Changing Shores

Changing Shores (traduction de Entre les fleuves) traduit par Christine Tipper

pour se procurer le livre :

             Guernica Editions, Montréal, 2009

http://www.guernicaeditions.com/title.php?id=9781550712735

Christine Tipper’s translation of Nadine Ltaif’s Entre les fleuves would be of real interest to all those readers who enjoy both prose and verse. In a voice that blends prose with poetry, it tells the tale of one woman’s emotional and cultural journey using vivid mythological imagery to paint a moving portrait of exile, loss, love and new beginnings. Leaving Lebanon for a new life in Canada, Ltaif expresses the sense of rootlessness she gains in exchange for her newfound freedom. Yet, her tale is one of hope and rebirth when ultimately she comes to terms with her exile by being reborn into this new life that she has chosen.

The first part of this poetry collection, “In Hectate’s Shadow” tells of a thirst for love and acceptance in a world where misunderstanding and hope coexist. This comes at a price. When Ltaif finally gives herself permission to pursue the love and desire that her former lifestyle forbade, she is rocked by an unexpected sadness and sense of loss. She had not foreseen these emotions would be so overwhelming.  The second part, “Exile,” expresses Ltaif’s love for her new land, Canada, and her need to bid farewell to the Orient in order to embrace the freedoms, but also the resulting feelings of rootlessness, that exile brings. In the final part, “Strong Sap,” she draws on Arabic mythology to describe the roots that she discards in her bid for rebirth in the new land. Ltaif’s vivid metaphorical language voices the dichotomy of the repression of a woman’s femininity in the Arab world and its celebration in Canadian society. Ltaif’s journey from the shadow of Hecate ends on a positive note with her feeling free to spread her wings and able to continue the eternal cycle of life in her adopted country.

Christine Tipper holds a PhD and a Masters in French Literary Translation from the University of Exeter, England, and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, the Society of Authors and the Conseil International d’Études Francophone. She translates prose, poetry and theatre scripts. She also teaches interpreting and translating on Masters programmes at the University of Bath.