The prevalence of Ibero-American literature in Türkiye continues to rise, with an increasing number of books being translated from Spanish to English.
Among these translations is the debut of "Furia Diamante," which translates to "Diamond Fury" a book by contemporary Argentine writer Valeria Tentoni, now available in Turkish.
Translated by Banu Karakaş, also the translator of Chilean writer Baldomero Lillo's book, this book, consisting of eight stories, found its place on shelves through a collaborative effort between the Consulate General of Argentina in Istanbul and the Cervantes Institute.
It was inaugurated with a seminar revolving around the importance of short stories in Argentine literature. I had the opportunity to read the book upon the recommendation of Marcelo Martin Giusto, the Consul General of Argentina.
Argentinian literature has a rich history of short story writing dating back to the 19th century, with notable writers such as Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortazar and Adolfo Bioy Casares leaving an indelible mark on the genre, establishing a tradition of innovative and influential short fiction.
Tentoni's stories delve deeply into the inner voices of individuals, with minimal dialogue in social interactions.
These characters, portrayed as unhappy and isolated, experience everyday events with extreme emotions, creating an atmosphere of literary depth that intertwines with the characters' internal turmoil.
One of the stories that particularly caught my attention was "Silver Hammer."
It portrays a girl who undergoes aesthetic changes to her nose and somehow establishes a relationship between her body and the renovations taking place in her home.
We witness her struggle with the trauma of the nose operation as the noise from the renovations continues to haunt her.
In the tale "Snails," we observe the desolation felt by a woman isolated at home following a painful breakup.
As her partner's absence lingers, the void left by his belongings gradually becomes populated by snails, eventually swarming the entire house, a stark contrast to the earlier absence of these creatures in her bed.
These stories illustrate how individuals find manifestations of their emotions haunting them in various situations.
However, perhaps the most challenging stories to read, such as "Dog," describe the merciless behavior of a group of friends who disregard ethical norms in society by defining it through physical violence, equally unsettling the reader.
Valeria Tentoni, born in 1985 in Bahia Blanca, is a writer and journalist. She is the author of several acclaimed books including "Batalla Sonora" (published by Manual Ediciones in Chile, 2009), "Ajuar" (winner of the first prize in the Editorial Ruinas Circulares competition in Buenos Aires in 2011), and "Antitierra" (published by Libros del Pez Espiral in Chile, 2014).
Tentoni has also contributed to various anthologies such as "Voces -30" (Ebooks Patagonia, 2014) and "Penultimos." Her work was featured in "Argentina's 33 Poems 1965-1985," published by the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 2014.