From a report on tainted peas in China published by the New York Times (March 2):
"The outrage over the Hainan cowpeas, the latest in a series of Chinese food safety scandals in recent years, erupted on Feb. 21, when the agriculture bureau of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, announced that it had destroyed 3.5 tons of toxic cowpeas from Hainan. An urgent nationwide warning was issued by the central government’s Ministry of Agriculture, and within days, cowpeas tainted with the banned pesticide were discovered in the three other provinces.
Officials here in Sanya have criticized the Wuhan officials for breaking an “unspoken rule” that officials in different cities and provinces report problems to each other rather than telling the public, China Daily reported.
The release of the information by Wuhan officials “did not save face for Sanya, nor did it save face for the Ministry of Agriculture,” Zhou Qingchong, an official in the Sanya agriculture bureau, told China National Radio, an official news organization, according to the China Daily report.
Mr. Zhou said Wuhan officials could have told Sanya officials about the cowpeas privately, and Sanya would have sent out investigators.
'Wuhan is really not enough of a friend,' he said."
Chinese speakers will recognize this last sentence as a translation of a popular phrase (tho' not always about Wuhan): 武汉真是不够朋友!
Assuming I am right about the original Chinese, two questions: Does this quote read like "normal" English to you? How would you translate it?
Bruce Humes
Chinese Books, English Reviews
By Bruce Humes, March 2, 6:42p.m.
A gutsy young Hui from Xinjiang has reportedly just arrived in Oslo to take part in the Worldwide Mr. Gay. One can only surmise that, as much of a hassle as he may have been given, he couldn't have left China with a valid passport unless somebody upstairs gave the nod. Read the details here.
And so, my questions: What is the current status of gay and lesbian writing in China today, both by homosexual authors, and by others writing about the topic? Translation-wise, which works have been translated into or from Chinese? What kind of censorship do such works face?
Chinese Books, English Reviews
By Bruce Humes, February 12, 6:54p.m.
The latest entry in Canongate’s Myth Series, King Gesar, has been launched in China, and the firm has confirmed to me that it hopes to publish it in English within 2011. When it makes its appearance, it will join other creatively re-told tales commissioned by the UK publisher, including The Penelopiad (Margaret Atwood’s take on Penelope of The Odyssey), Baba Yaga Laid an Egg (Baba Yaga as per Dubravka Ugresic), and Binu and the Great Wall (by China’s Su Tong).
I recently began reading King Gesar in Chinese (格萨尔王), and I wonder: Who is the author, Alai (阿来), and why was he commissioned to write the novel? Having grown up in Tibet under Chinese rule, has he had access to traditional Tibetan literature and the minstrels who transmitted the epic ballad down through the ages? How well does the book capture the spirit of this epic that is still deeply revered among Tibetans, Mongolians and various peoples of Central Asia?
More…
By Bruce Humes, January 22, 8:42p.m.
Alerted by the Literary Saloon that "Asia's leading literary festival" is on in Jaipur Jan 21-25, I checked out the list of speakers.
Wow! Around 175 speakers, including many authors and some journalists, academics and even translators. Granted, the overwhelming majority are Indian or live there, but even so, their countries of origin make an interesting read: Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Burma, as one might expect, and the US and the UK are well represented too; but also France, Spain, Italy, Antigua, Congo, Nigeria and South Africa.
And---unless I missed it---not one speaker from anywhere in China.
Chinese Books, English Reviews
By Bruce Humes, January 20, 5:26a.m.
"Living a decent life, just by translating literary works? I think it's impossible!" said [China-based] Yang Ziwu, the acclaimed translator who has recently published his revised edition of the eight-volume A History of Modern Criticism [by Rene Wellek].
Check out the full interview in English at the Global Times: http://life.globaltimes.cn/life/2009-12/494615.html
English-to-Chinese literary translation factoids that emerge during the interview:
"According to a regulation by the National Copyright Administration, the standard payment for translating English literary works [into Chinese] is 20 to 80 yuan [US$2.90-11.70] per thousand Chinese characters."
"Generally speaking, even the most sophisticated and renowned translators earn less than 70 yuan [US$10.25] per thousand characters, according to Zhang Jianping, director of the literary department at Shanghai Translation Publishing House."
"The average payment for translating business texts often ranges from 200 to 300 yuan (US$30-44) or higher per one thousand Chinese characters, according to Wang Jin, a greenhand who majored in English and American Literature, then rushed into the field after graduation last year."
Chinese Books, English Reviews
By Bruce Humes, December 28, 12:52a.m.
A recent article in the The People's Daily (overseas edition) poses the question: Now that most older masters of Chinese-to-English literary translation such as Yang Xianyi have gone to heaven, who shall carry the baton forward?
More…
By Bruce Humes, December 17, 11:41p.m.
Now that China's Coming-Out-Party in Frankfurt is over, Wolfgang Kubin, Bonn University Professor of Chinese Studies--and an outspoken critic of modern Chinese literature--is back with a vengeance. Here are two excerpts (my translation from the French) from the lively and provocative interview online at Books, L'actualité par des livres:
"The [Chinese] novel, [in contrast with Chinese poetry] enjoys a high profile internationally, but is of rather mediocre quality. This opinion is largely shared among my colleagues. But what my Chinese counterparts say—in private—is even more extreme. In most of their eyes, the contemporary version of the [Chinese] novelist is an utter ignoramus: he has no literary culture, no mastery of his language, doesn’t know a word of English, and hasn’t the slightest knowledge of foreign literature. According to them, on the world stage Chinese novelists are tubaozi (土包子), or hillbillys, as one calls migrants in China who have left the countryside for the big cities."
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By Bruce Humes, November 7, 6:48a.m.
In his recent book review of the new English translation of "The Tin Drum," Michael Dirda writes:
Grass has grown increasingly involved in the foreign versions of his work, going so far as to organize Übersetzertreffen -- short convocations of his translators -- at which he fields questions about his various books. From his experience of these meetings, Grass persuaded his publishers to commission a new English version of "The Tin Drum" from the distinguished Germanist Breon Mitchell.
It is refreshing to know that there are authors who understand the benefits of actually meeting with their translators.
Three things came to mind as I read this piece:
--- Have there been any such "TranslatorFests" in China to date?
--- I have heard occasionally of programs for literary translators in Europe, which feature an invitation to live for a few months (expenses paid) in the country whose language/culture the translator regularly interprets/translates for others. Do China, Hong Kong or Taiwan have such a program?
--- If you could re-translate any piece of modern Chinese writing, which one, and why?
Chinese Books, English Reviews
By Bruce Humes, October 23, 10:40p.m.
Ranking 13th on the list of China Best Selling Fiction, Right Bank of the Argun (额尔古纳河右岸) by Chi Zijian (迟子建) is a first-person narrative told from the point of view of an aging Evenki woman in the last years of the 20th century. She chooses to stay behind when her tribe abandons the forested mountains of Northeast China for "civilized" life among town dwellers, where their beloved reindeer will be cooped up like cattle. For details of the real-life relocation, see Reindeer Blog.
Right Bank of the Argun has not been translated into English, despite the fact that it won the prestigious Mao Dun Literature Prize in 2008. To introduce this piece of "fictionalized anthropology," I have translated an excerpt from the author's Afterword. Intriguingly, Chi Zijian was inspired to write this novel partly based on events in her youth (she lived near mountains inhabited by the Oroqen, who are closely related to the Evenki), as well as encounters with Australian aborigines and. . .Irish pub-goers.
More…
By Bruce Humes, October 18, 6:54p.m.
Can’t believe that Paper-Republic—based in Beijing!—hasn’t got something a bit more meaty up regarding the “international” book fair on through Sep 7.
You might want to check out the fair’s official English web site, or then again, perhaps not. Here’s what you will not find: A list of exhibitors, international or otherwise; A full list of forum/seminar topics. And so forth. But just in case you are interested, there is a nice news piece on the fair in 2008. For 2009 factoids, please revisit in 2010...
Spain is the Guest of Honor, and there are many forums/seminars on Spanish literature and other topics hosted by the Beijing Cervantes Institute. This list is in English.
A quick look at the long list of forums/seminars described in Chinese (some will no doubt be bilingual) reveals a handful of potentially interesting topics:
Sep 4
10:30-11:30: Book launch: Xinjiang books
Sep 5
13:00-15:00: Spanish-Chinese translation
14:00-15:00: Preparing for Frankfurt Book Fair. How to “go global.”
Sep 6
15:00-16:00: Publishing and Translation Seminar: Image of Chinese literature abroad
Bruce Humes
Chinese Books, English Reviews
By Bruce Humes, September 2, 10:27p.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.
A few factoids from the latest CEATL Survey of Working Conditions (CEATL=Conseil Européen des Associations de Traducteurs Littéraires):
--- Only in one country, France, does a literary translator typically earn more than 80% of the average gross income
--- Only in three (Ireland, UK, Sweden) does a literary translator typically earn above 70% of the average gross income
--- Those figures, still high in the EU as a whole, drop to typical earnings of more than 60% of the average gross income in Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands.
--- To quote: "In Italy, the situation is disastrous. In Greece, Germany, Finland, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland, the material situation of translators is critical and professional literary translators are virtually on the bread line."
Get your own copy at Three Percent.
By Bruce Humes, March 11, 5:47a.m.
If I gave a damn about how the New York Times critiqued my work, I wouldn't want to be Carlos Rojas or Eileen Cheng-yin Chow right now. Or, for that matter, the editor of their translation of Yu Hua's Brothers.
Critic Jess Row certainly gives the English version of Yu Hua's <兄弟> (Brothers) a less-than-flattering review. And it may well deserve it. I wouldn't know, not having read either the original or the translation.
But what intrigued me about the review are questions like these that occurred as I read it:
More…
By Bruce Humes, March 7, 7:30p.m.
I've read Murakami in English, French and Chinese, but have always been struck by how unconvincing his "voice" is in Mandarin. His translator in the PRC, Lin Shao-Hua (林少华), has made a career (and no doubt a small fortune) translating one after another of Murakami's best sellers for millions of Chinese readers. No one else has been able to buy the rights. But at long last Lin's stranglehold has been broken by Li Chang-Sheng (李长声), whose translation of 《当我谈跑步时我谈些什么》has just been published.
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By Bruce Humes, March 4, 7:08p.m.
Publishing houses (all types): 2,330 (UK); 1,738 (Taiwan); 573 (China)
Over 95% of all literary works translated into Chinese over the last five years were published by just 17 firms
China pay for English-to-Chinese literary translation: RMB 50-100 per 1,000 words (US$7.31 to US$14.62) in the target language
Figures from a speech by Kite Runner translator Li Ji-Hong (李继宏) at the recent China-UK Forum on Marketing Literature in Translation in Shanghai (Jan 12-14, 2009). His new firm, 上海帛书文化传播有限公司, will focus on purchasing the rights to foreign books for publication within China.
By Bruce Humes, January 14, 2:06p.m.
