From iconic authors such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus and Marcel Proust, to an array of exciting new writers, a range of French literature will now be available in English and Tamil translations thanks to an initiative of the French Institute in India (IFI) and a prominent book seller in the city.
The IFI, which is a section of the Embassy of France, mandated to foster people-to-people exchanges, has teamed up with the Focus Bookstore for the programme, “Pardon My French!”.
The “Pardon My French” initiative aims to bring French literature to bookstores in select Indian cities, in dedicated corners with a list curated for local readers, in partnership with the bookstores.
“Our goals are to ensure that the Indian bibliophile has as much access to French titles as their international counterparts,” the IFI said.
Under the programme, an exclusive corner for French works would be established on a permanent basis at the partnering bookstore located on Mission Street and would feature a cross-section of original and translated French literature, ranging from classics to contemporary works.
The first orders for publications from a curated catalogue of 170 French titles, to begin with, had been placed and the books are expected to fill the shop shelves by the end of the month. These are predominantly (about 150) English translations, apart from Tamil versions and French originals.
Apart from the stalwarts of French literature, the collaboration will showcase contemporary French titles with an established following in India (Marjane Satrapi, Annie Ernaux) as well as new voices that are garnering international acclaim (Victoria Mas, Édouard Louis, Virginie Despentes).
The “Pardon my French!” initiative, which is at present confined to cities where the Alliance Française has a presence, was formally launched during an event on Tuesday night at the Art and Craft Village in Murungapakkam.
The programme featured a freewheeling chat by the verandah of a heritage property, moderated by Ari Gautier and Shamika Andrade, founders of the ‘Thinnai Stories’, a digital series that draws inspiration from the verandahs of Puducherry and worldwide.
The participants were Shenaz Patel, an award-winning writer from the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, Michael Anthony, proprietor of Focus Bookstore and Julia Trouilloud, Attaché for Books and Ideas at the IFI who is in charge of editorial cooperation between France and India, including translation projects and promotion of Francophone voices across India.
The occasion also saw Thinnai Stories, initiated as an online book club in March 2024, going live in the city. For Mr. Gautier and Andrade, who is Development in-charge of Alliance Française, Panjim, the thinnai represents both a liminal space separating the indoor from the outdoor and an interstitial gathering space to meet, chat, read, or catnap. Their ‘Thinnai Stories’ draw on this celebration of the liminal as a rich and fertile ground in exploring the literary and cultural intersections of Indian, Indian Ocean, and French culture.
Published - September 11, 2024 10:25 pm IST
