《Seher》：来自土耳其牢房畅销书的消息

来自土耳其牢房畅销短篇的物语：在野党政客施展笔杆子的魅力如今，Selahattin Demirtas (萨拉丁• 德米尔塔什) 已被囚禁在牢房约一年时间，在此等待与恐怖主义有关联的审判。监禁期间，他创作的短篇故事集在土耳其大为畅销，书中有两篇还是以监狱为背景。自 2017 年九月份开售至该年底，此书已在土耳其卖出十四万本。据伊斯坦布尔的文学代理 AnatoliaLit Agency，英国、德国、意大利和希腊四国的出版社已购买了这本书的外文版权。这本名为《Seher》的集子由十二个短篇构成，作者将其献给 “所有被杀害的女性与暴力受害者”。定居伊斯坦布尔的 William Armstrong 在《Hürriyet Daily News》报纸的书评中写，这些故事多“围绕奋斗中女性的苦难”。例如：《纳赞，女清洁工》，讲述了一位兼职女佣偶遇一次街头游行却因误被捕，最终由于含冤蒙受牢狱之灾而产生了政治觉醒；《小美人鱼》是关于一名五岁叙利亚难民儿童，在逃离自己因战争而满目疮痍的国家时溺海而亡的悲伤故事；《致监狱信件阅读委员会的一封信》则是稍带讽刺幽默的一篇。被土耳其政府以帮助恐怖组织搞宣传等诸多罪名起诉的德米尔塔什，并未获准参加近日展开的对自己的审判。海外分析家普遍认为，他的主要罪行是其人民民主党 (HDP) 领导人的身份。该党在土耳其 2014 年的国会选举中，赢得了 550 个席位中的 80 个。面对这支亲库尔德民族在野党的优异表现，埃尔多安总统与他所领导的正义与发展党 (AKP) 迫切想要挫伤对手形象，尤其是在库尔德和年轻选民中。但这并非易事。德米尔塔什曾怡然自得地在电视节目中弹奏7弦巴拉玛琴和演唱土耳其民谣，是位充满魅力、广受欢迎的政客。毫无疑问，这本书中最感人的故事是《Seher》。到最后，遵照在场父亲与叔父的要求，弟弟处死了他的姐姐。在与同事的第一次约会中，年少天真的 Seher 被那工友的朋友们压在地上，然后约她出来的同事就强奸了她。如果此事被公之于众，她的整个家族都会因此蒙羞。据传统，近亲会认为有义务对被玷污的女方实施 “名誉杀人”。如今，这一行为虽法律上被视为谋杀，但在土耳其仍时有发生，尤其在乡下。中国读者可能读过李凡纳的《伊斯坦布尔的幸福》。在小说中，一位男青年被命令处决村子里被奸污的女性，但最终他奋起反抗，取而代之对强奸犯进行报复。遗憾的是，Seher 没有如此幸运。德米尔塔什用两句诗来结束这个故事：林中一夜，三个男人偷走了Seher 的梦想，旷野一夜，三个男人夺走了Seher 的生命。 (*** To leave a comment or read earlier comments, pls scroll to bottom of this … Continue reading 《Seher》：来自土耳其牢房畅销书的消息 →

China’s “Stability Maintenance” Policy Goes Hi-tech in the Remote Far West

Over at The Diplomat, Mercy Kuo interviews Darren Byler, an anthropology doctoral candidate at the University of Washington, about how the PRC government is building a database on ethnic Muslim peoples in Xinjiang (Uyghur Biodata Collection in China): Briefly explain why China is collecting Uyghur DNA data, according to a recent report. The state is … Continue reading China’s “Stability Maintenance” Policy Goes Hi-tech in the Remote Far West →

“Leaving Fear Behind” Tibetan Documentary Filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen (དོན་གྲུབ་དབང་ཆེན་) Escapes from China

In 藏族制片人逃亡美国，曾因拍摄西藏纪录片获刑, the New York Times online Chinese edition reports that Dhondup Wangchen (དོན་གྲུབ་དབང་ཆེན་), earlier imprisoned for shooting the Tibetan documentary Leaving Fear Behind, has fled China for San Francisco, where he has been reunited with his wife and child: 据支持者说，一位知名西藏电影制作人在经历了一次 “艰难且危险的逃亡”之后从中国来到美国。这位制片人曾因拍摄关于藏人在中国统治下生活的纪录片而被捕入狱，他于三年前获释，但之后仍一直处于警方监视之下。顿珠旺青的表弟为推动让他获释而成立的组织“记录西藏”(Filming for Tibet)表示，现年43岁的顿珠旺青已于12月25日抵达旧金山与妻子和孩子团聚，他的家人已在2012年在美国获得政治庇护。 Click here for full Chinese text.

Under Threat: ‘Meige’ (梅葛), Creation Epic of the Yi People of Southwest China

In Fading Tones: The Slow Demise of Yunnan's Epic Songs, Matthew Walsh does a fine job of introducing meige (梅葛), the creation tale of Yunnan's Yi people (彝族), via on-the-ground research in Mayou village in Yao'an (姚安马游), interviews with master storytellers, and several short but moving audio clips of the saga as it is still sung: … Continue reading Under Threat: ‘Meige’ (梅葛), Creation Epic of the Yi People of Southwest China →

非漂 [Fēi Piāo] 本周精彩语录: 论四川话

Sichuan Hua (四川话) sounds like a remote mountain primate attempting rap-opera (As uttered by rock musician and peripatetic travel writer 小飞, aka Thomas Bird)

Censorship in Xinjiang: Books by former Chairman of the Region are Banned

Authorities in the capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region have banned the sale of books by an ethnic Uyghur who served as the region’s first chairman, reports Radio Free Asia (Ban): Observers said the ban — part of an internal party order issued in April last year, but only recently learned of by RFA’s … Continue reading Censorship in Xinjiang: Books by former Chairman of the Region are Banned →

Last King of Kuqa: Uyghur Author Patigül Launches her Xinjiang Historical Novel

First enfeoffed by Qing Emperor Qianlong in 1758, this Uyghur dynasty in northeastern Xinjiang eventually boasted a line of eleven monarchs, popularly known as the “King of Kuqa” (库车王). Kuqa was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert, but to … Continue reading Last King of Kuqa: Uyghur Author Patigül Launches her Xinjiang Historical Novel →

Xinjiang Slogan Update: Pomegranate Seeds

As part of the global One Belt, One Road publicity campaign, China's media is publishing a bevy of articles introducing major oasis cities along the ancient Silk Road, including this one focusing on Xinjiang's Aksu (一带一路上的阿克苏: 新型全球化的城市样本). Here's a pic from the article, showing modern-day Aksu residents dancing.

Burn the books and bury the scholars! 焚書坑儒!

Geremie Barmé takes a look at the recent decision of Cambridge University Press to reinstate content deleted from the online version of its China Quarterly available in China: Chinese censorship has come a long way. During his rule in the second century B.C.E., the First Emperor 秦始皇 of a unified China, Ying Zheng 嬴政, famously quashed … Continue reading Burn the books and bury the scholars! 焚書坑儒! →

One Last Ride aboard Kenya’s “Lunatic Express”

Writes Thomas Bird from Kenya (Lunatic Express), where the China-built new Nairobi-to-Mombasa railway looks set to render the Victorian-era line redundant: “Belt and Road Cooperation for Common Promutual Benefit,” proclaims a large street sign suspended above Beijing’s ever-congested second ring road. China is investing massively in its 21st-century reimagining of the Silk Roads, even if the … Continue reading One Last Ride aboard Kenya’s “Lunatic Express” →