Rymbala Smailova: a life dedicated to literature and journalism
Rymbala Smailova, an outstanding Kazakhstani translator and veteran journalist, is preparing to celebrate her 80th birthday next February. In an exclusive interview with a Kazinform News Agency correspondent, she spoke about her life, work and husband, who was also a famous translator.
Rymbala Smailova learned Russian during her school years. “In tenth grade I went to the Mathematical Olympiad. Understood nothing. They dictated in Russian, but I didn’t understand anything. I burst into tears and left,” she recalls. However, over time, thanks to communication in the city and with city girls, she mastered the language and was able to communicate and work in it fluently. Despite initial difficulties, Rymbala persisted in her studies, which became an important foundation for her future career as a translator.
Rymbala began translating with her husband when he became interested in Nobel Prize winners. “Before this, when my husband was translating about the Second World War, he became generally interested in the Nobel Prize winners. So, he translated 15 or 14 works by Nobel Prize winners,” she says. “One of my husband’s significant projects was the translation of Svetlana Alexievich’s book. The first journalist to receive the Nobel Prize is Svetlana, this is my colleague, I have to translate,” said her husband. His translations were filled with emotion and tears, especially when he translated the stories of women who survived the war.
The translation turned out to be particularly difficult and emotionally intense. “And he translates with tears. It’s about women who went through war, even though they didn’t shoot, but in the rear, what hardships they had, but they endured hellish torment,” shares Rymbala. After the death of her husband, Rymbala completed his unfinished works and published them as books. “This is my first book, we can say,” she notes proudly. She subsequently published a seven-volume book containing translations and memoirs of her husband.
Rymbala recently completed the translation of a book by French writer Annie Ernaux that was especially close to her heart. The book describes how people, especially older people, lose their bearings in life. This is a life story that teaches us how to deal with parents and how to survive difficult moments.
“Everything she [Editor’s note – the main heroine] had with her life was real. Without embellishment, without anything. With simple sentences. There are no such complex, subordinate sentences there. It was so convenient for me to translate it. Moreover, all this is familiar,” she shares. The author received the Nobel Prize for this book, and Rymbala specifically chose it for translation because of her personal interest and connection with Nobel laureates, as did her husband.
“I specifically chose it because my husband also translated these works by the Nobel Prizes winners. I also chose works by the Nobel Prize winners. Moreover, I really liked the language there. I don’t know whether the translator translated it in this language. But you read the comments, everyone praises her so much that it’s not fictional, it’s beautiful. This is real life,” explains Rymbala.
For Rymbala, material values have never mattered much. “I also want to leave something behind,” she says. Her goal was to leave behind something meaningful for future generations. “I don’t understand material values,” says the translator.
During the pandemic, when she could not leave the house, she systematized her husband's works and published them in the form of a seven-volume book. This was her way of preserving and passing on her husband's legacy. “I took all these works of his and classified them, the memories, the translation, foreign writers, Kazakh writers, his Russian translations. In general, this is how I sorted and released a seven-volume book,” she says.
Rymbala is passionate about her husband's legacy and her own work. “Now I’m sitting and typing with tears in my eyes. And the second book is also just memories. This is also my work. So, here are two of my works. This is my work too,” she says. Her words convey a deep connection to each project she completed, continuing the work her husband began.
Up to this day Rymbala does not abandon her work, moving forward one paragraph at a time. Her main advice to creative people and translators in Kazakhstan is to write in accessible language. “My husband said it too. “These writers,” he says, “want to show their level. We have such writers, local writers, who use archaic words. Who will understand them? You have to write for the reader,” she says.
Her beliefs are based on the principle that literature should be understandable and accessible to the reader. “You need it not for yourself, not for your own pleasure, but for the reader. Then there will be communication, dialogue, and in this way you can get interested.”
Rymbala Smailova is a living example of dedication to her work, love for literature and translation. Her life and work inspire many, and her books continue to resonate with readers. As she approaches her 80th birthday, she remains active and enthusiastic, continuing to contribute to the culture and literature of Kazakhstan.
