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Refugees

         

        Houses of the refugees from 1921 in honour of present refugees in 2015

                                                   in Elefsina

 

Yiorgos Chouliaras

Flüchtlinge

 

Auf die Rückseite

des Fotos schreibe ich um mich zu erinnern

nicht wo und wann, sondern wer

 

Ich bin nicht auf dem Foto

 

Sie haben uns nichts

mitnehmen lassen

Nur dieses Foto

 

Wenn du es umdrehst, siehst du mich

 

Bist du das auf dem Foto, fragen sie

Ich weiß nicht, was ich euch sagen soll

 

Aus der englischen Übersetzung von Christa Schuenke

 

 

Yiorgos Chouliaras

Refugees

On the other side

of the photograph I write to remind myself

not where and when but who

 

I am not in the photograph

 

They left us nothing

to take with us

Only this photograph

 

If you turn it over you will see me

 

Is that you in the photograph, they ask me

I don’t know what to tell you

 

                       Translated by David Mason & the author

 

 

[The poem “Refugees” in the original Greek]

 

Γιώργος Χουλιάρας

ΠΡΟΣΦΥΓΕΣ

 

Από την άλλη πλευρά

της φωτογραφίας γράφω για να θυμάμαι

όχι το πού και πότε αλλά ποιος

 

Δεν είμαι εγώ στη φωτογραφία

 

Τίποτε δεν μας άφησαν

να πάρουμε μαζί μας

Μόνον αυτή τη φωτογραφία

 

Αν τη γυρίσετε από την άλλη θα με δείτε

 

Εσύ είσαι στη φωτογραφία, με ρωτούν

Δεν ξέρω τι να σας πω

Yiorgos Chouliaras, "Réfugiés"

 

Sur l’autre face

de la photo j’écris pour me souvenir

pas où ni quand mais qui

 

Ce n’est pas moi sur la photo

Ils ne nous ont rien laissé

prendre avec nous

Seulement cette photo

 

Si vous la tournez de l’autre côté vous me verrez

C’est toi sur la photo, ils me demandent

Je ne sais quoi vous dire

 

Traduction © Marie-Laure Coulmin Koutsaftis, Anthologie: Ce que signifient les Ithaques, 20 poètes grecs contemporains, 2013

 

Note:

The “Refugees” poem has been translated into many languages, including Bulgarian, Croatian, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Turkish, and, most recently, Swedish.

On September 9, 2015, it was read in German translation in Berlin at the International Literature Festival’s opening (as part of an anthology of poems & other texts on refugees posted on the Heinrich Böll website:

Woher ich nicht zurückkehren werde / From where I shan’t return

Berliner Anthologie, Das Internationale Literaturfestival Berlin

https://www.boell.de/sites/default/files/2015-9_berliner_anthologie.pdf

https://www.boell.de/en/2015/09/04/berlin-anthology-where-i-shant-return

 

The poem can also be found as “electronic graffiti” (QR code) on walls in Athens, as detailed in an article by George Fragopoulos on the Poeinkaiprattein website:

http://poieinkaiprattein.org/poetry/greek-section/this-is-a-poem-graffiti-public-space-and-poetry-in-the-contemporary-athenian-cityscape-george-fragopoulos/

Additional references to Greek literature and the ongoing crisis include:

The Economic Crisis and Survival of Greek Letters Part 2: Growing Up

Posted on August 20, 2015by Daniel Peñain Reading, Seriesand tagged Contemporary Greek Literature, contemporary poetry, Greece, Greece Austerity, Greek Economic Crisis, Greek Literature, Greek Poetry, Grown Up Poem, Hellenic Authors Society, Yiorgos Chouliaras

http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/the-economic-crisis-and-survival-of-greek-letters-part-2-growing-up

Greek poets protest on World Poetry Day 21 March 2012

http://poieinkaiprattein.org/poetry/greek-section/greek-poets-protest-on-world-poetry-day-21-march-2012/

 

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