Jun Liu and I have completed our translation of a novel, 凿空, by Liu Liangcheng, a Han author born and bred in the part of northwest China that borders on Central Asia. The novel’s working title is The Audible Annals of Abudan, but the Chinese title can be rendered as “Hollowed Out.” Ms. Yvonne Wang … Continue reading Trilingual Links to Writing by Xinjiang’s Liu Liangcheng (刘亮程)
Tag: Xinjiang
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)
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
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
新疆回头看 — Xinjiang’s Ominous “Looking Back Project”
Uyghur poet's memoir recalls the Xinjiang administration's retrospective hunt for unPC content in textbooks once commissioned, edited and published by the state: Following the Urumchi incident in 2009, the regional government had initiated the Looking Back Project (新疆回头看). The Propaganda Department organized special groups to go over Uyghur-language books, newspapers, journals, films, television shows, and … Continue reading 新疆回头看 — Xinjiang’s Ominous “Looking Back Project”
Ethnic ChinaLit: What We’re Reading now — “Waiting to Be Arrested at Night”
At Penguin's web site, Peter Hessler, author of River Town, has this to say about this novel by the Uyghur poet: Among our scattered glimpses of the Uyghur catastrophe in China — the digital surveillance, the mass arrests, the reeducation camps — it seems impossible to imagine the survival of any individual creative sensibility. But … Continue reading Ethnic ChinaLit: What We’re Reading now — “Waiting to Be Arrested at Night”
Q & A with Bruce Humes, Translator of Eco-fiction Novel “Last Quarter of the Moon”
Thomas Bird: You translated Chi Zijian’s The Last Quarter of the Moon in 2012. It has now been rebranded and newly launched as part of the Vintage Earth series. How do you feel about it 10 years on? Bruce Humes: I feel the book is more relevant than ever. On the one hand, it highlights the challenges that face … Continue reading Q & A with Bruce Humes, Translator of Eco-fiction Novel “Last Quarter of the Moon”
Xinjiang-based Novel: Excerpt from Patigül’s “Bloodline”
An excerpt from Bloodline , a novel by Uyghur author Patigül set in Xinjiang (《百年血脉》帕蒂古丽 著) Translated from the Chinese by Natascha Bruce Edited by Bruce Humes Growing Up In Da’nanpo (大南坡上的日子) We lived southeast of Da’nanpo, deep in the desert and on top of a steep slope, which meant all routes away from … Continue reading Xinjiang-based Novel: Excerpt from Patigül’s “Bloodline”
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
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.
Ethnic ChinaLit 