In "He Recorded China's Detention of Uyghurs. The U.S. Wants to Deport Him to Uganda," the New York Times (Dec 16, 2025) reports: In 2020, a Chinese citizen had heard reports about China’s mass detention and surveillance of Uyghurs. But he wanted to see if they were true for himself. So the citizen, Heng Guan, … Continue reading Documenting Uyghur Detention Camps in Fiction and Non-fiction
Category: Altaic Peoples & Tales (阿尔泰各民族及其故事)
Foreign Language Editions of Chi Zijian’s “Last Quarter of the Moon”
《额尔古纳河右岸》的外文版 Current Translations of the Novel Arabic (الربع الأخير من القمر); Dutch (Het laatste kwartier van de maan, translated direct from my English version); English (Last Quarter of the Moon); Finnish (Poulikku); French (Le dernier quartier de lune); German (Das letzte Viertel des Mondes); Italian (Ultimo quarto di Luna); Japanese (アルグン川の右岸) ; Korean (《어얼구나 강의 … Continue reading Foreign Language Editions of Chi Zijian’s “Last Quarter of the Moon”
Launch: N American edition of “Last Quarter of the Moon”
More than a decade after my translation of the classic tale of the nomadic, reindeer-herding Evenki of northeast China, Last Quarter of the Moon (额尔古纳河右岸， 迟子建 著), Milkweed Editions --- an independent, non-profit literary publisher --- is launching a special edition targeting N America in January 2026. Previously published by Harvill Secker in the UK, … Continue reading Launch: N American edition of “Last Quarter of the Moon”
Synopsis: “The Audible Annals of Abudan” (梗概：《凿空)
Synopsis: The Audible Annals of Abudan (Based on the Chinese novel by Liu Liangcheng) Within your lifetime, many things will disappear before your eyes. Only those you yearn for won’t arrive. … Continue reading Synopsis: “The Audible Annals of Abudan” (梗概：《凿空)
2024 Update: Soft Power Strategy — Where Does China Figure in Turkey’s Literary Translation Program?
Back in 2016, I noted that during 2005-16, Turkey spent US$4.4m to fund translation and publication of fiction by Turkish authors via its TEDA grant program, according to Turkish Books, an article that appeared in the Hürriyet Daily. TEDA's own chart at the time showed that the grant program subsidized the translation and publication of 258 books in … Continue reading 2024 Update: Soft Power Strategy — Where Does China Figure in Turkey’s Literary Translation Program?
The Dream of Han Innocence & “Nomad Sedentarization” of Xinjiang’s Kazakhs
Guldana Salimjan, a Kazakh born and raised in China, reviews the popular Chinese TV mini-series “To the Wonder," (我的阿尔泰) literally "My Altai," inspired by Li Juan's writing: Ta-Nehisi Coates [Afro-American author] explains how literary works, public monuments, and eventually movies reinforced the pernicious myth of white supremacy and innocence in the long aftermath of the … Continue reading The Dream of Han Innocence & “Nomad Sedentarization” of Xinjiang’s Kazakhs
Rectification of Names: Uyghur Towns, Chinese Names
In China has renamed hundreds of Uyghur villages and towns, we learn of the latest policy in the campaign to make Xinjiang look and feel like mainstream, Han-dominated China: Hundreds of Uyghur villages and towns have been renamed by Chinese authorities to remove religious or cultural references, with many replaced by names reflecting Communist party … Continue reading Rectification of Names: Uyghur Towns, Chinese Names
Movie Review: Focus on the Endangered “Nikah” Uyghur Wedding Rite
In ‘Nikah’: An astonishing portrait of Uyghur life on the edge of erasure, Darren Byler introduces a film about a traditional Uyghur wedding rite that has been banned in Xinjiang: The story on the surface is a simple one. Two daughters in their twenties, Dilber and Rena, are caught between their own ambitions — careers, … Continue reading Movie Review: Focus on the Endangered “Nikah” Uyghur Wedding Rite
Disappeared in Xinjiang: Uyghur Ethnographer Rahile Dawut
In A Disappearance in Xinjiang, Financial Times' Edward White profiles Uyghur female ethnographer Rahile Dawut, who disappeared into China's Xinjiang Gulag in 2017: Rahile’s life was devoted to the preservation of cultural diversity across the vast Xinjiang region, nearly three times the size of France and covering about one-sixth of modern China. For centuries, ancient Silk … Continue reading Disappeared in Xinjiang: Uyghur Ethnographer Rahile Dawut
Ethnic ChinaLit: What We’re Reading Now — “La Légende du Chaman”
Le chamanisme a été interdit en Mongolie durant la période socialiste au même titre que l’écriture et les costumes traditionnels. Il était alors perçu comme une pratique arriérée, néfaste et manipulatrice. Quand j'ai lu La Légende du Chaman pour la première fois au tournant des années 2010, il connaissait un regain d'intérêt important dans un … Continue reading Ethnic ChinaLit: What We’re Reading Now — “La Légende du Chaman”
Ethnic ChinaLit 