Peto el Barato al junaj anglalingvaj esperantistoj

*Peto pri kunlaboro por verki grafikan romanon en la angla el la verko de
Abel Montagut, **Poemo de Utnoa.*


Probal Dasgupta, eksa prezidanto de UEA kaj nuna prezidanto de la Akademio
de Esperanto, *[email protected] <[email protected]>*,
provas kunmeti teamon de junaj anglalingvanoj por realigi la verkon.


Kion ili faru? Ni volas kunmeti teamon, kiu konsilighe kun Abel realigos
grafikan romanon bazitan sur la rakonta materialo de la eposo, kies intrigo
estas resumita sube. Post kiam ni havos teamon kaj relative klaran
projekton (Abel pretos verki la teksterojn necesajn por la rakontado kaj la
balonoj, evidente, kaj devos cerbumi kiamaniere strukturi la rakonton en
tiu chi ghenro), post kiam ni scios kiu estos la chefa konceptanto, kiuj la
desegnantoj, k.s., la ideo estas kunmeti projekto-proponon kune kun bugheto
kaj iri al ESF por peti subvencion.


Nia penso estas, ke simple krei klasikan, libro-al-libran tradukon de
_Poemo de Utnoa_ en la angla, do ducentpaghan libron en la versa formato,
ne funkcios se la teksto aperu sur la atento-ekrano de la chefa shatantaro
de la sciencfikciaj kaj fantaziaj verkoj en Usono. Kaj tiu shatantaro estas
la plej forta faktoro influanta la gustojn de aliaj anglalingvaj shatantoj
de tiuj ghenroj (ech se multaj neusonaj anglalingvanoj havas forte aliajn
gustojn, ili chiuj vole-nevole _referencas_ al la gustoj de la granda amaso
en Usono).


Se iun relative kleran kaj socie/ ekologie konscian segmenton de tiu usona
publiko ni sukcesos kapti per grafika romano, kies lego ne postulas tro da
tempo-investo, tiam ni havos do nichan publikon interesitan pri la roluloj
de tiu chi nekutima eposo. Poste, oni povas diri al tiu publiko, "Post du
jaroj aperos plena libro pri la roluloj, bazita sur la granda libro jam
ekzistanta en Esperanto, en la hispana kaj en la kataluna! Chu ne mirinde?"
Kaj ni havos klientojn kiuj avide atendos la grandan libron kaj achetos
ghin ech se ili tute ne intencos legi ghin.


Jen la baza merkatika ideo. Mi petas vian helpon trovi homojn kiuj
kunrealigos ghin kun Abel.


Amike


Probal (kun kiu oni korespondu, se oni interesiĝas kunlabori)



*UTNOA: A Flood Is Coming*

Plot Summary (Short Version)

Abel Montagut's epic *Poemo de Utnoa* is a major event in Esperanto
literature (Vienna: Pro Esperanto, 1993). In this work of science fiction
in verse, the Catalonia-based Esperanto author Abel Montagut retells the
story of Uttu, also called Noah, whose name he hybridly rewrites as Utnoa,
in the context of a controlled science fiction reconstruction of the story
of the deluge. The plot is of some interest for our project here.

In Montagut's story, some advanced humanoid aliens lose their home world to
a nova, but fortunately foresee this and take off in space ships before the
catastrophe. They seek a new home world, in full awareness of
inter-galactic laws enjoining them not to enslave less advanced rational
beings and not even to reveal themselves to such creatures lest culture
shock should stunt their growth. The aliens discover Earth, which
unfortunately for their quest seems to have rationals on board.

Some of the aliens are convinced that the willingness of humans to kill
each other is evidence of irrationality, and rejoice when it turns out that
an asteroid about to travel past Earth will cause an axial motion reversal
and unleash murderous floods, destroying many life forms but leaving the
planet eminently colonizable. Other aliens, call them pro-human, would
prefer to obey an inter-galactic law requiring them to warn fellow
rationals of such impending danger and to save whomever they can.

After much debate, the aliens single out for attention a nomadic group that
has practised proto-Gandhian non-violence for seven generations, and make a
figure appear in a dream to that community's leader Noah to warn him of the
flood and tell him to build an ark. Noah takes this dream to the religious
system of the city-state near by for interpretation. And the story -- in
this full-length book -- reenters the vortex of politics within and across
city-states shaped by the way they treat the nomads and other marginals.
The violent events which follow strengthen the anti-human aliens' case
against the claim that humans can be rational. Still the debate goes on in
the heavenly space-fleet, and finally the two parties of aliens make a
deal. They will send one emissary each to Noah and present their case,
knowing that humans exposed to such messages in their sleep retain only
positive or negative impressions, not content.

The pro-humans go first. They arrange a psychedelic show, with arch-poet
Vālmīki (qua author of the *Rāmāyaṇa*) serving as initial guide in a
series of conducted tours through the future achievements that humanity
will be capable of if Noah finishes the ark project which he has felt like
abandoning. Vālmīki passes the task on to other figures. Noah wakes up, is
overwhelmed by the positive impression left by an unremembered dream and
its contrast with his community's bleak present, and in a fit of despair
destroys the ark-fragment he had managed to build so far.

When the anti-human party gets its turn, its leader appears before Noah
personally, gives his real name, and describes the plight of the
space-fleet and its humanoid passengers without mystification. He accuses
the other party of self-serving deceit. He explains to Noah that humans on
Earth are vermin who should spare the cosmos the sight of their ugly
future. He arranges to exhibit to Noah some of the horrors that humans will
unleash if saved -- his list includes not just the holocaust or the bomb,
but also drug trafficking and crimes against the environment, as one might
expect in an epic which throughout employs striking literary devices to set
human stories in a context that emphatically belongs to many life-forms
together, not just to people. The emissary of the anti-human party ends by
encouraging Noah to let the fated asteroid do its duty and destroy the
ill-born human race, leaving the planet clean and fit for decent
inhabitants. When he awakes, Noah feels optimistic – he is now married to
Oba, and the text suggests that this could be why feels upbeat; in any
event, it is after the negative dream that he goes back to the ark project,
whereupon the narrative ends.


-- 

*~~~**Renato Corsetti, [email protected]
<[email protected]>  *