Jelena Vojinović for "Vijesti": Melancholy and black humor combine Scandinavian and our literature

The young and talented Jelena Vojinović, winner of the "Miloš N. Đurić" translation award, talks to Vijesti about Scandinavian languages, wonderful literature, people, culture, but also about her work and plans.

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Jelena Vojinović, this year's winner of the "Miloš N. Đurić" award, Photo: Private archive
Jelena Vojinović, this year's winner of the "Miloš N. Đurić" award, Photo: Private archive
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

The "Miloš N. Đurić" award of the Association of Literary Translators of Serbia is traditionally awarded for the best translation of a poetic, prose or humanistic work into the Serbian language. The award was created in honor of philologists and academics Miloš Đurić, it was awarded for the first time in 1968, and over the decades it has gone to the most respected South Slavic translators. The translation counterpart to the famous Nino Award, in 2024 this recognition was awarded to a twenty-eight-year-old Montenegrin Jelena Vojinović and that's for translation from Norwegian!

In an interview for Vijesti, the young and talented Jelena Vojinović spoke about this recognition, her studies in Scandinavian studies, the beauties and challenges of translation, as well as the culture of that part of Europe.

Jelena, to begin with - congratulations! Tell us more about the award you received, its significance and how you feel about this recognition?

I recently received the "Miloš N. Đurić" award for the best prose translation in 2024 for the translation of the novel "When We Were Young" by a young author Oliver Lovrenski published by Geopetika.

It is an award with a tradition of over fifty years, and its importance is perhaps best evidenced by the fact that some of our great translators and writers, such as Velimira i Branimir Živojinović, Ivan Lalic, Aleksandar Petrović...

On the one hand, I am extremely glad that the effort I put into this translation was recognized, which was definitely the most challenging so far, given that the novel is written in Norwegian street multi-ethnolect and that it abounds in word games, deliberate grammatical deviations, and slang specific to the group of the youth he talks about and for its class, ethnic and generational characteristics.

On the other hand, I received the award quite early in my career as this is only my fourth translation, so I feel a great responsibility to justify it with my future work.

Why did you choose the Norwegian language for your studies? How much contact did you have with Scandinavian languages ​​and culture before your studies?

I wish I could share some romantic story about the origin of my affection for Scandinavia, but the choice was somewhat accidental. Early in my education, I became aware of my preference for languages ​​and translation, so I have been moving towards the philological aspect of humanities ever since.

In fact, I wanted to study a language that I had not encountered before, to start from scratch, and so when choosing the language of study, my current fascination with the Icelandic band accidentally prevailed Sigur Ros, so I started in that direction, towards the north. Icelandic wasn't available as an option for studying in the region, so I chose the one closest to it.

Although the choice was random, I never regretted it. With my knowledge of Norwegian, I understand a large part of Swedish and Danish, my studies at Skandinavistica in Belgrade were wonderful, and luckily it turned out that Scandinavia has great literature!

You started translating while you were still studying, and did you already plan to engage in literary translation to this extent?

I was lucky enough to study under the watchful eye of very engaged professors, so towards the end of my undergraduate studies I got the opportunity to explore my translation tendencies by working on a group translation of a children's book. Maria Par "Message in a bottle" under the mentorship of a professor Nataše Ristivojević-Rajković.

As it went well, the translation of the novel followed Ulaug Nilsen "A story about painful times" under the mentorship of a professor Sofije Bilandžija, and further development was natural.

The germ of the desire to translate has been present in me for a long time and it grew in proportion to the educational paths I chose, so I'm glad that it bore fruit like this.

What is the demand for translations from the Norwegian language? Is it your permanent job and can you make a living from translating?

My impression is that demand is solid. Although I can only speak about the Serbian market, since I am currently cooperating with Serbian publishers by chance (with a note that I am very open to cooperation with Montenegrin ones as well!), it seems to me that Scandinavian, and perhaps especially Norwegian, literature is widely read. I assume that this Scandi wave is carried by the so-called crime writers, but writers like to save i Knausgora.

Jelena Vojinović
Jelena Vojinovićphoto: Private archive

I believe that last year's awarding of the Nobel Prize will To Jun Fosse boost demand. However, translators are always hired per project, i.e. book, so it cannot be a permanent job in the usual sense.

The influx of projects may be regular, but given the low prices, completely disproportionately low compared to the effort, time, and skill that literary translation requires, unfortunately, even then one cannot make a living from it.

Like most of my colleagues, I am forced to do another job that actually makes a living. It is fortunate that there are (still) us who choose to translate despite this. Without it, most of the world's literature would not be available to our readers at all.

Can you briefly compare Nordic and South Slavic literature? Do you think it would be interesting for some to read these others and vice versa?

A whole research paper could be written on this question, not to mention that it is difficult to unite all the literature of each of these two regions under such general terms, but I will try to be more concise here, unlike the previous question.

Completely generalizing for these purposes, I would say that there is a difference. Where our writing style is often expressive and emotionally charged, vivid, the Scandinavian is restrained and simple, even stingy with words, you need to know how to read what lurks unwritten between the lines. The lack of embellishment and minimalism mean that everything written is important and requires reading with full attention. I, for example, like this brevity Ibsen i Zealand knocked me off my feet!

The motifs of Scandinavian literature are often concrete, connected to everyday life, and yet symbolic. Our literature is less prone to stylistic simplicity, I would say. As far as the topic is concerned, peoples will most often write about what is most immediately present in their lives, so the themes of Scandinavian stories will often be organized around the connection between nature and human existence, survival in harsh conditions, and in our country there are perhaps more words about survival in difficult social conditions?

In accordance with its creators, Scandinavian literature is also able to be deeply introspective, and the newer literature largely focuses on issues of equality and environmental awareness. The latter has not taken off here (yet?). I have a feeling that melancholy and black humor are present in both literatures, although of different characteristics.

I am sure that reading each other's literature would enrich the worlds of both our peoples if we are open enough to foreign impulses and stories grown in different conditions.

Which Norwegian authors would you recommend to the Montenegrin reading public?

With a focus on translated writers and titles, the most obvious recommendation has to be last year's Nobel laureate Jun Fosse in Outstanding Translations Radoš Kosović, and the Third Square edition.

Whatever of his you are dealing with: novels, poetry, plays, he will draw you into his nebulous, rhythmic world of displaced time and space. One of my personal favorites is Tarjej Vesos, whose two novels, "Ice Castle" and "Birds", are available in Dereta's edition, and in a great translation Ratke Krsmanović Isailović.

His lyrical prose and stories full of symbols with nature as an essential element create a dreamlike atmosphere. It is worth taking a look, for example, at the works Pera Petešuna (mostly wonderful translations) Jelena Loma, published by Geopoetica) and Vigdis Yurt (Radoš, Štrik).

I will shamelessly use this question for the purpose of self-promotion: the collection of poetry "To", a Danish poetess, will be published in the spring Inger Kristensen in my translation, published by Treće trg.

This is one of my favorite collections of poetry in general and a project I've been working on for over a year, so I really hope that I can convey to our readers what this collection has given me. A must read when it comes out!

How do you see the development of your career and what do you hope for in the future?

I'm not a good distance sighted person in every sense, but let's just say I'd like to focus more on poetry recitations. I feel that's what suits me best and gives me the most satisfaction.

I hope for better conditions for all literary translators in our country and in some utopian perspective of the possibility of living from, in the words of the British writer and translator Kate Briggs, this little art.

Every inch of Iceland carries its own magic.

Have you traveled to Norway and other Scandinavian countries and can you tell us something about that experience?

I have visited all the Nordic countries except Finland. The visits were of varying duration and for different reasons. I spent the most time in Norway, so my impressions and experiences there are probably the most elaborate. Norwegians, in my experience, are very close to the stereotypical image we have of Scandinavians: rigid, individualistic, privileged.

To my Balkan horror, people generally didn't offer me food if they ate in my presence, and I had to tuck the quilt into the cover myself when I was visiting! Joking aside, it's really not easy to have an intimate relationship with them, nor to share things or feelings. Tolerance and kindness certainly exist, although when it comes to some social aspects, they do not go much beyond the surface, which is noticeable in relation to immigrants, for example.

Prize-winning translation by Jelena Vojinović
Prize-winning translation by Jelena Vojinovićphoto: Private archive

Norwegians keep to themselves, and prefer to depend on the state and rely on it (thank goodness they can!) than on individuals in their environment. Which can be a good thing in the sense that it is hard to imagine that a Norwegian will intentionally do something bad to you.

Also, the social structure is very flat, which is refreshing, equality is well established, human rights, gender equality and the rights of the LGBTQ+ community are, especially from our perspective, at an enviable level. They put a lot of effort into preserving the environment. Luckily, the wealth that oil brought them gives them the luxury of time and resources to be able to do so much with their environmental awareness.

Yes, most households also have underfloor heating! But for my sensibilities, it couldn't make up for the lack of warmth in interpersonal relationships.

I must also add that Iceland left the strongest impression on me. As one friend beautifully described it, the density of beauty in Iceland is incredible, every inch carries its own magic, whether it's double long, black sandy beaches, colorful mountains...

As far as culture is concerned, I somehow expected Icelanders to be a degree colder and more rigid than Norwegians, based on the fact that these characteristics, as it seems to me, gradually increase moving from southernmost Denmark, through Sweden, and to Norway.

But the Icelanders were quite relaxed compared to my experience with frozen Norwegians. Apparently even too much, as I heard from foreigners who live there and have to deal with their bureaucracy. Maybe that's why I felt more at home there!

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