní

Friday, 5 April 2019

- Since 2008, the poet's texts have been translating into Greek, Russian, Swedish, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic, Chinese, Italian, French, Quichua, and Guaraní, among other languages.

- The Chilean missions abroad are surveying the schools and libraries abroad that bear the name of Gabriela Mistral, in order to coordinate the author's dissemination activities.

This year, in commemoration of the 130th anniversary of the birth of Gabriela Mistral, the Directorate of Cultural Affairs (Dirac) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the National Library, have made a recount of the uninterrupted diffusion that Chile has made to translate the poet's work into different languages. This work has been done through the Programme to Support Translation and the Programme for the Dissemination of the Bibliographic Heritage.

The purpose of the programs is to rescue, relieve and disseminate Gabriela Mistral, as a figure doubly linked to literature and education, who, also, performed diplomatic functions in various countries of America and Europe.

It is worth remembering that in 2007 Doris Atkinson, Doris Dana's executor, delivered a legacy of the poet Gabriela Mistral to Chile of 18,000 pieces, ranging from letters and other originals, manuscripts and typed texts, audiovisual material, photographic material (2,141) and sound and film material. In return, our country has translated the legacy of the author and educator into languages as distant as Russian and as close as the indigenous Quichua and Guaraní languages.

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For the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Ampuero, "culture is an edge of diplomacy that unites countries through the exchange of native experiences, artistic and heritage. In this context and along with fulfilling the commitment to disseminate the work of Gabriela Mistral, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Dirac, since 2008 has made known the legacy of our Nobel Prize in the world.

The Secretary of State added that, in agreement with the National Library and the support of our missions abroad, "their texts have been translated into several languages, reaching places as far away as India or Greece. This year the objective was also to strengthen our literary presence in indigenous languages in Latin America, with bilingual translations in Quichua and Guaraní, donated to schools and libraries in different countries, to make known the thoughts of a great Chilean educator, poet and visionary.

Some initiatives of this 2019 by Dirac and Ediciones Biblioteca Nacional, in collaboration with Chilean embassies abroad, will be new publications. Some of them are "Gabriela Mistral and the Pan American Union," on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the OAS, translated into English, French, and Portuguese. The anthology "Cielo, mar y tierra" in a bilingual Spanish- Swedish edition, on the occasion of 200 years of friendship between Chile and Sweden, also published in Spanish-guaraní and Spanish-Arabic in Lebanon and "Gabriela Mistral y el Perú." Bulgarian and Dutch translations will also be adding.

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The Hindi translation and publication of the book "Little Red Riding Hood," with prose by Gabriela Mistral, should be highlighted in the context of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Chile and India, distributed in rural libraries and schools in the Himalayas and Delhi.

Other translations by the author are: "Gabriela Mistral Nobel Prize 1945: her best poems", Spanish-Greek bilingual edition (2008); selection of poetry and prose by Gabriela Mistral in Thai language (2009); anthology "Canto che amavi" into Italian (2010); Gabriela Mistral illustrated by Indian children (2012); "Gabriela Mistral in Bengali. Selected works" (Calcutta, 2015); "Gabriela Mistral, religious poetry" in Italian and "Tú eres un agua de cien ojos", Spanish-Chinese edition (2017); "Cielo, mar y tierra", Spanish-Quichua bilingual edition, "El dios triste" in Spanish-Russian and "Desolation et tendresse" in Spanish-French (2018).

There is also a particular interest in strengthening the links of our embassies and consulates with those educational establishments or libraries that bear the name of Gabriela Mistral and that teach the Spanish language. Along these lines, initiatives such as book donations and reading mediation actions are being carried out in close collaboration with the National Library. For this reason, together with Ediciones Biblioteca Nacional, the book "Prosa y poesía escolar" (Prose and School Poetry), available in the second semester of 2019, is being prepared.


A complete site in the world about the poetess is available through the virtual room Gabriela Mistral www.bibliotecanacionaldigital.cl