From childhood, it was drilled into our minds together with our mother tongue: if you start an idea, take it to the finish line ! This is because the Uzbek language’s structure is such that until you get to the end of a verbal phrase, in order not to miss the meaning of the verb, … Continue reading “The Devils’ Dance”: Review of Uzbek author Hamid Ismailov’s Novel
Altaic Storytelling Quote of the Week: Sinification of Our Country’s Islam
. . . the Chinese Islamic Association advocates the following: 1) That education about the Socialist Core Values must enter the mosque; 2) That the outstanding traditional culture of China [中华优秀传统文化] enter the mosque; 3) That the “Lessons on Muslim Patriotism” enter the mosque; 4) That religious rituals, culture, and architecture must embody Chinese characteristics, Chinese styles, … Continue reading Altaic Storytelling Quote of the Week: Sinification of Our Country’s Islam
Extract: Alat Asem’s Novel “Confessions of a Jade Lord” (时间悄悄的嘴脸)
An excerpt from the newly published novel by Uyghur author Alat Asem, Confessions of a Jade Lord 《时间悄悄的嘴脸》 Chapter 19 Rechristening a High-rise In the midst of his hectic days as minor-character-cum-stagehand, Exet the Mouse’s magnificent new sobriquet — “Suet Exet” — fails to resonate. Those two sheep were indeed sacrificed in vain. Afterwards, he … Continue reading Extract: Alat Asem’s Novel “Confessions of a Jade Lord” (时间悄悄的嘴脸)
Altaic Storytelling Quote of the Week: Translation and the Looking Glass
It [translating] teaches the writer how to write in a way that nothing else can because you are inside of something. You’re not outside of it anymore. One can read something so closely that it’s only by translating it that you really do feel you’ve gone through the looking glass, that you are on the … Continue reading Altaic Storytelling Quote of the Week: Translation and the Looking Glass
非漂 [Fēi Piāo] Quote of the Week: Patrice Nganang on African Writers’ Focus on Life Overseas
Ngum Ngafor: As an artist, you follow in the footsteps of writers like Bate Besong and Mongo Beti to critique political and social issues. How urgent is it for today’s Cameroonian creative to be society’s conscience? Patrice Nganang: It is more than urgent, particularly because Africa has had a very long disconnect between its younger writers … Continue reading 非漂 [Fēi Piāo] Quote of the Week: Patrice Nganang on African Writers’ Focus on Life Overseas
Xinjiang: Big Data, Wifi Sniffers & Big Brother
In China: Big Data Fuels Crackdown in Minority Region, Human Rights Watch reports on how hi-tech is being used to systematically monitor citizens' behavior in Xinjiang, one of the PRC's most multiethnic regions: Since August 2016, the Xinjiang Bureau of Public Security has posted procurement notices confirming the establishment of the “Integrated Joint Operations Platform” (IJOP, … Continue reading Xinjiang: Big Data, Wifi Sniffers & Big Brother
“Old Demons, New Deities”: Review of Collection of 21 Contemporary Tibetan Short Stories
In Off the Plateau, Lowell Cook reviews a new collection of 21 short stories penned in Tibetan, Chinese and English by Tibetan writers inside and outside the inauspiciously dubbed "TAR" --- the Tibetan Administrative Region in the PRC. Some of the stories "evoke how Tibet is not bound by a single language or region, and also … Continue reading “Old Demons, New Deities”: Review of Collection of 21 Contemporary Tibetan Short Stories
Borderland Fiction: “The Mongol Would-be Self-Immolator,” Excerpted from Guo Xuebo’s “Moŋgoliya”
Asia-Pacific Journal has published an excerpt I selected and translated from Guo Xuebo's contemporary work, Moŋgoliya《蒙古里亚》: Set in China’s 21st-century Inner Mongolia, the novel is a semi-autobiographical tale by Guo Xuebo, a Mongol who grew up speaking the language of his people. It comprises three distinct but intertwined narratives: a spiritual journey, in which the author — … Continue reading Borderland Fiction: “The Mongol Would-be Self-Immolator,” Excerpted from Guo Xuebo’s “Moŋgoliya”
Synopsis: “The Embassy’s China Bride”
The Embassy’s China Bride Synopsis (By Bruce Humes & Christopher Cottrell) She’s an aging Chinese female novelist of cult fame banned for her intimate portrayal of women and their men. Her lover De Niro is a wild Italian hell-bent on motorcycles. Her other lover is the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to China. This … Continue reading Synopsis: “The Embassy’s China Bride”
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
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