Yesterday the Guardian posted the obituary of David Hawkes, translator and scholar, and one of the giants of Chinese literary studies. His translations of the Songs of Chu and the first 53 chapters of the Story of the Stone are definitive, and beautiful, but more than that he was an influential guide and teacher for many of the great Sinologists and translators of the past fifty years. He passed away July 31 in Oxford, aged 86.
John Gittings' obituary contains more detail and personal insight than we, who belong to a different generation, could hope to provide, but I did have the pleasure and honor of meeting Hawkes briefly this past spring, while passing through Oxford. He and his wife Jean were thoroughly gracious hosts; they fed us, showed us pictures of their lives in China at the dawn of the PRC, and talked to us about Chinese literature and translation for the few brief hours we were able to stay. My overwhelming impression of Hawkes was of a translator sustained and nourished by his love of literature, whose humility was touchingly complete, who had reached a point in life where he took everything lightly, particularly those things that brought him joy. When it came time for us to leave he took up his hat and cane to see us off at the bus station, and stood there waving until we had moved out of sight.
I think we're planning a small memorial gathering in Beijing for this Friday (August 28), anyone who's in town and wants to attend please email me.
By Eric Abrahamsen, August 26, 5:02a.m.
The Guardian reports that Jean-Jacques Annaud will be directing the film adaptation of the novel Wolf Totem by author Lu Jiamin - better known by his pen name of Jiang Rong. (See full article).
A quote from the Guardian piece:
The Associated Press reported that Annaud would be forced to make an apolitical interpretation of the novel in order to pass Chinese film censorship, with the Beijing Forbidden City Film Company's statement about the project avoiding the book's political messages to describe it as "an environmental protection-themed novel about the relationship between man and nature, man and animal".
This sounds like the real deal, but it does bring back some memories: anyone recall a few years back, when rumours of a Peter Jackson/Weta adaptation of Wolf Totem were flying fast and furious? One imagines that the Jackson version would have been heavy on computer graphics and special effects, while Annaud plans to spend 18 months raising and training the wolves himself.
I'm curious about the screenplay adaptation. Will it be based on the French translation of the novel (Le Totem du loup, by translators Yan Hansheng and Lisa Carducci), or the English translation by Howard Goldblatt, or will they start from scratch and work up a screenplay based on the Chinese novel? Will the film itself have Mongolian dialogue, or Chinese, or both? Not English or French, certainly.
I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this in the months to come...
By Cindy M. Carter, August 22, 7:09a.m.
Granted, this post has little to do with China aside from the tangential fact that it involves a question whose stated purpose was for views on Chinese contracts in the Congo.
By now we have all heard of, if not seen clips of, Hillary Clinton's sharp retort to the question, "What does Mr. Clinton think, through the mouth of Mrs. Clinton?” Think what you may of the Secretary of State's reaction, I think we should also pay some attention to the fact that, in the words of the New York Times blog, the video came "packaged in reports, like one from Kirit Radia of ABC News, stating that 'apparently the translator made a mistake.'"
More…
By Lucas Klein, August 13, 12:42p.m.
Banished! A Novel by Han Dong, translated by Nicky Harman, is reviewed on the Modern Chinese Literature and Culture MCLC website by Song Mingwei.
By Nicky Harman, August 8, 11:47a.m.
British Center of Literary Translation Summer School, Norwich, United Kingdom, 19-15 July (with Authors Xin Ran and Translator Nicky Harman)
The BCLT Literary Translation summer course was an opportunity for new entrants to refine their technical translation skills. The course turned out to be a most remarkable journey (thanks to the extraordinary stories shared by our author Xin Ran); and an opportunity to meet (and have fun) with inspiring and like-minded individuals.
Workshops
What made this translation course most worthwhile for beginners was the chance to work alongside authors and their translators and see them in action. It was a chance for us to appreciate the importance of communication with authors in the process of literary translation. An author “translates” his/her perception of the world into text. A translator translates and bridges the gap between the original text and the foreign readers. Throughout the workshop, we constantly consulted our author Xin Ran on the true meaning or intention behind her words. By setting the scene, background and history for us, Xin Ran made translation into English so much easier.
Translation is usually a lonely exercise. The workshop created a unique setting that is very rare for a translator – a chance to do spontaneous group translation! The chance to discuss and debate about choice of words, language and rhythm was exhilarating - words and ideas fly across the room like flying daggers. Sometimes we get unanimous agreement on words straightaway; other times, even with six minds put together, it took over an hour to search for an appropriate single phrase. Good translation requires dedication and attention to detail – but it's all worth the effort in the end. The thrill when you’ve found the exact right phrase that is accurate in meaning, tone and register is simply magic.
As group leader, I found the whole experience extremely rewarding. BCLT will be running a similar week-long course next year.
By Nicky Harman, August 1, 10:30a.m.
New Comments
on Eric Abrahamsen to translate Gongwuyuan Biji/Notes of a civil servant
Congratulations, Eric!
posted by Brendan
Hurray!!!
posted by Gray Tan
Great news, Eric!
posted by Alice
on Don't Ever Be a Chinese Child.
Hi Cindy, your translation is excellent except for one possible misunderstanding. Let me put it into context: The Chengdu mother did not return home not because of "week-long binge" but for that she was detained by police for taking drug ...
posted by Fu Lei
on Event: Chun Shu talks about her new book
@Tom
I haven't read Light Year American Dream, nor am I likely to.
It's hard to imagine that she has much to say, to be honest. The invite to her recent talk was full of pretentious babble about ...
posted by Bruce
A copy of the SMW article is here. I liked this bit about what she thinks is the difference between the youth of the US and the youth of China:
“与中国最大的不同是美国年轻人乐观，身上完全没有过去的束缚和阴影，中国青年太沉重，背负了五千年的压抑，太TMD丢人了”。她用愤怒的口吻谈起中国的80后遭遇过的东西 ...
posted by Alice