Amatka

Amatka is a debut novel written by Karin Tidbeck set in a world shaped by language. The novel is written in Swedish language in 2012 and translated in English in 2017. Main character, Vanja is sent to Amatka colony on a work assignment where she falls in love with her housemate. Central themes of novels revolve around political oppression, limited freedom and deep conspiracies. It is available in paper, ebook and audio format [1]. Locus magazine published Karin Tidbeck interview in 2017 about her novel Amtka with title "Karin Tidbeck: Language Matters"[2].

Reviews

Excerpt from Weird Fiction Review:

"In philosophy, a long tradition of investigating the central powers of language exists. Most recently, philosophers such as Giorgio Agamben or Daniel Heller-Roazen have forwarded similar constructivist theses about language in texts such as The Fire and the Tale (Stanford 2017) or No One’s Ways (MIT 2017). In Tidbeck’s Amakta, however, the thesis is posed in the sinuous shape of fiction’s eternal question to its reader. Language is gradually, unsettlingly slanted, made diagonal, and put to question. Reading the novel is a remarkable exercise in which the borders of perception and communication fluctuate and bend."[3].

Another excerpt from a npr review:

"Amatka does not wrap up as conclusively as many readers may like, but then it's nowhere near being a conventional sci-fi novel. Tidbeck triumphs at crafting an ending that's both unsettingly vague and unerringly true to the warped internal logic of her world. Amatka is so disorienting that it makes the otherwise generic elements of her political dystopia — including crippling procedures and secret camps for dissidents — feel almost comfortingly familiar. It's an unnerving trick, and one Tidbeck pulls off to effect: She paints the moral ambiguities of a repressive society in the same gray tones as the sky above Amatka. Most of all, her meditation on the power of names — and how language can be used to control both perception and substance — resonates chillingly in our post-truth reality."[4]

Translations

The novel has been translated in multiple languages:

  • Swedish, published by Mix, 2012
  • Spanish, published by Ediciones Nevsky, 2016
  • English, published by Vintage, (2017)
  • Hungarian,published by Athenaeum ,2017
  • French, published by La Volte,2018
  • Portuguese, published by 20|20, 2018

Awards

Amatka is regarded as one of the best science fiction book of Guardian in year 2017. It was nominated for following awards:

  • Locust Award Finalist 2018
  • Compton Award 2018 [5]
  • Prix Utopiales 2018 [6]
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References
  1. Tidbeck, Karin (27 June 2017). Amatka. NYC, US: Vintage. p. 224. ISBN 9781101973950.
  2. "KarinTidbeck: Language Matters". Locus. 10 September 2017.
  3. Leif Schenstead-Harris (31 July 2017). "Dystopic Nordic Weird: Review of "Amatka" by Karin Tidbeck". Weird Fiction Review.
  4. Jason Heller (27 June 2017). "In 'Amatka,' A Warped And Chilling Portrait Of Post-Truth Reality". NPR.
  5. "Compton Award Finalist 2018, Science Fiction Award Database".
  6. "2018 Prix Utopiales Shortlist". Locus. 27 June 2018.
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