Small Diktonius translation

Here is a sample of Finnish poet Elmer Diktonius(1896-1961). He was part Finland´s Swedish speaking minority. Well, Swedish is our second official language but still its minority.

One of Diktonius´s most interesting books is his first. It is called Min dikt(1921); my poetry, written when he was only 25. It´s an collection of aforisms and short verses, mostly about art which is considered to by crucial organ of life by Elmer Diktonius.

Min dikt, Runoni in Finnish, is not very famous book among fins. I don’t know many people who have read it. It was written shortly after civil war which was won by whites. This time is kind of a blurry in Finnish history and not much mentioned. Or that’s how I feel about it. It is called a war of brother against brother. Elmer Diktonius was more to the red side and like mentioned Swedish speaking and writing. So he was definitely in marginal. Min dikt is tough and demanding words about how art should and could be. In 1920´s Finland was farming/forester country. Not the best crowd for Diktonius I suppouse. Worst part was that he co-wrote Min Dikt with one notorious Otto-Wille Kuusinen(1881-1964), Finnish red/leftist person who is not much mentioned among the great men of Finnish history.

But I love Diktonius´s thoughts. They are like fists. As an exercise I try to translate randomly opened page in to English. This can also be taken as a Finnish language lesson!

Page 82 from Elmer Diktonius: Runoni, Translated from Swedish by Arvo Turtiainen and to English by yours truly

Kukaan ei pysty luomaan

uudestiluominen on sitä mitä me teemme.

Ei ole olemassa mitään mitä ei voida lyödä maahan

ei mitään mitä ei voi uudesti luoda – se on suurta

Onko taiteilijan odotettava aikaansa?

Eikö ole oikeampaa sanoa että hänen on odotettava oman

aikansa ihmisiä.

Taiteilijat, jotka elävät niin pitkällä aikaansa edellä

etteivät kuule läheistensä ja miljoonien muiden

ihmisolentojen huutoa tästä helvetistä, eivät ole

ansainneet elämäänsä.

/

Nobody can create.

Re-creation is what we do.

There is nothing that cannot be struck down

there is nothing that cannot be re-created – That is great.

Must artist wait for his time?

Isn´t it more right to put it this way, that he has to wait for

people of his time.

Artists, who live so far ahead from their time

that they cannot hear the scream of their closest ones and of millions of other

human beings from this hell,

have not deserved their lives

Page 83

Uusi taideteoksessa ei estä sen ymmärtämistä vaan vanha

ihmisissä.

Ostamme taidetta elämällä niin että ymmärrämme sitä

Mutta onhan persoonallisuuksia joita on kutsuttava

suuriksi vaikka heiltä puuttuukin taiteen taju.

On toki.

Samaten kuin suurmiehiä jotka ovat mykkiä, sokeita tai

kuuroja.

Haava joka kirveltää:

että useimmat radikaaleista taiteilijoista ovat

konservatiiveja suhteessa ajan suuriin kysymyksiin;

että useimmat ajan suurissa kysymyksissä radikaalit

ovat konservatiiveja suhteessa taiteeseen.

/

New in artwork does not prevent its understanding but the old in

people.

We buy art by living so that we understand it.

But there are personalities who are to be called

great even if they lack the sense of art.

Yes, indeed there is.

In the same sense there are great men who are mute, blind or

deaf.

The wound that smarts:

that most of the radical artists are

conservatives in relation to the big questions of our times;

that most of those who are radical to big questions of our times

are conservatives in relation to art.