Nearly 20 years after the appearance in China of one of the most shocking first-person narratives of the Cultural Revolution, The Cowshed: Memories of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (牛棚杂忆, 季羡林著), The New York Review of Books has published the book in English. Written by Ji Xianlin, the account appears with a new introduction by Zha Jianying … Continue reading Excerpt of the Week: Zha Jianying on Ji Xianlin’s “The Cowshed”
Ethnic ChinaLit: February 2016 Newsbriefs
Richard Bernstein reviews Perry Link's translation of physicist Fang Lizhi's autobiography, Most Wanted Man in China, and Ji Xianlin's The Cowshed. (Enemy of the State) International publishers, booksellers and free speech advocates have penned an open letter to HK head honcho Leung Chun-ying calling for him to defend HK's interests in the face of China's … Continue reading Ethnic ChinaLit: February 2016 Newsbriefs
Quick Guide to China’s Contemporary Ethnic-themed Literature in Translation
Updated: May 3, 2018 (No plans to further update) Quick Guide to China’s Contemporary Ethnic-themed Literature in Translation I’m often too busy to immediately write a well-researched post about contemporary “ethnic-themed” fiction that has been translated and published in a foreign tongue. This is a loose category (民族题材文学) that includes stories — regardless of the … Continue reading Quick Guide to China’s Contemporary Ethnic-themed Literature in Translation
Mapping Mongolian Music
In 蒙古音乐地图计划：如何面对外界错位的蒙古文化想象？Thepaper.cn reports on a young Chinese citizen of Mongolian heritage, Odon Tuya (敖登托雅) who has initiated her own “Mongolian Music Map Project” (蒙古音乐地图计划). Her aim: To document the current indie Mongolian music scene – including traditional musicians in places like Xinjiang – via published interviews and, eventually, to capture it on film. A writer … Continue reading Mapping Mongolian Music
Ethnic ChinaLit Roundup for end January 2016
Multilingual CASS scholar Adili Zhumaturdu (阿地力·朱玛吐尔地) reports that his 4-volume Chinese translation of the Kyrgyz epic, Manas (玛纳斯史诗), has made it onto the list of 86 books for "popularizing multi-ethnic traditional culture" (全国推荐中华优秀传统文化普及图书名单) recommended by China's very official State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. An ethnic Kyrgyz, he worked closely with Jusup Mamay, China's last … Continue reading Ethnic ChinaLit Roundup for end January 2016
“This is our Auschwitz”: Introduction to the “The Cowshed”
China: Surviving the Camps, adapted from Zha Jianying's introduction to The Cowshed: Memories of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, just launched in 2016: At the center of the book is the cowshed [牛棚], the popular term for makeshift detention centers that had sprung up in many Chinese cities at the time [of the Cultural Revolution]. This one was … Continue reading “This is our Auschwitz”: Introduction to the “The Cowshed”
2016 Awards: Winning Taiwan Aboriginal Works
Taiwan Today reports (Awards): The winners of Taiwan Aboriginal Literary Awards organized by Taiwan's Ministry of Education were honored in a ceremony Jan. 20 at Hualien Cultural Creative Industries Park. The 36 recipients are from the indigenous tribes of Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Kahabu, Paiwan, Pazeh, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Sediq, Truku and Tsou. They finished atop … Continue reading 2016 Awards: Winning Taiwan Aboriginal Works
Behind the Bamboo Curtain: At Last the World Is Paying Attention to How Foreign Works Are Translated into Chinese
Jan 12 Update: Indiatoday's Interview with Feng Tang * * * * * January 7 Post Feng Tang, a well known Chinese author — and occasional translator — will reportedly not be among a group of Chinese writers attending the World Book Fair in New Delhi next week (Jan 9-17). He had previously been scheduled … Continue reading Behind the Bamboo Curtain: At Last the World Is Paying Attention to How Foreign Works Are Translated into Chinese
“Last Quarter of the Moon”: Readers Speak Out
An admittedly quirky collection — selected by me — of unedited online reviews of my translation of Chi Zijian's 额尔古纳河右岸 (Last Quarter of the Moon). Not to worry. They aren't all glowing recommendations. . . * * * Beautifully written, but depressing as fuck. (full text) * * * It is an atmospheric modern folk-tale, … Continue reading “Last Quarter of the Moon”: Readers Speak Out
Excerpt: Hong Ke’s Xinjiang novel, “Urho”
Hong Ke's novel, Urho (乌尔禾, 红柯著), is set during the 1960s in the Zungharian Basin at the edge of the Gurbantünggüt Desert. This remote and rugged area of Xinjiang was once a favored hunting ground for the Mongol Khans when they ruled Cathay. A Han soldier back from the Korean front --- dubbed “Hailibu” by … Continue reading Excerpt: Hong Ke’s Xinjiang novel, “Urho”
Altaic Storytelling 