Fjura tas-Sabbara, Fjura tax-Xadina
by Irene Chias
Translated into Maltese by Mark Vella
Irene Chias is a Sicilian author who currently lives in Malta. She has written four novels, of which Esercizi di sevizia e seduzione (originally published by Mondadori in 2013) was issued by Maltese publishing house Horizons last year in a translation by Mark Vella ( “Mur Ġibek...”). This has now been joined by Fjura tas-Sabbara, Fjura tax-Xadina, Mark Vella’s translation of Chias’s Fiore d’Agave, Fiore di Scimmia (literally “Flower of the Agave, Flower of the Ape”), recently published by Klabb Kotba Maltin.
Chias’s novel is narrated by Adelaide, a writer of speculative and science fiction inspired by H.P. Lovecraft and Philip K. Dick. Adelaide has a penchant for dystopic fantasies and alternative histories but her agent Max will have none of it. What the public really wants from her, he insists, is a work of “Sicilian chick-lit”. Despite her misgivings about the very concept of “women’s fiction”, Adelaide goes back to the village of her forebears, Sant’Angelo Muxaro, to seek inspiration for “Fiore d’Agave”, the romanzo rosa which her agent is clamouring for. In the meantime, Adelaide tries to sort out her increasingly precarious relationship with her partner Simone. Adelaide’s Sicilian trip proves to be a learning experience for her. She discovers that her fictional dystopias have a real-life equivalent in a contemporary Sicily plagued by unemployment and pollution; that the tacky genre of the “historical Sicilian romance” can be subverted to highlight concerns about gender and class inequality; and that her novel’s protagonist Adelasia is morphing into Adelaide’s alter ego.
Fjura tas-sabbara, Fjura tax-xadina delights in postmodern meta-fictional games. From Adelaide’s literary hero Philip K. Dick – particularly his novel The Man in the High Castle – Adelaide/Chias borrows the references to the I Ching and the concept of a “novel within a novel”. Indeed, the segments about Adelaide alternate with Adelaide’s own fictional work “Fiore d’Agave”, the narrative of Adelasia. The final pages of the novel, feature yet another narrative, Adelaide’s “autofictional” short story “The Ape and I”. In an afterword to this edition, Chias suggests that the three narratives can be read separately and in any order. Yet, they’re probably best approached in the way the author presents them, such that the different threads act in counterpoint to each other.
In “The Ape and I” chapter, the strongest influence is Lovecraft, particularly his iconic horror story Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and his Family. Readers who don’t know their Lovecraft will likely be shocked by the story’s contents – horror fans probably not. To avoid spoilers I will not comment further, except to note that interestingly, while taking a leaf out of Lovecraft’s book, Chias replaces the controversial author’s supremacist ideas with a feminist utopia inspired by the dynamics of bonobo communities, reflecting a recurring metaphor in the novel.
Fjura tas-Sabbara, Fjura tax-Xadina can be approached as a “novel of ideas”. Adelaide’s story is often polemical, a mouthpiece for the narrator’s liberal views on literature, gender and genre fiction. Adelaide’s interactions with eco-warrior Genova then, expand the themes of the novel to include environmental and pacifist concerns. Admittedly, the narrative momentum sometimes flags as a result. But when that happens, the secrets, twists and turns of the Agave segment come to the rescue, lending to the novel a touch of 19th Century “sensationalist” fiction.
Chias has given us a novel of (literally) many parts, woven together into one thought-provoking read.
Mark Vella’s fine translation brings it to a Maltese audience to whom the
Sicilian setting – and the work’s concerns – will likely feel close to home.
***
Irene Chias hija ġurnalista u awtriċi minn Sqallija illi ilha tgħix Malta għal dawn l-aħħar snin. Kitbet novelli kif ukoll erba’ rumanzi, fosthom Esercizi di sevizia e seduzione (oriġinarjament ippublikat mill-Mondadori fl-2013), li nġieb għall-Malti minn Mark Vella (bit-titlu “Mur Ġibek...”) u ġie mitbugħ mill-Horizons is-sena l-oħra. Mark Vella qaleb ukoll għal Malti rumanz ieħor ta’ Chias – Fiore d’Agave, Fiore di Scimmia. Dan it-traduzzjoni ġiet pubblikata reċentement mill-Klabb Kotba Maltin.
In-narratriċi u protagonista tar-rumanz ta’ Chias hija Adelaide Dattilo, kittieba tal-fantaxjenza u letteratura weird ispirata minn H.P. Lovecraft u Philip K. Dick. Adelaide tispeċjaliżża f’fantasiji distopiċi iżda l-aġent tagħha Max jinsisti illi jrid mingħandha “xogħol femminili Sqalli” għaliex il-pubbliku dak li jfittex minn awtriċi mara. Minkejja r-riservi tagħha dwar il-kunċett innifsu ta’ “rumanz tan-nisa”, Adelaide tmur lura f’raħal missirijietha, Sant’Angelo Muxaro, tfittex il-lehma għal “Fiore d’Agave”, ir-rumanz “roża” illi Max qed jiffittaha għalih. Fil-frattemp, Adelaide tipprova ssalva ir-relazzjoni prekarja tagħha mas-sieħeb tagħha Simone. Il-mawra ta’ Adelaide Sqallija tinbidel fi vjaġġ ta’ skoperta li jiftaħ għajnejn Adelaide għal realtajiet illi qajla basret. Tiskopri illi d-distopji fittizji tagħha jeżistu tassew f’pajjiż ippjagat bid-diżokkupazzjoni u t-tniġġis ambjentali. Tiskopri illi l-ġeneru klixe’ tar-“rumanz storiku Sqalli” jista’ jiġi sovvertit biex jikxef preokkupazzjonijiet dwar inugwaljanza tal-klassijiet u l-ġenru. U bla ma trid, tinduna illi l-protagonista tar-rumanz tagħha, Adelasia, kulma jmur tinbidel f’alter ego ta’ Adelaide stess.
Fjura tas-sabbara, Fjura tax-xadina huwa rumanz postmodern b’laqtiet qawwija meta-letterarji. Adelaide/Chias jissellfu mingħand Philip K. Dick, li Adelaide tant tammira, ir-referenzi għall-I Ching, u l-kunċett ta’ “rakkont f’rakkont” li nsibu, ngħidu aħna, fir-rumanz ta’ Dick The Man in the High Castle. Hekk naraw kif il-partijiet tar-rumanz li jitkellmu dwar Adelaide jalternaw max-xogħol fittizju ta’ Adelaide Fjura tas-Sabbara. Fl-aħħar paġni tar-rumanz, terġa’, niltaqgħu ma’ rakkont ieħor, ix-xogħol “awto-fittizju” ta’ Adelaide Ix-Xadina u Jien. F’kelmtejn tal-għeluq għal din l-edizzjoni ta-rumanz, Chias tissuġġerixxi illi dawn ir-rakkonti jistgħu jinqraw separatament u fi kwalunkwe’ ordni. Madanakollu, naħseb illi l-aħjar illi wieħed jaqrahom bl-istess mod li huma preżentati mill-awtriċi, b’tali mod illi n-narrattivi differenti jintisġu flimkien f’kontrappunt għal xulxin.
Fil-kapitlu dwar “ix-Xadina”, l-aktar influwenza ovvja hija dik ta’ Lovecraft, speċjalment ir-rakkont tal-biża tiegħu Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and his Family. Min mhux familjari mal-awtur Amerikan aktarx ser jinħasad bil-kontenut tal-istorja. Min iħobb il-horror probabbilment le. Ma nixtieqx nikxef dettalji, ħlief li nosserva illi Chias, filwaqt illi tislet idea minn Lovecraft, tissostitwixxi l-ħsibijiet kontroversjali u supremaċisti tiegħu b’utopja femminista ispirata mid-dinamiċi tal-komunitajiet tax-xadini bonobo, riflessjoni ta’ metafora estiża illi nsibuha fir-rumanz.
Fjura tas-Sabbara, Fjura tax-Xadina jista’ jiġi meqjus “rumanz filosofiku”, inkella dak li bl-Ingliż nafuh bħala “novel of ideas”. L-istorja ta’ Adelaide regolarment tinbidel f’espressjoni diretta tal-ideat liberali u progressivi tan-narratriċi kemm dwar il-letteratura u l-ġeneru, kif ukoll dwar il-letteratura tal-ġeneru (fis-sens ta’ genre fiction). Il-ħbiberija ta’ Adelaide mal-ambjentalista Genova, imbagħad, twessa’ t-temi tar-rumanz b’mod illi tinkludi dawk tal-ambjent u l-paċifiżmu. F’ċerti waqtiet, u bħala riżultat ta’ dan, il-momentum narrattiv ibatti ftit, iżda ironikament, meta jiġri hekk, is-sigrieti u l-intriċċi ta’ Fjura tas-Sabbara jagħtu spinta lill-plot u kważi jagħtuh laqta “sensazzjonalista” bħal ċerti kitbiet tal-era Romantika.
Fiore d’Agave, Fiore di
Scimmia huwa rumanz li fih ħafna x’tomgħod. It-traduzzjoni ta’ Mark Vella hija waħda mirquma
u mexxejja. Vella għandu ħabta juża
kliem Taljaniżżat – forsi dan huwa l-istil tiegħu, inkella għażla deliberata li
tqarrab il-verżjoni Maltija iżjed lejn l-oriġinal u tgħin biex tirrifletti aktar
l-ambjent tar-rumanz. Li hu żgur hu li bit-traduzzjoni
tiegħu, Mark Vella jwassal dan ix-xogħol għal udjenza Maltija illi għaliha l-kuntest
u t-temi tar-rumanz għandhom jinħassu topiċi u relevanti.
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