Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp

GLLI Translated YA Book Prize winners: graphic novels of feminism and Taiwanese history

By Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp

Hearty congratulations to Siân Mackie, translator of this year’s Global Literature in Libraries Initiative Translated YA Book Prize winner: Smash the Patriarchy: A Graphic Novel by Marta Breen & Jenny Jordahl.

Published in English (and also German) by Helvetiq in 2023, this colorful and often very funny graphic novel was first published in Norwegian as Patriarkatet Faller.

Opening with an overview of the centuries of male pontificating about women’s alleged inferiority, Smash the Patriarchy charts the history of misogyny and male gaze through the writing of philosophers, scientists and political leaders from Aristotle, through to Napoleon, Descartes and, more recently, Woody Allen, juxtaposing their often absurd comments with a comic illustration style bursting with character and personality: pushy males lean superciliously over bemused, but determined and resilient female protagonists.

Jumping forwards and backwards through history in a narrative structured by topic, the author and illustrator take cameo roles as scientific investigators, providing a meta-commentary, and responding to Aristotle and co when they reappear complaining that the authors are being a bit hard on them. ‘But as a philosopher, or “genius,” you really only have one job: to come up with some new ideas,’ quips Marta Breen. ‘But when it comes to gender you’ve only tried to maintain the status quo.’

Smash the Patriarchy explores the many tools used throughout time to subjugate women, be it marriage, double standards regarding men’s and women’s bodies (‘Men’s nipples are neutral. Women’s nipples are sexual.’) or a lack of civil and economic rights. The book also doesn’t shy from exploring the harsh means used – historically and in the present – to punish women who dare challenge the status quo or seek a voice in the public domain, from the slut-shaming of Mary Wollstonecraft to the imprisonment of Germaine de Staël, or execution by burning at the stake or the guillotine in the case of Olympe de Gouges.

Whether it’s writing under a male pseudonym, or dressing as a man to succeed in a profession or to rule in her own right – see Pharaoh Hatshepsut – or whether they threw the rule book out the window altogether, this work celebrates the many women who have challenged society’s restrictions and restrictive thinking.

While most of the more detailed stories are of white, upper class European women (just as the philosophical and scientific academy of misogynists is dominated by their male equivalents), a more globally diverse cast of international feminist voices is represented in a double-page spread including Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim (Sudan), Nawal El Saadawi (Egypt), Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (Nigeria), Eman al-Nafjan (Saudi Arabia), Toshiko Kishida (Japan), Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan), Zitkala-Ša, Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman (USA), Bibi Khanoom Astarabadi (Iran), Tarabai Shinde (India), and many others.

Rounding up with an introduction to the intersectionality of modern feminism – where parallels are drawn between different types of intersecting discrimination – this humorous, enraging and inspiring graphic novel will be an excellent addition to any teen book collection, along with the same authors’ earlier graphic novel Women in Battle (Hot Key Books, 2018, also translated by Siân Mackie).

GLLI Translated YA Book Prize 2024 Honor Titles

As well as awarding a winner, the GLLI Translated YA Book Prize usually awards one or two honor titles, too. This year’s honored books were:

The Boy From Clearwater: Book 1 – by Yu Pei-Yun & Zhou Jian-Xin / Translated from Hoklo Taiwanese, Mandarin Chinese, & Japanese by Lin King (Levine Querido, 2023)

A graphic novel in four parts that navigates the fascinating and complex history of Taiwan, through the real life story of Tsai Kun-lin, who as a young man in the 1950s was unjustly incarcerated as a political prisoner in the time of the White Terror.

The Bodyguard Unit: Edith Garrud, Women’s Suffrage, and Jujitsu – by Clément Xavier (text), Lisa Lugrin (art) & Albertine Ralenti (coloring), translated from French [France] by Edward Gauvin (Graphic Universe, 2023)

Another graphic novel and another chapter of iconic feminist history, this is the tale of Edith Garrud, British Suffragette and pioneering self-defence instructor, who ran the security unit of the Women’s Social and Political Union, training women them to resist arrest and defend themselves while advocating for their rights.

2024 Shortlist

The Night Raven (Book 1 of The Moonwind Mysteries) – by Johan Rundberg, translated from Swedish [Sweden] by A. A. Prime (Amazon Crossing Kids, 2023)

An eerie and atmospheric upper middle grade/young YA crime novel set in Stockholm, in the harsh winter of 1880, a time of hunger and desparation, where a depraved killer lurks.

Pardalita – by Joana Estrela, translated from Portuguese [Portugal] by Lynn Miller-Lachmann (Levine Querido, 2023)

One of this year’s Batchelder Award honor titles, this is the story of 16-year-old Raquel coming to terms with her parents’ divorce, and falling in love with a friend, Pardalita. A joyful queer coming-of-age story told in a blend of prose poems, illustrations, and graphic novel format.

Wild Poppies – by Haya Saleh, translated from Arabic [Syria] by Marcia Lynx Qualey (Levine Querido, 2023)

The powerful and emotionally hard-hitting story of two young brothers trying in their own ways to support their displaced family in the midst of the Syrian civil war. As Sufyan finds it harder to resist the lure of militant groups seeking to recruit young combatants, what can Omar do to get them both out of trouble?

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