Retired University of La Verne Professor Receives Novel Translation Grant

Darkness and corruption run rampant as a coastal Argentine resort town awaits the annual tourist season.

It is the premise for the novel Gesell Dome, a book that former University of La Verne Spanish professor Andrea Labinger saw in the hands of many locals when she explored Buenos Aires in 2012.

“All the people were carrying it around and talking about it,” Labinger said.

That widespread interest caught her attention. And once she read the book, the longtime book translator knew it would be her next project.

Labinger, who retired from La Verne in 2008 after 27 years, received a PEN/Heim translation grant in mid August to bring the Guillermo Saccomanno novel to English readers.

It is the 17th Spanish-to-English translation project she has undertaken.

“For me it’s a huge honor,” Labinger said of being a fund recipient.

Labinger says the project presents numerous challenges, primarily because of its length at more than 500 pages and because it is filled with Argentine slang, known as “lunfardo.”

It prompted Labinger to call on a fellow author in Argentina for assistance to understand the nuances of certain expressions. She ran into similar difficulties while translating the Cuban novel The Island of Eternal Love by Daína Chaviano.

A word from that book – “chivichanas,” a palm-frond toboggan used by children to slide down sand dunes – had no exact translation because it is a regional term.

Gesell Dome also contains gritty, controversial content. The town is teeming with criminals, political corruption and sexual abuse of children. The racial tension against immigrating Bolivians results in a Bolivian baby being burned to death, Labinger said.

Saccomanno claims many of these events, though fictionalized, actually occurred in the town, and that elements of greed, corruption, racism and violence are also common in other Argentine communities. Labinger was intrigued with the content since Saccomanno resides in Villa Gesell, and to write in detail about moral turpitude in your own back yard takes bravery.

Because of Labinger’s respect for the work she translates, and her creativity, she has seen success with her projects.

She made the list of World Literature Today’s “75 Notable Translations of the Year” and is a three-time finalist for the PEN USA, according to WordsWithoutBorders.org.

La Verne Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Al Clark described his former colleague as an excellent scholar, translator and teacher. Clark said he learned much from Labinger when they co-taught an honors course for two years.

“I have read numerous translations by Andrea, and they have all been captivating in both style and intelligence,” Clark said.