In Travels with My Censor: A Book Tour, author Peter Hessler decides the best way to understand censorship in China is to spend some quality time with the humans --- they aren't machines or faceless apparatchiks --- who practice it. Very educational for him and us, I'd say. This piece in The New Yorker also … Continue reading Peter Hessler on the China Translator and “Defensive Censorship”
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Ethnic ChinaLit Briefs (Feb 11)
Shaanxi Fiction via French Comics One of China’s best-selling, classic works of “rural fiction,” the White Deer Plain by Chen Zhongshi (白鹿原，陈忠实), has still not been translated into English, but is available in French (Au pays du cerf blanc) in a rendition by Shao Baoqing and Solange Cruveillé. This month, the comics version (连环画, right) made its … Continue reading Ethnic ChinaLit Briefs (Feb 11)
Light Reading for Tibetans: “1984” and “A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”
Orwell’s 1984 — in Tibetan (གཅིག་དགུ་གྱ་བཞི།, at left) — is now available in the PRC, confirms French Tibetologist Françoise Robin in an e-mail today. I assume it has the official stamp of approval, because it is published by the state-run Gansu Nationalities Publishing House, according to a news item in Tibetan (here). It was translated by Dorje … Continue reading Light Reading for Tibetans: “1984” and “A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”
By the Numbers: Non-Han “Literary Families” during the Qing
In much the same way as modern gender studies have exploded the myth that great writers throughout human history were necessarily male, contemporary research into literary production by non-Han authors is slowly lifting the veil on their role in China’s pre-20th-century literary life. In a recent piece on the current state of research into so-called … Continue reading By the Numbers: Non-Han “Literary Families” during the Qing
Compiling New 150,000-entry Tibetan Dictionary: Any Role for the Tibetan Diaspora?
Xinhua reports that the first 3 volumes of a new all-Tibetan dictionary will be published within 2015, with another 27 to be gradually launched through the end of 2018 (新版《藏文大辞典》). The aim seems to be to create the Tibetan equivalent of the much respected《辞海》(Cihai), the large-scale dictionary and encyclopedia of the Chinese language. Anyone who follows the … Continue reading Compiling New 150,000-entry Tibetan Dictionary: Any Role for the Tibetan Diaspora?
“Most Influential” Chinese Literature in Translation: 2014 Ranking by International Library Purchases
A list of this year’s 20 so-called “most influential” Chinese literary works in translation has been published by Xi’an Daily (西安日报), and widely republished on the Chinese Internet. What follows are a few factoids I’ve gleaned from this version (影响力最大) at Chinanews.com. The full top 20 for 2014 can be found in Chinese here. The … Continue reading “Most Influential” Chinese Literature in Translation: 2014 Ranking by International Library Purchases
Missing vs. “Disappeared”: NYT Translation on Detained Chinese Citizens Blurs the Line
In Few Clues in Chinese Editor’s Detention, Didi Kirsten Tatlow reports on the recent arrest and detention of Caixin Media editor Xu Xiao (徐晓) and NGO staffer Liu Jianshu (柳建树). Both went missing for at least five days before it was learned that they had been arrested and are now inside Beijing Number 1 Detention … Continue reading Missing vs. “Disappeared”: NYT Translation on Detained Chinese Citizens Blurs the Line
Writers React to Comrade Xi Jinping’s Foray into Literary Criticism
It has taken a bit of time, but Chinese authors have begun to publicize their reaction to Xi Jinping’s speech at the Beijing Oct 15 Forum on Literature and Art Work. While slavish praise has been appropriately abundant, a handful of Art Workers do not appear to be singing in unison. We’ll skip the former … Continue reading Writers React to Comrade Xi Jinping’s Foray into Literary Criticism
Footnote Factoids: How Many Needed to Russify Mo Yan?
In 译莫言作品看中国文学, Mo Yan’s principal Russian translator, Igor Aleksandrovich Egorov (Игорь Aлександрович Егоров), reports that his translation of 丰乳肥臀 (Большая грудь, широкий зад, Big Breasts and Wide Hips) has been a best-seller since 2013. Egorov advocates amply footnoting Mo Yan’s text, because the overwhelming majority of Russian readers are almost totally unfamiliar with either ancient or … Continue reading Footnote Factoids: How Many Needed to Russify Mo Yan?
A Suite of Poems from China’s Borderlands
Chinese Literature Today's new edition is out and features a special section featuring bilingual versions of poems by 13 of China's non-Han poets: Aku Wuwu, Altai (阿尔泰), Asu Yue’er (阿苏越尔), Baoyinhexige (宝音贺希格), Burao Yilu (布饶依露), Mushasijia Eni (俄尼·牧莎斯加), Lu Juan (鲁娟), Ma Deqing (马德清), Mo Du (莫独), Qiangrenliu (羌人六), Sha Ma (沙马), and Yangzi (羊子). This entire … Continue reading A Suite of Poems from China’s Borderlands
