Translating Ulysses for Iran

Iranian-Canadian novelist and translator Akram Pedramnia writes on translating James Joyce into Persian, evading the censors, and imperial co-option of resistance.

The Iranian novel must fight on two fronts. The first attempts to control its narrative through a system of censorship: the Iranian government has firm control of the information published within the country. This control of the ideas that enter the consciousness of the Iranian people and has implications broadly for Persian literature, and implications specifically for my current project: the translation of James Joyce’s Ulysses into the Persian language.

Systematic censorship means that the many and varied narratives of Persian literature is eclipsed by the singular narrative of the dominating group. For readers in Iran and internationally, the result is an inaccurate representation of Persian literature, and a false account of Iranian lives and their social experiences. With time, state censorship has stifled the creativity of many Persian writers.

Ulysses has all the features that makes a Persian translation prone to censorship: sex, politics, religion, alcohol consumption, male-female relationships and LGBTQ characters. A version of Ulysses that would pass the Iranian censors would require the translator to conceal the meanings of words and sentences, obscure the qualities of characters, and eliminate whole chapters from the book. The result, for an important piece of literature, would be inaccuracy and loss.

I am producing an entirely uncensored translation of Joyce’s book. It has been banned from publication within the country. For this reason, the first volume was published in the UK and is being distributed illegally in Iran. Early on, Iranians abroad would smuggle it into the country for their friends and family. Now, venders in the underground market are reprinting and distributing it to the public. Soon, its eBook will be offered for free online download. But all this has a price for the translator. I face immense pressure from the Iranian government’s cyber army, who try to suppress my work from online publication, even beyond its own borders.

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