Following this previous link to an interview with Mo Yan in French, Igor Yegorov wrote in with an English translation so we didn't all have to suffer through the Google translator. Thanks Igor!
Writer Mo Yan : From dictatorship of the Party to that of the market
By Bertrand Mialaret | 24/06/2009 | 12H57
The Chinese writer Mo Yan is spending a week in France to talk about his books and his new novel, due to be published in late August. The meeting with him in Beijing was facilitated for Rue89 by Bertrand Mialaret, chronicler of Chinese literature, and Pierre Haski. The exchange was rendered possible by Chantal Chen Andro, translator of several books by Mo Yan.
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By Eric Abrahamsen, June 30, 1:03p.m.
Some folks document contemporary Chinese society with words. Others do it with photography, visual art, music or film. At Paper Republic, we tend to focus on the wordsmiths: the novelists, essayists and poets who form the landscape of Chinese literature, and help to shape our perceptions of modern China.
But some of the most daring work in China today is being done by independent documentarians, guerrilla filmmakers armed with newly-affordable digital cameras, laptop computers and editing software. They tend to work alone, on shoestring budgets, outside the state-owned studio distribution system and - perhaps more importantly - beyond the reach of censors. And they're not the cast-offs, people who couldn't cut it the world of mainstream film: many are graduates of the Beijing Film Academy, alumni of China Central Television (CCTV), accomplished directors or cinematographers who left lucrative commercial careers to make the kind of films they always wanted to.
One of these days, we'll have a section on Paper Republic about Chinese indie film. Maybe we'll call it Digital Republic. In the meantime, my little bio of film work includes synopses of 15 outstanding documentaries and feature films from the last 8 years, with links to directors (photos/bios/filmographies), film festival awards and reviews in industry publications. Some of the highlights:
Wang Bing - continuing "his run as one of the world's supreme doc filmmakers with Fengming: A Chinese Memoir." (Variety)
Zhao Liang - whose Crime and Punishment "cements China's position as a doc powerhouse" (Variety), says that sometimes he feels "like I’m stealing from the people I shoot. It’s their life that has given me the inspiration to create, and that’s why I feel guilty."
Li Ying - who was forced to relocate his production company offices in Tokyo after receiving right-wing death threats related to his film Yasukuni, a controversial documentary about Japan's Yasukuni Shrine. Although the film was expected to sail through the Chinese censorship process, it has yet to be approved for theatrical release in China.
Cui Zi'en - author, director and university professor widely hailed as one of the pioneers of Chinese queer cinema.
And those are just the filmmakers I've translated, the ones who happened to make the list. Here are some other outstanding documentary directors, not to be missed:
Du Haibin: Along the Railway, Beautiful Men, Umbrella
Wu Wenguang: Bumming in Beijing, Dances with Migrant Workers, Fuck Cinema!
Yang Lina: Old Men, Home Video, The Love of Mr. An
Ni Zhen: Graduation, Postscript
Duan Jinchuan: The Square, No.16 Barkhor Street
Zhang Yuan: The Square, Demolition and Relocation, Crazy English
Yu Guangyi: The Last Lumberjacks, Survival Song
Luo Jian/Jiang Ping: Tale of Zhou
By Cindy M. Carter, June 29, 12:25p.m.
Adam Kirsch’s review of David Hinton’s Classical Chinese Poetry: An Anthology begins with a brief retrospective of Ezra Pound’s work as the first serious translator of 中国古诗. Its use is primarily rhetorical. Though Kirsch is careful to note the obvious care with which Pound handled his task, he spends the greater portion of his word limit in describing the seemingly insuperable gaps in expertise that separated the translator from his subject. This allows him, when he gets to Hinton, to endow the reader with a sense of perspective as well as a vague idea of progress. I say rhetorical because the most dependable avenue by which Kirsch might have been able to derive substantial conclusions regarding Hinton’s relative merits—direct textual analysis—he leaves entirely alone. This may be due to lack of confidence in his own ability to critique pieces whose originals he can’t read, or because he believes that evaluation is a task better left to the reader. Both are worthy considerations.
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By Canaan Morse, June 29, 12:05a.m.
My review of Eileen Chow & Carlos Rojas's translation of Brothers 兄弟 by Yú Huá 余華 is out, printed in this summer's edition of Rain Taxi.
Since it's only available in print, you'll have to order a copy from the website or else pick up an issue--for free--where available. They're often on offer at independent bookstores in North America.
By Lucas Klein, June 18, 10:42p.m.
Comma Press is an independent publisher based in the UK, specialising in short fiction. In 2007 Comma launched a translation imprint, with the remit of bringing original, contemporary short stories in translation to UK readers.
Comma is currently exploring the feasibility of publishing an anthology of contemporary Chinese short stories, translated for the first time. They say: "As we begin our search for stories to consider, we’d welcome putative submissions from literary translators interested in taking part and willing to recommend stories for inclusion in the anthology."
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By Nicky Harman, June 6, 1:52p.m.
An Australian publisher just visited my web site, Chinese Books, English Reviews and very kindly took the time to tell me what s/he is hoping for in a potential China author/book:
1) Quality writing
2) Adds to one's knowledge of contemporary China in an interesting, challenging way
3) Would sell many copies
4) Author could be invited to Australia as a guest at writers' festivals
5) Global English rights available.
By Bruce Humes, June 1, 11:53p.m.
New Comments
on Google Translator: Making the World a More Baffling Place?
Friends don't let friends make single line breaks.
But if friend did let friends make single line breaks, they would tell them do it by leaving two blank spaces at the end the line.
I have taken the liberty ...
posted by Eric Abrahamsen
on Sold: Dutch-Language Rights to "Right Bank of the Argun"
Bruce, do you have any background on this? For example, were you involved in the sale? Was the publisher's decision based on your English excerpt, on another language translation, or did they have someone who'd read the Chinese ...
posted by Cindy Carter
Hi Cindy,
I bought the book when in came out in Taiwan in late 2006 but didn't get to read it until this year. I've heard lots of good things about Chi Zijian and Bruce's translation of ...
posted by Gray Tan
on Han Han's speech at Xiamen University
The Contemporary Chinese Writers Project at MIT has just launched a website devoted to Can Xue that you can find at--
http://web.mit.edu/cbbs/ccw/can-xue/
Regards,
Jon Griffith Contemporary Chinese Writers Project, MIT
posted by Jon Griffith
on NYT gives a big wet one to Han Han
"The only thing [Party leaders] have in common with young people is that like us, they too have girlfriends in their 20s, although theirs are on the side.” Hilarious.
posted by Cindy Carter
Han Han's magazine pays much higher rates than other Chinese literary magazines, so it's possible they'll attract better contributors. The key will be the magazine's editorial policy. With higher rates for writers and a strong editorial ...
posted by Cindy Carter