Hair Splitting Blue Pieces at Al Sharjah International Book Fair

Yemenat

Mohammed Al-Mekhalfi

On the occasion of the theatrical text Hair-Splitting Blue Pieces being featured at the Sharjah International Book Fair, I would like to share my experience as the translator of this work, which blends poetry, theatre, and visual art.

The text is authored by the Yemeni writer Hamed Oqabi, who resides in France and is a novelist, poet, short story writer, theatre director, and visual artist.

Hair-Splitting Blue Pieces is presented alongside other works by Oqabi, such as Anthem of Life, One Thousand and Two Nights, Julia and Sheikh Al-Tihami, and his novel Little Sana’a, Great Sana’a. These works demonstrate the diversity of his artistic experience and his ability to move effortlessly between literature, theatre, and visual art.

As a translator, I faced challenges not only on the linguistic level but also in conveying the essence of the text to the foreign reader. I endeavored to preserve the internal rhythm and emotional tone of the work so that the reader could feel what the heroine experiences as she confronts the constraints of the color blue and searches for freedom. The color blue in this text is not merely a color but an expression of sensation and a yearning to reclaim life and joy.

During the translation, I focused on the text’s internal music, movement, and silence as part of its dramatic expression, ensuring that the poetic character of the text was preserved in the target language.

Hamed Oqabi’s style resembles a theatrical poem, relying on symbolism and the internal rhythm of imagery rather than traditional dialogue. The characters move within a space charged with color, sound, and light, interacting with every element on stage: the lanterns that illuminate the darkness, the ball that transforms into a tool of expression, and the sound effects that heighten psychological tension.

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