Several years ago, I noticed that China was importing huge amounts of mineral resources from Africa, and busy signing contracts to collaborate in the long-term exploitation of even more. I wondered: But what was the People's Republic importing from Africa, in terms of 文化产品, i.e., "cultural products," an awkward, Marxist-sounding term that one often hears in Mandarin? To satisfy … Continue reading Q & A: The Status of Contemporary “AfroLit4China”
Category: African Literature in Chinese Translation (非洲文学: 中文译本)
非洲文学：中文译本 African Writing in Chinese Translation
Last Update of this List was in mid-2023 & No Further Updates Are Planned African Writing in Chinese Translation 107 Authors 273 Translated Works （包含大陆、港台等版本） (PRC, Hong Kong and Taiwan editions) This “mini” database is an ongoing project and is for reference only. To date, most of the original texts are in … Continue reading 非洲文学：中文译本 African Writing in Chinese Translation
Shanghai Translation Launches 5 Novels by Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah
Shanghai Translation Publishing (上海译文出版社) has begun marketing its Chinese renditions of five novels by Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah: 《天堂》(Paradise),《来世》(After Lives),《赞美沉默》(Admiring Silence),《最后的礼物》(The Last Gift) and《海边》(By the Sea). They will eventually be available in e-book format as well. As noted in Tales of Exile and Migration, in 2021 this publisher acquired the rights to publish translations — … Continue reading Shanghai Translation Launches 5 Novels by Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah
African Writing in Chinese Translation: 2021 Round-up + A Peek at 2022
By Bruce Humes "This has been a great year for African writing," said South Africa's Damon Galgut upon receiving the 2021 Booker Prize for his novel, The Promise. As reported in From the Booker to the Nobel, several other African authors also snagged prestigious European literary prizes during 2021. They include Abdulrazak Gurnah (Nobel), David Diop (International Booker), Mohamed Mbougar … Continue reading African Writing in Chinese Translation: 2021 Round-up + A Peek at 2022
Nobel Laureate Gurnah’s Tales of Exile and Migration Set to Launch in China within 2nd Half 2022
By Bruce Humes Recent press reports in the English-speaking world note that the new Nobel Laureate for Literature, Abdulrazak Gurnah, is relatively unknown in his native Zanzibar and Africa in general, but none of his novels have ever appeared in Chinese. This looks set to change. "We aim to publish five of Gurnah's full-length novels within the second … Continue reading Nobel Laureate Gurnah’s Tales of Exile and Migration Set to Launch in China within 2nd Half 2022
Gurnah’s Nobel Prize for Literature: One African Publisher’s Take
During the immediate aftermath of the naming of Zanzibar-born author Abdulrazak Gurnah as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, it seemed that much of the Sinosphere coverage was either scholarly papers penned a few years back by Chinese scholars and reheated for the occasion, or translated snippets of English-language wire service reports pasted … Continue reading Gurnah’s Nobel Prize for Literature: One African Publisher’s Take
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and his “The Perfect Nine”: Now Slated for Future Translation into Chinese?
April 14, 2021 Update: Writer's Literary Agent Confirms that a China Publisher has Bought the Rights to Translate and Publish <The Perfect Nine> in Chinese Reports the Guardian: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has become the first writer to be nominated for the International Booker prize as both author and translator of the same book, and the first nominee writing … Continue reading Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and his “The Perfect Nine”: Now Slated for Future Translation into Chinese?
Coming soon to China: African Poetry, Novellas and Parables Translated Direct from Hausa and Swahili
2021 looks set to be a banner year for what I refer to in shorthand as “Afrolit4China,” i.e., African writing in Chinese translation targeting readers in the People’s Republic. According to the latest statistics from the sole online mini-database in this niche, the bilingual African Writing in Chinese Translation (非洲文学: 中文译本), now lists 240 translated works by 101 … Continue reading Coming soon to China: African Poetry, Novellas and Parables Translated Direct from Hausa and Swahili
AfroLit4China: Bilingual Guide to Links about African Writing in Chinese Translation
非洲文学：中文译本 African Writing in Chinese Translation (Mini-database) African Lit in Chinese Translation: Still Stuck on “Things Fall Apart”? African Writing in Chinese Translation: 2020 Round-up and a Peek at 2021 Chimamanda Adichie is leading the rise of an African literature wave in China Chinese Academics Ask: 非洲文学离我们有多远？ Chinese Translations of African Writing Rise 63 Percent since … Continue reading AfroLit4China: Bilingual Guide to Links about African Writing in Chinese Translation
African Writing in Chinese Translation: 2020 Round-up and a Peek at 2021
As Xi Jinping’s maritime Silk Road initiative reaches its tentacles further West into Africa, it’s not just accumulating alarming rates of China-driven debt and sucking up the continent’s mineral exports. Publishers in the People’s Paradise are now showing modest interest in importing what the authorities label “cultural products.” In this case, contemporary African writing. According to … Continue reading African Writing in Chinese Translation: 2020 Round-up and a Peek at 2021
Ethnic ChinaLit 