In the Middle: Prelude to a Contemporary Transadaptation

A collection of twelve short stories by international authors.
This anthology marks the beginning of a literary transadaptation unfolding in our global community. The authors have been contributing to the perypatetik projects over the last few years, documenting the forms that instability, uncertainty, polarization and extremes assume in their countries. Now we have begun a transadaptation of daily life. This first volume sets the stage for the parallels in future collections. The narratives steeped in the cultures of the author’s homeland or current home will form the backdrop for the next compendium with childhood transadapted from South America to Asia, North America to Africa, always crisscrossing Europe.
The stories are by Armine Asryan (Armenia), Pawel Awdejuk (Poland), Alejandra Baccino (Uruguay), Gennady Bondarenko (Ukraine), Marilin Guerrero Casas (Cuba), Veronica Cordido (Venezuela), Seyit Ali Dastan (Turkey), Javier Gomez (Argentina), Jonay Quintero Hernández (Spain), Kate Korneeva (Russia), Toni Wallis (South Africa), Rayan Harake (Lebanon).
Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey are the editors of this florilegium and the perypatetik project.
The stories have a scope as sweeping as their authors are international. In Forgetting , Seyit Ali Dastan describes the surreal changes throughout Turkey as the protagonist tries to trigger memories in his father. Unreal Reality by Armine Asryan (Nane Sevunts) explores a girl’s struggle with identity in Armenia. Julie is an outsider everywhere – in her family, at school, in the workplace. We gain further insight into the trials of not-belonging through Unwanted . In South Africa, Toni Wallis (Sarah-Leah Pimentel) relates the experiences of being an outsider wherever she finds herself. As we travel to the Middle East for A Journey to the Edge , Rayan Harake portrays conflicts similar to those of Asryan and Wallis. Zeinab Ismail, the main character, is well-mannered, shy, good to others, and her religious beliefs are respected. When she enrolls in a leading university, shyness becomes a weakness, well-mannered is too soft, religious means close-minded. Moving to Poland, we catch a snippet of the hypocrisy in the business world through Pawel Awdejuk’s The Last Day . To receive your pension in cash, to go to school, to survive, you must pass an endurance test in Venezuela, as Veronica Cordido chronicles in Pedro and Elizabeth . When we shift to Ukraine in Gennady Bondarenko’s House with a Stucco Ship , the mood lightens up. Igor Pavlovich proposes to a stranger, Rita, whom he has just become smitten with at a café. She politely brushes him off, but fate brings them together again. A less amusing love story unfolds as we crisscross back to Uruguay. In Alejandra Baccino’s story Till Love Do Us Part , a young adult finds the perfect man, Torrance, and is finally happy, but her bliss dissipates. It is very similar in Cuba. Pat, one of four friends looking for love in Marilin Guerrero Casas’s story A Girl Pedaling , likewise sees her beautiful relationship crumble after a short time. Crossing the ocean to Spain, Jonay Quintero Hernández introduces us to Luisa who ultimately murders her abusive husband in Amelia’s Euphemism and disposes of the body with her nice neighbor, the criminal Evelio. The theme of love gone sour also permeates Javier Gomez’s story Catching Water in Argentina where a young retail associate briefly enjoys the excitement of love against the backdrop of tedious work. Finally, rounding out the collection in Russia, is Kate Korneeva’s Unconscious Repetition . Here too, the glass bubble of young love ends shattered.
In the difficulties and stress of our everyday lives, we often lose sight of the larger communal nature of our existence. Transadaptation is an ideal means for grasping the commonalities we all share.