Comics are a great way to read all sorts of stories, whether fiction, nonfiction, or a compelling blend of the two. Ivanka Hahnenberger, translator of more than 70 graphic novels, talks us through some of her favourites, from the history of the atomic bomb to the heartbreaking story of Olympic athlete Samia Yusuf Oman, from the 'Rumble in the Jungle' to contemporary Iran and Paris.
You’ve translated a lot of graphic novels, and you’ve picked out five of the best ones for us. How did you set about choosing these particular books?
The criteria for picking them was I felt they were important books that people really need to read. Well, maybe not all five are ‘important’—let’s say: several important ones and some fun ones because we can’t always be serious.
First on your list is The Bomb by Didier Alcante and Laurent-Frédéric Bollée with art by Denis Rodier.
I feel this book is really important, because it’s easier to swallow than many of the big books that we have on the history of the A-bomb. It was published by Abrams in English but was originally a Glénat title in France. It came out in English at the same time as the Oppenheimer film, though that was a coincidence. It took longer to translate than people thought, because it’s full of technical terms.
The story is really emotional when you see it in pictures. In the beginning, you see the excitement in the scientists’ faces when they discover the chain reaction. It’s an incredible thing. They go into a squash court at the University of Chicago, and it actually happens. Everybody’s shocked and amazed and excited.
It’s really interesting to see it in pictures. The way they depict Einstein and his suffering… Everybody was saying, ‘We need to have the A-bomb.’ But then, when you have it, you realize you’ve created a monster.
And it looks at the science as well, from the Big Bang onwards?
Yes. It talks about the Big Bang and how we recreated the Big Bang on Earth, which is kind of creepy. It’s scientific, it’s emotional, it’s about the relationships, the people. It’s set partly in Hungary, where a lot of the science started, and then goes to the US, and all the way out to California. It’s almost like a road movie.
So that’s a really important book, and it’s worth taking the time to read it.
I guess it was written in French, originally. Is that true of a lot of graphic novels?
Yes, it was written in French. Comics is a huge industry there and it’s been going on for years. There are long books, short books, children’s books, adult books. The variety is incredible. We’re starting to have that in the Anglo-Saxon world, but it’s nothing like the variety and depth in France. If you go into a comics shop in France, it’s just amazing.
Let’s move on to An Olympic Dream by Reinhard Kleist.
Olympic Dream is the story of Samia Yusuf Omar. If you watched the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she was the young Somalian woman who came in last. It was one moment when we all watched this woman. She doesn’t have the right clothes, she doesn’t really have the right shoes. But she runs, and she doesn’t give up. Everyone in the stadium was on their feet applauding her, because she had to defy her nation and defy her culture to get to be able to run. No one left the stadium before she finished, they’re all sitting there watching her, not a dry eye in the house.
After that, she’s really determined to train as an athlete, and go to the Olympics in London in 2012. But where she is in Somalia the rights for women were decreasing, she has to run around a bombed-out track. She wants to go to another country to get a better opportunity for herself, but in order to do that she has to go through an underground route and use the smuggling rings. Finally, she decides she needs to get to Italy because from there she can get a trainer in the West. She tells it all through Facebook.
Reinhard Kleist traces this whole story of hers, and her family at home: how people gave up a lot to get the money so she could be smuggled. I’m not going to tell you what happens. It’s just the incredible story of this woman. I really recommend this book. It’s extraordinary.
Reinhard Kleist is a German graphic novelist and one of the finest graphic story tellers there is. He is also the creator of the Johnny Cash biography, and a wonderful graphic novel about Castro. An Olympic Dream was originally a Carlsen Comics book, so it was translated from German.
Let’s go on to Iranian Love Stories. Tell me about this one.
These are stories of young people in Iran who can’t freely have relationships. It’s about the life of young couples in Iran. There are no public displays of affection, you can’t choose who you marry. We’re not ignorant of what’s going on in Iran, but you don’t really realize at what level things are until you read this. Also, you learn about Iranian culture. You’re not supposed to drink, but they have these elegant parties in their apartments.
The life there is not free like our life. They’re not even free to love.
Was it written in Persian originally?
No, in French. It’s by a French couple, journalists, who go over there and interview different couples. The authors being a couple is kind of moving: they’re not married but want to stay together in a hotel and that’s a problem. They weren’t even supposed to be talking to people. The whole book is just really enlightening about things we need to know and take into our hearts and understand.
The thing about translating is that you’re reading every single word a thousand times. It drills it into your head. You read it over and over and over and over. You read it for meaning, you read it for understanding and it becomes part of you, because you’re reading it so much. You’re just so involved, reading it word for word and letter for letter.
How many books have you translated?
70 or 80. A lot. Fiction, nonfiction, adventure, outer space. All kinds.
And you just always loved the graphic novel format?
Yes, I do really love it. What’s important about comics and translating is that you need to follow the text and draw people away from the images. And then the images need to draw people away from the text. What you don’t want people doing is turning the pages to read the text. You also don’t want people turning a page and not reading the text. So you have to make sure that your translation—like the original writing—draws people in to do both.
Let’s move on to your next choice, which is about the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ boxing match in 1974 in Zaire. This is by Barly Baruti and Thierry Bellefroid.
Chaos in Kinshasa is one of my favorites. Partly it’s because I remember the whole Rumble in the Jungle story happening—I’m that old! I was in Philly, where I remember seeing Cassius Clay’s name, his switch to Muhammad Ali, and then he was going over there, to Kinshasa. Being Black in Africa is different from being Black in America—it’s not the same culture at all. I remember it was quite eye opening for a lot of people, whites and Blacks alike.
And then to read this story! I never knew about all the political intrigue that was going on at the time and that it was a pawn in a political game. I was too young to get that—all the African politics, how Angola was involved. It’s amazing that these authors managed to get all that into this book and at the same time make it fun and funny. It’s really great. I totally recommend it. If you didn’t have any idea of the intrigue and politics behind the Rumble in the Jungle, you have to read this.
I’ve seen this book described as part Cold War thriller, because spy intrigue comes into it as well. Is that right?
Yes, it does. I just had no idea about all this intrigue—what the Belgians were up to in Africa, and then trying to get the French involved, and all this is happening with this boxing match with Muhammad Ali, who is so innocent about all this. I don’t know if he knew or didn’t know, all that was going on. I didn’t know. I thought it was just a boxing match.
Were they trying to depose Mobuto? Is that what was going on?
I don’t even remember who was trying to depose whom and get influence. There was a whole lot going on. There was also the whole thing about African-ness, everyone had to change their names to sound less Western. It sounds like I’m describing a 200-page book, but it’s not long. In this tiny, wee book, and they get this all in there. It’s amazing.
Then there’s the other book by Barly Baruti, published by Catalyst Press, Madame Livingstone. It’s great because you don’t really know if it’s fiction or fact. This man claims to be David Livingstone’s son. I guess it is supposed to be true. It’s set in the Belgian Congo in the First World War. He’s a Belgian pilot’s local guide but, at the same time, he’s saying, ‘I’m one of you’ and wears a kilt. It’s just really cool.
All these stories we don’t know anything about—I just love learning about them.
What do you want to choose as your fifth book?
GoSt 111 is one of my sweetheart books. It’s also a Glénat title. It’s a fun, silly, ridiculous crime novel that takes place in the suburbs of Paris. The main character is kind of a loser, and the only way he knows to try to get out of the situation is to play the cops against the interior ministry.
It’s really fun because it shows you a piece of Paris, and life in general, that you don’t know. It’s about underground life and how it’s a struggle. This guy is a Serb and no matter what he does, he seems to get involved in thuggery instead of getting on the straight and narrow. He’s got a little girl, and his mother, her grandmother, is helping out.
He gets out of jail and tries to avoid it, but once again, he gets drawn in. He always seems to get drawn down the wrong path. It’s fiction, but it could be true, just not being able to get out. It’s a kind of poverty loop.
Is it a whodunit, are you’re wanting to find out what’s going on?
No. There is a crime, but you know what’s going on. He discovers the police are corrupt, so he ends up informing on the police to get himself free. He comes across as an adult, but in the long run, because he’s kind of slow, his demeanor and his manner are what eventually get him out of it. Everyone else is in the fast lane. The cops want the fast cars and the procureur fiscal wants this and that. He just kind of galumphs his way through it. That’s what’s so nice about it being a graphic novel, you visually see all these different characters and all the voices that the authors have given them. It’s very well done. It’s really, really, really well-written as a graphic novel.
How did you get into graphic novels—was it as a teenager?
I lived in Switzerland as a child, and we just always read them. We had the access to all the French comics and it was part of our life. We were all raised on Asterix and Tintin and Gaston Lagaffe, who was my favorite. Then, when I moved to America, I still kept reading them, though the US ones were different. When I moved back to France I went back to French graphic novels and now read them from all over the world.
But translating them happened as a quirk. I worked in film animation for a long time, and then in digital content. I came to a point where I needed a change. And I met the head of the media division of Le Monde newspaper, who was also a critic of graphic novels and comics. He said, ‘Ivanka, you need to get involved in graphic novels and comics.’ And I saw an article in the New York Times, a tiny article where Courtney Love said that the only biography she would allow of Kurt Cobain would be in graphic novel format. I thought, ‘Now, it’s going to explode. Now it’s coming to America.’ This was in 2000. So, I decided to jump on board. I was right. At the time, there was a smaller US offering and now it’s huge.
Yes, for graphic medicine or graphic social sciences, it can be a great format. Graphic Mundi is a really important publishing company to keep your eye on, it’s Penn State’s graphic novel imprint. There’s also Street Noise Books. They’re really doing interesting stuff. In the UK, you need to keep an eye on Self Made Hero. They’re great and run by the amazing Emma Hayley.
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Ivanka Hahnenberger
Ivanka Hahnenberger has translated over 70 comics and graphic novels. She is the managing director of VIP Brands, a comics agency, translation and consulting company.
Ivanka Hahnenberger has translated over 70 comics and graphic novels. She is the managing director of VIP Brands, a comics agency, translation and consulting company.
