Author: xumushi

Chinese-to-English literary translator. Interested in topics such as fiction by the non-Han peoples of China, storytelling by Altaic peoples, and Silk Road cultures.

非漂出版专讯: 2017.7 AfroLit4China Newsbriefs

Cartographer Alexander Akin asserts that an ancient Chinese map of Africa — proudly cited by China as proof of early Sino-African ties  — may be a copy of a Korean version, and not based on the expeditions of the explorer Zheng He (1371–1435). The way media in other parts of the world — including China … Continue reading 非漂出版专讯: 2017.7 AfroLit4China Newsbriefs →

Turkey’s Purge: Kurdish Suffer along with Suspected Gülenists

In Amid Turkey’s Purge, a Renewed Attack on Kurdish Culture, Patrick Kingsley reports from Diyarbakir: Across southeast Turkey, where most people are Kurdish, Mr. Erdogan’s government fired over 80 elected mayors and replaced them with state-appointed trustees. Here in Diyarbakir, the spiritual capital of Turkish Kurdistan, the trustee not only fired most of the city’s … Continue reading Turkey’s Purge: Kurdish Suffer along with Suspected Gülenists →

Feminist: A Dirty Word in Xi Jinping’s China?

Chimamanda Adichie is hot. Not just in her homeland Nigeria, and the US where she spends much of her time nowadays, but in China too. Witness the fact that four of her works have been translated into Chinese, including her moving portrayal of the Biafran war,  Half of a Yellow Sun  (半轮黄日), The Thing Around … Continue reading Feminist: A Dirty Word in Xi Jinping’s China? →

The Xinjiang Gold Rush, Uyghur Scavengers and a Kind of Freedom

In a discussion of Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing’s The Mushroom at the End of the World — about Southeast Asian refugee immigrants and white Vietnam War vets picking mushrooms in Oregon — Darren Byler is struck by the way the mushroom pickers speak of freedom. He writes: In a corner of China, several thousand kilometers from … Continue reading The Xinjiang Gold Rush, Uyghur Scavengers and a Kind of Freedom →

Guo Xuebo’s “Moŋgoliya”: Guide to Related Links

February 18, 2019 By Bruce Humes Guo Xuebo’s “Moŋgoliya” 《蒙古里亚》(郭雪波著) A tale of ruthless ecological exploitation, a 20th-century European explorer’s fascination with Altaic culture & epiphany in today’s Inner Mongolia Backgrounder Author’s Bio + Major Works + Foreign Editions Présentation: Guo Xuebo (in French) Writer of the Month: Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing China's "Steppe Literature" Synopsis … Continue reading Guo Xuebo’s “Moŋgoliya”: Guide to Related Links →

Swedish Readers to Get First Glance into World of China’s Marginalized Reindeer Herders

With the upcoming launch of Ett brokigt band om renens horn, we have a rare instance of a member of China’s dwindling reindeer-herding Evenki telling her people’s story in a European language. Given the historic marginalization of Scandinavia’s own semi-nomadic reindeer-herders, the Sami, it is particularly significant to see that the first translation of the … Continue reading Swedish Readers to Get First Glance into World of China’s Marginalized Reindeer Herders →

Altaic Storytelling: What We’re Reading Now (2017.5)

A few years back I read a longish, semi-autobiographical novel by Guo Xuebo (郭雪波), who was raised in the Horchin Grasslands of Inner Mongolia (科尔沁草原) and is a native speaker of Mongolian. Entitled 《蒙古里亚》— an attempt to replicate the sound of “Mongolia” in Chinese, I assume — it comprises three distinct narratives that are intricately … Continue reading Altaic Storytelling: What We’re Reading Now (2017.5) →

Hundreds of Turkish Journalists in Jail or on the Run

The Hürriyet Daily News English edition reports: Some 123 Turkish journalists are fugitives abroad, while 159 of them were in jail as of the end of April, according to a report by the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC).  The Freedom of Expression and Press report, which was made possible by the European Union, said 46 new investigations were … Continue reading Hundreds of Turkish Journalists in Jail or on the Run →