Recent Interviews with African Novelists (非洲作家最近受访): Petina Gappah, Zimbabwean author of Out of Darkness, Shining Light, about 19th-century explorer David Livingstone: “Livingstone was an absolute gossip and his journals were valuable – he wrote about other people, but also about nature, ants, leaves. The most interesting snippets, I weaved into the story. I learned Swahili … Continue reading 非漂出版专讯: 2020.4 AfroLit4China Newsbriefs
Category: African Literature in Chinese Translation (非洲文学: 中文译本)
非漂[Fēi Piāo]：非洲文学在中国 — 2018 年终总结
January 25, 2019 By Bruce Humes 非洲文学在中国 — 2018 年终总结 Bruce Humes/文 (徐穆实，非漂 [Fēi Piāo] 博主) 一年时间，大有不同。 2017年，中国大陆渴望体验非洲文学的读者只能看到 8 种新作，全部从英语或法语翻译。作 米亚·科托《梦游之地》，2018 年译成中文的葡语小说之一 近两年，我通过建立“非洲文学：中文译本”（African Writing in Chinese Translation）双语数据库，记录非洲文学引进中国的情况。数据库收录的引进版非洲文学作品，从 1960 年代以来到 2018 年末，总共有 143 种。搜集的大部分是中长篇小说，也有少数短篇小说集、诗集。 2018 年一年的新作品达到13种，也更加多样: 多半译自葡萄牙语或阿拉伯语四名作者来自葡语系国家（安哥拉、莫桑比克），三名来自地中海沿岸国家，其他来自撒哈拉以南非葡语系国家（肯尼亚、尼日利亚、南非）体裁有中长篇、短篇集、戏剧 多样化之外，还有一个好兆头：这些新书大部分是原版（葡语、阿语）直接翻译，不是英译本转译。我还没有向出版商确认，但网上多种信息表明，一部分这些译者有葡语、阿语高等文凭，翻译过几本葡语、阿语书。 中国出版商一直有个不招人待见的坏习惯，引人误会：书脊、版权页上只说了作者国籍，却不一定标明这本书译自什么语言。于是，读东非文学的中国读者完全有理由相信，某本小说的中文版是从斯瓦西里语直接翻的，其实是从英译文转译的。这种 “暧昧” 也许是因为国内某些小语种的译者实在太少，出版商又希望少花钱，缩短上市的时间，就会从英译文转译。 陶菲格·哈基姆《洞中人》，被认为是埃及第一部在出版之后几年有幸上演的剧本 第一次浪潮发生在 1980 年代，受意识形态驱动。国家政策要增进与第三世界、新独立国家的团结，于是外文出版社等国营机构翻译出版了大量非洲作品，如：尼日利亚作家 Wole Soyinka (沃莱·索因卡)，肯尼亚小说家 Ngugi wa Thiong’o (恩古吉·瓦·提安哥)，塞内加尔诗人（前总统）Léopold Sédar Senghor (列奥波尔德·塞达·桑戈尔)，Mouloud Mammeri (阿尔及利亚作家穆鲁德·玛梅利) 等。甚至还给儿童出了非洲民间故事选集。 … Continue reading 非漂[Fēi Piāo]：非洲文学在中国 — 2018 年终总结
African Literature: On China’s Cultural Radar Yet?
Can Literary Imports Change Chinese Perceptions of Africa? : My piece on AfroLit in Chinese is up now at Sixth Tone: Since the founding of the modern Chinese state in 1949, there have been three waves of African literary imports. The first, which emerged in the 1980s, was ideologically driven. Empowered by Beijing’s policy of promoting … Continue reading African Literature: On China’s Cultural Radar Yet?
非漂出版专讯: 2018.1 AfroLit4China Newsbriefs
Q & A with Alain Mabanckou and why he said “Non” to Macron’s francophone project: The French language is varied, plural, diverse, and we don’t need France’s permission to create with it. Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s fifth work to appear in Chinese, has been launched as 美国佬. See updated bilingual list of African Fiction in … Continue reading 非漂出版专讯: 2018.1 AfroLit4China Newsbriefs
Wolof-to-Mandarin rendition: The Epic of Jolof King Alburi Njaay (excerpt)
Alburi Njaay, the Muslim ruler of Senegambia in the late 19th century, fought actively — though unsuccessfully in the end — against the French presence in West Africa’s Sénégal, and the colonial power’s efforts to extend its reach to his territory. He is the hero of an orally transmitted epic in Wolof, which has been … Continue reading Wolof-to-Mandarin rendition: The Epic of Jolof King Alburi Njaay (excerpt)
专访：海外译者提倡把话语权还给少数民族作家
纸托邦网站 （Paper Republic）最近采访了我 (话语权还给少数民族作家 ): 纸托邦：你怎么注意到郭雪波写的小说《蒙古里亚》？ Bruce Humes (徐穆实): 几年以来，为了我的博客 “Ethnic ChinaLit”，我习惯了关注新推出来的 “民族题材”的作品。经常到我所在地的书店（主要是深圳，后来是昆 明）逛一逛，看到少数民族新出的虚构文学作品，就买来看看。有时写书评，有时翻译一章节选，发表在博客上。目的是引起海外采购编辑、文学代理商和出版人的兴趣。 我翻译的迟子建的小说《额尔古纳河右岸》（Last Quarter of the Moon）出版了之后 （2013 年），我开始转型，即不再注意汉族写 “他者” 的故事，而专注少数民族写关于自己民族的作品。2014 年从土耳其回中国，我对北方边界讲阿尔泰语的民族，例如维吾尔族和蒙古人，给予了特别的关注。其实，能用流利的中文写小说的少数民族作家并不太多，所以有关的出版消息比较容易被我发现。 我购买《蒙古里亚》的具体理由我记不清了。可能是我读了冉平的《蒙古往事》 ，得知他 --- 还有不少 “蒙古历史专家” --- 不会蒙古文的时候，我就开始寻找蒙古作家，想聆听他们的心声。当时应该是我听说郭雪波是地地道道的蒙古人，从小说蒙古语，促使我找他的作品。 全采访内容，请点击这里 我翻译《蒙古里亚》的英文节选在这里。
非漂出版专讯: 2017.11 AfroLit4China Newsbriefs
A South African investigative journalist’s The President’s Keepers — documenting the ‘cancerous cabal’ that is reportedly bankrolling Jacob Zuma’s presidency — has become a best-seller even as the state moves to ban it. According to a report in Quartz Africa (Jacob Zuma’s corruption scandals are getting South Africans to read again), the State Security Agency … Continue reading 非漂出版专讯: 2017.11 AfroLit4China Newsbriefs
African Fiction: Exports to China on the Rise in 2017
Believe it or not, China imports more from Africa than just oil, diamonds and exotic parts of endangered species to maximize male, erh, performance (壮阳). Fiction writing, for instance. According to my newly updated mini-database of African literature in translation — 非洲文学 : 中文译本 — there are almost 100 contemporary African works (mainly novels) now … Continue reading African Fiction: Exports to China on the Rise in 2017
非漂出版专讯: 2017.9 AfroLit4China Newsbriefs
Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, speaking in Glossing Africa, questions the practice of briefly defining, footnoting, or otherwise clarifying the usage of indigenous terms in one’s fiction writing: There’s a part of me that just deeply resents the fact that there’re many parts of the world where the fiction that comes from there is read as anthropology rather … Continue reading 非漂出版专讯: 2017.9 AfroLit4China Newsbriefs
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
Bruce Humes 