Let’s read French in Sinhala

The final edition of Rendez-Vous with Yasmin and Kumar for 2021, is all about reading French in Sinhala.

Shot entirely on location at the charming Expographic Bookstore in Pelawatte, the show discusses French novels in translation, the joys of translating, how much is lost in translation, the difficulties encountered, distortions in translations, how faithful the translation is to the original text … and much more!

Joining the show is Dr. Piyasiri Vijayasekere, once Sri Lanka’s Deputy Representative to UNESCO in France who has earned a reputation for his several translations of original French novels into Sinhala.

The show pays special emphasis on his translation of Marcel Pagnol’s ‘La femme de Boulanger’, (or ‘Bakkara Biriya Hewath Babi’ in Sinhala), with Yasmin and Kumar doubling up as the Baker and his wife Aurelie.

Senior Professor in French at the Department of Modern Languages of the University of Kelaniya, Prof. Niroshini Gunasekera then joins the show and shares the challenges she faces when translating from French to Sinhala

She also talks about her most recent translation of ‘Les Souvenirs’, one of the best-selling books by French contemporary writer David Foenkinos and its relevance to Sri Lankan society.

Rendez-Vous with Yasmin and Kumar comes to you on Thursday 30 December at 7 p.m. on the YouTube channel of the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka and the Maldives