Queer Literature | "Research what you want – and get plenty of sleep!"

You translated Shola von Reinhold's novel "LOTE" from English. It's about the young Black intellectual Mathilda Adamarola and the historical Black poet Hermia Druitt. They may be separated by a century, but they also have a lot in common, don't they? Can you briefly introduce us to the protagonists?

Mathilda lives in present-day London and, as a marginalized person outside and against the institutions, conducts her own archival research into her so-called transcinations: queer figures from history with whom she feels such a deep, trans-historical connection that it sends shivers down her spine in the best sense of the word. One of these transcinations is Hermia Druitt, a Black poet from British modernism. In fact, she never existed; she is a fiction in the novel—but what does that mean? Perhaps she did, or someone like her. The novel poses the question of the forgotten presence of Black people, and especially artists, in Europe over the past centuries. The novel attempts to fill the gaps in historiography speculatively, fictionally, and fragmentarily.

Now, Mathilda's job isn't exactly made easy: Right at the beginning of the book, the doorman refuses to let her into the archive—her workplace—because, in his opinion, she doesn't look like someone who belongs in such a place. Her appearance strikes him as too eccentric. What role does eccentric appearance and eccentric clothing play in the novel?

A major role! Mathilda and Hermia dress eccentrically. And it's repeatedly pointed out that this is a transgression that isn't actually permitted for Black people. To put it this way: What is recognized as "eccentric" for the white aristocracy is quickly dismissed as "madness" for Black people. Detailed and lavish descriptions of fashion, hairstyles, interior design, and architecture are also important for the novel in a broader sense. Western intellectual history, from Plato to Hegel to the modernism of Adolf Loos, has repeatedly viewed ornament, excess, and play as mere decoration, misogynistically linking them with femininity and devaluing them. The novel counters this with a celebration of surface, including beauty and luxury—a reappropriation from a precarious position.

Staying with the art of description you mentioned: You write poetry yourself in German and English and have experience translating poems. What challenges did you face when translating "LOTE"? Were you in contact with the author?

First of all, there are quite a few overlaps between our interests: how feminism can be articulated through form, in writing from a trans position, perhaps in a trans-aesthetic anti-capitalism, and most importantly, we are both fans of queer British modernisms! On the other hand, it was also good that we write in different genres; I couldn't just impose my writing on it, but approached the matter with respect for the distances between us. This also applies to the fact that I am not a person of color. So, a careful navigation between closeness and distance and also between autonomy – thought of as trust – and translation as collective work. I was in contact with Shola, and we discussed a few questions at the end. The collaboration with my editor Utku Mogultay and the publisher was equally important. As a kind of Pollesch echo: Yes, nobody works alone!

Let's go back to the beginning, but stay with the production: The title "LOTE" is an acronym. Would you mind spelling it out briefly? And also shed some light on the plot? The novel is set, among other places, in an artist's residence – such literary production sites don't often receive attention in literature itself.

The novel itself spends its entire time wondering what this mysterious acronym "LOTE" could mean, which is fun to follow its various twists and turns. But in short: Mathilda discovers that Hermia lived for a time in an undefined continental European town called Dun, where, along with other admirers of aesthetics and decadence, she belonged to a secret society called LOTE. I'm just realizing I'd have to go into so much detail about the exact meaning that it would take an entire article—so I'd like to leave that puzzle to the readers! Anyway, during her research on Hermia, Mathilda comes across a current residency in Dun, applies there without further ado, and is accepted. She has no idea what it's about, but since she's broke, she drives to the little town. In doing so, an attitude is repeatedly emphasized according to which she is somehow exploiting the scholarship, in the sense of: taking cultural funding, fulfilling the minimum of the official requirements, researching what she wants – and getting plenty of sleep!

Scottish author Shola von Reinhold also indulges in some sympathetic extravagances in the face of the staid literary establishment: "Shola von Reinhold" is presumably not her passport name; she gives 1892 as her date of birth and claims to have danced with the Bolshoi Ballet for 100 years. This play on biography is perhaps also a queer critique of the self-evident fact that many young authors, under pressure to maintain their professionalism, list their awards in their biographies, list the same courses of study over and over again, and ultimately disappear behind markers that simply mean: This person is highly qualified.

Yes, in that respect I can't say much more about Shola von Reinhold – or I don't want to, because that would contradict this very statement! This rejection of a stable bourgeois identity comes into play in the novel itself through the concept of the so-called escapade: several protagonists repeatedly change their names and their entire social environment for various reasons, trying to free themselves completely from a predetermined biography. Queer logics play a role here, but so do class issues – and it is repeatedly negotiated how almost impossible it is to pull off an escapade. But only almost, because on the other hand, solidarities repeatedly form, supporting one another in the process . Yes, I hadn't even consciously realized that it is also a novel of friendship – accomplices!

Shola by Reinhold: LOTE. Translated from English by Lisa Jay Jeschke. Merve, 456 pp., paperback, €25.