Latin America is a little-known "exotic land" for most Chinese, and for Latin Americans, China on the other side of the ocean is also very unfamiliar. But at the Mexican Academy, a group of scholars and students are dedicated to translating contemporary Chinese literature into Mexico.
On April 23, the "World Book Day", the Cultural Communication Center of CIPG held a global cultural salon "China-Latin America Literature Talk" at the Forum of Chinese and Foreign Writers, inviting well-known scholars from China and Mexico to conduct exchanges and dialogues, introduce the current situation of the dissemination of Chinese contemporary literature in Latin America, interact with university students, further strengthen the exchange of Chinese and Latin American cultural scholars, and promote cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Latin America. This is also the first event of the "Global Culture Salon".
Reading During the Quarantine Period: Selected Chinese Short Stories
The event revolved around a new book that has not yet been published: Reading in quarantine: Selected Chinese Short Stories. The book was originally born out of the idea of Liljana Arsovska, a well-known Mexican sinologist and professor at the Mexican Academy.
2020 comes as the COVID-19 pandemic rages. The lives of Mexicans have also been greatly affected during the pandemic, and university teaching has been conducted online for a long time. "How do you get everyone together during quarantine? Chinese literature offers great opportunities. Liana thought that Latin American sinologists and students could be gathered together to translate a selection of contemporary Chinese short stories, so that everyone could overcome the fear of the virus through this project, so that Latin American readers could better understand contemporary Chinese literature and understand China through contemporary novels.
Professor Liana shared her thoughts on translating contemporary Chinese literature through video link
After Liana talked about the idea with Sun Xintang, director of the Latin American Studies Center of Beijing Language and Culture University and professor at the Argentine Congress University, who was teaching at the University of Chile at the time, the two immediately began to work, and together with Fan Tongxin, a young translator who lived in Liana's house, contacted Chinese writers to start compiling and selecting works of writers representing different generations, different genres, and different styles of contemporary China.
The Spanish title Los cuarenta de la cuarentena literally translates to "forty articles read in forty days of isolation", but in Spanish it is a harmonic sound that is very eye-catching and unforgettable. This book includes the works of 43 contemporary Chinese writers, one for each, including Mo Yan, Han Shaogong, Wang Meng, Feng Jicai, Jia Pingwa, Su Tong, Ah Lai, Bi Shumin, etc., as well as Xu Zechen, Lu Yuan, Lu Min, Dong Xia Qingqing, Chen Peng, Ah Yi, Zheng Xiaodonkey and other new generation writers. Chinese writers are very supportive, generously giving manuscripts, and no one collects copyright fees.
The book is edited and translated by Liana and Sun Xintang, and most of the Latin American sinologists and young translators such as Luo Baolu, La yanna, Antonio Rodríguez, Juan Babro Haureggi, as well as graduate students from the Center for Asian and African Studies at the Mexican Academy. During the translation, sinologists and translators repeatedly discussed the difficulties in the text online.
To Liana's relief, during the translation process, many students improved their Chinese language, learned a lot of Chinese culture, and further understood contemporary Chinese literature. The distance between teachers and students is closer, and the distance between them and China is closer.
Sun Xintang introduced that after the compilation and selection of this book, it was supported by the Chinese Writers Association, and finally the Chinese Writers Association cooperated with the Mexican Academy and was published by the Mexican Academy Press. The Mexican Academy also attaches great importance to the publication of this book, and invites translators to read the translated works, which are published by the official channel of the Center for Asian and African Studies of the Mexican Academy.
"Latin America's understanding of China is not very sufficient, Chinese literature, especially Chinese contemporary literature, entered Mexico relatively late, everyone does not understand, through translation to introduce Chinese literature to Latin America, it is very important." She has translated novels by Liu Zhenyun, Jia Pingwo, Fang Fang, Jia Pingwa, Xu Zechen and other writers, and has also translated short stories by more than 20 writers such as Mo Yan, Yu Hua and Tie Ning, and is committed to recommending contemporary Chinese literature to Mexico.
At the event site, Liana shared her experience in translating contemporary Chinese novels through the connection. She pointed out that China has a long history and culture, the Chinese language is broad and profound, as a translator, if there is no cultural background to support, the translation work will often face certain challenges. In her view, language skills account for only 50 per cent of translation work, and the rest depends on the knowledge of culture. For example, "courtyard" is a traditional architectural form unique to China, but there is no corresponding vocabulary in Spanish, and the translation needs to integrate the cultural characteristics of the building in order for overseas readers to understand its meaning.
Sun Xintang and Liana co-edited "Reading in isolation period: Selected Chinese Short Stories"
In the compilation process of "Reading in isolation period : Selected Chinese Short Stories", Liana also encountered many similar problems, she believes that the integration of Chinese cultural characteristics in the translation process and the interpretation of the difference between Chinese and Western cultures will help overseas readers better understand the cultural stories behind the text.
Sun Xintang, director of the Latin American Studies Center of Beijing Language and Culture University and professor of the Argentine Congress University, said that he was willing to work with Professor Liana to jointly help the spread of Chinese literature in Latin America and help more Chinese writers' works enter Latin America. When he and Professor Liana compiled "Reading During the Quarantine Period: Selected Chinese Short Stories", they not only selected the works of Mo Yan, Wang Zengqi, Han Shaogong and others, but also included the works of some new generation chinese writers. He believes that "selecting works in this way can more fully reflect the basic situation of contemporary Chinese literature." ”
At the scene of the event, the first one on the right in the front row is Sun Xintang, and the second from the right is Lu Yuan
Young writer Lu Yuan shared his understanding of Latin American literature and his own experience in literary creation and publishing. He said that if the 1980s and 1990s, when China imported foreign literature, were called the "Golden Age", then the past decade should be the "Silver Age", "Chinese writers are not strangers to Latin American literature, especially the works of Latin American writers such as García Márquez, Juan Rulfo, etc., which are already a must-read list for literature lovers." ”
In the on-site interactive session, the guests and university students exchanged views on topics such as Chinese and Latin American literature and translation. The participants said that as cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Latin America become more frequent and close, cultural exchanges play an important role in promoting the development of China-Latin America relations. How to break through the barriers of cultural background and make Chinese and Latin American literary works better understand by readers is still a process that needs continuous exploration.
The event was co-organized by the Latin American Research Center of Beijing Language and Culture University, China Writers Network, China Net Culture Development Center, and Starlight Volunteer Association.