Mburuvichara?the version in Guarani of the universal classic The little Princeby the Frenchman Antoine de Saint-Exupérycompletes a trilogy of the book translated into languages native to Bolivia such as Aymara and Quechuawith the aim of strengthening and giving relevance to indigenous languages and cultures.
The work, presented at recent book fairs in the eastern city of Santa Cruz and the southern Tarija, is part of a collection that also includes the Aymara versions, Warawar wawaand in Quechua, Apu wawawithin the project Universal works in native languages from the Publishing House of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (EEPB).
The translation of The little Prince was done under the premise of “strengthen” the 36 native languages recognized as official in the Bolivian Constitution in force since 2009, indicated the executive manager of the publishing house, Estela Machicado.
“The State Publishing House takes on the challenge of produce bibliography in native languagessince there is very little bibliography to be able to learn and read in the mother tongue of a large part of the population, to read not only universal but also national works in our mother tongues,” he noted.
This is how the project was created to give “relevance” to native languages and was chosen The little Prince because after the Bible, “It is the second most translated book in the world”with more than 400 editions in different languages, he highlighted.
Aymara, Quechua and Guaraní are the original languages that are most spoken in Bolivia.
Last year it was presented Warawar wawa at the La Paz International Book Fair, last month Apu wawa and now the series is complete with Mburuvichara?
The novel
As in the Aymara and Quechua versions, the first part of Mburuvichara? It is in Guaraní and the second is in Spanish.. Furthermore, with the idea of attracting young people to reading, each chapter contains a QR that takes the reader to the audiobook to listen to the text in Guaraní.
Readers will find emblematic phrases of the work, such as “Emboy?gua cheve metei vecha”, or “draw me a sheep”, or “Yande piapeño yaechakavi mbae; jokua mabet?ko yende yaech”, or “only with the heart can one see well; the essential thing is invisible to the eyes”, from the last conversation that the Little Prince has with the fox, or ‘aguara’.
The translation It was commissioned by sociologist Elías Caurey and professor Benjamín Cuellar Fernández.
“We found the idea of being able to also put a universal work in the Guaraní language and to be able to enjoy it in our language, so that our people can also hear in the Guarani melody the narration of this work that is well known worldwide,” said Caurey.
The expert explained that he sought that the translation is balanced and have “different varieties” of guaranísince Cuellar is a specialist in the linguistic variant of Isoso and Caurey in that of Ava.
Caurey maintained that it was “a very nice challenge” and that They had to consult “quite a few sources”because there are elements and situations in Saint-Exupéry’s novel that perhaps are not codified in the Guaraní culture and language, so it was necessary to “create neologisms” without moving away “from the central idea of the book.”
It was the case of comet or asteroid conceptwhich “in Western logic is different” and finally in the work he identified himself as ‘mbaerend?’.
Linguistic revitalization
For the sociologist, the initiative is “very important”, because “contributes to linguistic and cultural revitalization of the native languages in Bolivia” and the Guaraní version in particular will allow its people to say that in their language “you can also read or tell these universal stories.
Machicado maintained that These books will be important “tools” in the teaching and learning processes of native languages.
People look at the book ‘The Little Prince’ in the language version native to Bolivia, at the Santa Cruz book fair, on June 7, 2024, in Santa Cruz (Bolivia). EFE/Juan Carlos TorrejónAfter the launch of this collection, The publisher analyzes what the next work will be to continue with the project, since various authors and embassies have contacted them to suggest some titles.
The initiative is framed in the International Decade of Indigenous Languages proclaimed by United Nations for the period 2022-2032 to prevent the disappearance of thousands of these languages.
