Some Information and Documents Regarding the Correspondence between Halide Edib (Adıvar) and Hjalmar Lindquist, Who Translated Ateşten Gömlek into Swedish

Abstract

This research note focuses on the correspondence between Halide Edib (Adıvar) and Hjalmar Lindquist, who translated her novel Ateşten Gömlek into Swedish under the title Eldskjortan in 1928. In this short note, excerpts from two letters Halide Edib wrote to Lindquist—one in Turkish and the other in English—are examined to the extent presented in Lindquist’s preface to the novel. A third letter, written by Lindquist to Halide Edib in 1929 and found in the archives of the Swedish National Library (Kungliga biblioteket), indicates that their correspondence continued. These previously unknown correspondences point to a multilingual exchange involving Turkish, English, and French. While the research note highlights the place of Eldskjortan in Turkish-Swedish literary relations through these uncovered documents, it also identifies that the same novel was also translated into Finnish and emphasizes the importance and necessity of research on this translation and its reception.