Unveiled: List of “2014 China Classics” to Benefit from Translation/Publication Subsidy

(Published: Jun 27, 2014) In yet another move that emphasizes how much $$ China is spending to take its literature global, the 2014 list of finalists for the “China Classics International Publication Project” (经典中国国际出版工程) has just been announced. It comprises 256 titles that will be translated into 27 languages, according to an article on China … Continue reading Unveiled: List of “2014 China Classics” to Benefit from Translation/Publication Subsidy →

Osnos, Vogel and China Censorship Percentage Stats

In what a publicist would judge a savvy approach to pre-launch marketing of one’s book, Evan Osnos recently wrote a much-discussed NY Times Op-ed in which he explained why he won’t be releasing his new Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the New China in Chinese in the People’s Republic any time … Continue reading Osnos, Vogel and China Censorship Percentage Stats →

June Training Sessions: Authors of Five Major non-Han Languages Meet their Translators

During June 5-9, Nationalities Literature Magazine (民族文学) organized an intensive “editing/rewriting training course” (改稿班) that brought together the magazine’s editors with twenty-plus Kazakh writers and their translators. Mandarin and Kazakh aside, the magazine appears in Mongolian, Korean, Tibetan and Uyghur, and training sessions for writers and translators of the latter four languages are also scheduled to … Continue reading June Training Sessions: Authors of Five Major non-Han Languages Meet their Translators →

Manchu Novelists: Storytellers First, and Partial to the Spoken Language

A conference on the unique contribution of Manchu novelists was held in Beijing on June 6, 2014, to celebrate the publication of 满族小说与中华文化 (Manchu novels and Chinese culture). The book is the result of a project sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Fund (社科基金项目). Editor Guan Jixin (关纪新), a Manchu himself, conceded that … Continue reading Manchu Novelists: Storytellers First, and Partial to the Spoken Language →

建议：建立 ‘驻地翻译基金’，积极征募外国翻译家到中国短期居住

我发表 Open Letter to China Literary Exports, Inc. 之后，《中华读书报》采访了我。欢迎访问：翻译家徐穆实呼吁：中国文学 “走出去” 的战略要落实到实处有意思的是，在临时发表之前，下面带 “－” 的文字被编辑删除： “如果有志于促进与外国翻译家、出版商的合作，那么申领翻译津贴的过程就得更为透明。”徐穆实昨天（6月10日）对读书报记者补充说，“中国作家协会主管这一项目，但我们很多人都是间接知道它的，比如说，作协的网站上就找不到对它的介绍。这样的项目得详细说明，用英文推介，让翻译家们和各语种的出版商都能了解。有些别的翻译家告诉我，存在着一份不予披露的中国‘合格作家的名单；如果你申请翻译的作家不在这份名单上，那么你的拨款申请便很有可能的不到批准。” 可见得，“透明”也得有个度。。。

The Redundant Hakawati: Syrian Chaos and WhatsApp Marginalize Traditional Storytellers

AP's Diaa Hadid reports on a bit of collateral damage generated by the Syrian civil war (Life Upended by War): For more than 20 years, the Storyteller of Damascus entertained crowds in a centuries-old cafe in the Syrian capital with long, poetic tales of Arab warriors and lovers, acting out scenes with his fists thumping … Continue reading The Redundant Hakawati: Syrian Chaos and WhatsApp Marginalize Traditional Storytellers →

Open Letter to China Literary Exports, Inc.

Ever since Mo Yan received the Nobel Prize for Literature, a lively discussion has ensued among China’s soft power apparatchiks, bodies such as the China Writers Association, and writers, academics and translators—including some who, regrettably, were not born Chinese. The topic? How to ensure greater success for the “campaign to take Chinese literature global.” As … Continue reading Open Letter to China Literary Exports, Inc. →

Champa the Driver: Tibetan Candide Does Beijing?

Over at Chinese-shortstories.com, Brigitte Duzan has just published a backgrounder on Beijing-based Hong Kong writer Chan Koonchung (陈冠中). She details his works from 1976 to the present day, but in the excerpt below she is talking about his new novel, The Unbelievable Dreamworld of Champa the Driver, starring a Tibetan chauffeur in Lhasa who dreams … Continue reading Champa the Driver: Tibetan Candide Does Beijing? →

“Lost Lands of Paradise”: 库尔德村子的故事

I wrote this novel because I wanted to tell the story of a people whose voice is not heard, whose language is not recognized, whose story is not known, who is despised and degraded,” 土耳其籍库尔德作家 Yavuz Ekinci 写道。他的愤怒是有根据的。80 年代以来，为了对付东南边武装分裂库尔德工人党（PKK）的游击战，土耳其中央政府曾动用了200,000 军队，也宣布了戒严，同时进行了镇压库尔德文化的政策，例禁止用库尔德语授课、出书、播放节目等。最近几年，所谓 “库尔德问题” 有了一些进展，而且双方今年正在进行和平商谈。也许《The Lost Lands of Paradise》（原文：Cennetin Kayıp Toprakları）得以出版跟这个缓和有关。故事由三个部分组成：第一部分是从土耳其东南边的库尔德小村子的小孩的角度叙述的；第二部分由他还在世的祖母讲；最后的部分是用第三人称描绘祖母死后，尸体送回家乡埋葬的事。当中孙子和他父亲发现，原来她不是库尔德人，而是有亚美尼亚血统。这是土耳其共和国社会建立 … Continue reading “Lost Lands of Paradise”: 库尔德村子的故事 →

Ethnic Literature in China: A Primer for the Uninitiated

A while back I came upon what seems to be a fairly comprehensive look at novels by non-Han writers published since 1949 that deal directly with issues of culture and identity. Entitled Ethnic Minority Novels (少数民族小说), the Chinese-language article is unfortunately not signed, but it appears to have been written by a scholar and published … Continue reading Ethnic Literature in China: A Primer for the Uninitiated →