In the early morning of December 15, Liu Mingjiu, a famous French translator and known as China's "first person in Sartre research", died at the age of 88.
Liu Mingjiu was born in 1934, a native of Changsha, Hunan Province, graduated from the Department of Western Languages of Peking University, is a famous humanistic scholar, theoretical critic, translator, essayist in the mainland, and the first person to introduce Sartre to Chinese readers.
Liu Mingjiu
"Teacher Liu has been hospitalized for nearly two months to recuperate, and he has been in poor health for several years." Liu Mingjiu's wife, Ms. Zhu Hong, an expert in British and American literature, told The Paper. When told that the reporter wanted her to review her husband's academic life in recent years, the rigorous Ms. Zhu Hong said that it would take time to sort out, "You give me at least two weeks." After I finish tidying up, you are welcome to come to the house as a guest, and we will talk about it then. ”
Subsequently, Yu Zhongxian, former editor-in-chief of World Literature and chairman of the jury of the 14th Fu Lei Translation and Publication Award, accepted an exclusive interview with The Paper as Liu Mingjiu's junior. Because he did not escape the attack of the new crown epidemic in Beijing, Yu Zhongxian's voice on the other end of the phone was a little low, and his nose was obviously stuffy. "I personally believe that Mr. Liu has been a well-known figure in the field of foreign literature in mainland China since the 80s of the 20th century, especially a leading figure in the field of French literary research and translation. He has not been in good health in recent years, especially after Parkinson's... Although we were all prepared, it still felt too sudden. ”
Yu Zhongxian recalled that after graduating from Peking University's Spanish Department in the 1980s, he came to work at the Institute of Foreign Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and was promoted by many experts and scholars of the older generation. "There is no specific mentorship relationship between Mr. Liu and me, and Mr. Chen Zhanyuan was my mentor when I was a graduate student. Speaking of which, Mr. Chen is also Mr. Liu's teacher, and he translated for "Translation" magazine in Lu Xun's era. Soon after, Mr. Liu asked me which French writer I was interested in? I was interested in Paul Claudel and was translating his main screenplay, Satin Shoes, which was my first translation of a full-length French work, which was later included in the "Twentieth Century French Literature Series" edited by Mr. Liu Mingjiu. ”
"Claudel was not only a French poet and playwright, but also a diplomat." He was a diplomat in China before and after the Gengzi Incident—the social atmosphere had just loosened, and some old gentleman kindly reminded me not to touch Clodel, saying that this man represented the great powers and imperialism, so pay attention. But Mr. Liu encouraged and supported me to do it, and we mainly did a literary introduction, not history or politics. It can be said that my first translation was completed with the encouragement and support of Mr. Liu. ”
As a "cannon" of the Institute of Foreign Literature of the Academy of Social Sciences, Liu Mingjiu became a hit after the reform and opening up.
In May 1978, the "Great Debate on the Standard of Truth" rose up throughout the country, and Liu Mingjiu saw a turning point and decided to make a difference in the evaluation of Western literature in the 20th century. "For this history, because I entered the institute late, I didn't catch up. Mr. Liu roughly meant that French literature before the 20th century still had Marne's discussion to rely on, but Western literature after the 20th century was splashed with dirty water by a man named Zhdanov. If you don't ask this 'roadblocker', you can't continue to write literary history. In order to strive for the research space of Western scholarship in the 20th century, he called for attention to the development of Sartre and existentialism in domestic research. He was famous for giving a speech that lasted for several hours. He was in his forties at the time, and after publicly expressing this opinion, Zhou Yang, president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, including Feng Zhi and Zhu Guangqian, came to listen to the investigation. In the 1980s, the domestic 'Sartre fever' even overflowed the academic community, saying that he was the first promoter, which is not an exaggeration. Yu Zhongxian recalled.
"In addition to the "Twentieth Century French Literature Series", Mr. Liu also recommended another set of books to me for me to participate in translating, this book is called "Friday". The cause of the incident was that in 1981, Mr. Liu visited France and met the writer Michel Tournier, a leader of French literature in the second half of the 20th century. "Friday" is Tournier's debut novel and his masterpiece. This book is written in reverse "Robinson Crusoe", not that Robinson indoctrinated Friday, but that he realized the importance of harmonious relationship between man and nature under the influence of Friday. This is tantamount to jumping out of the original framework of capitalist production relations established by Robinson alone on a desert island, and giving people today a new understanding and interpretation. This book can be published in China because of Mr. Liu's promotion. ”
As a banner of domestic French literature research and translation, Mr. Liu is also the president of the Chinese French Literature Research Association, which should have happened around 1986. His previous president was Mr. Luo Dagang, and when Luo Lao was old and retired, Mr. Liu took over. In 2002, he also felt that he was getting older and wanted to retire after Hugo's research. Mr. Liu is cheerful by nature, he is not tall and has a great sense of humor. I remember that he said that it took a tall man to lead French literature, and he recommended his graduate student, Mr. Wu Yuetian. Mr. Liu's personality is very aggressive, Mr. Wu is more stable, and we can all adapt. As Liu Mingjiu's "Xiaoyu", Yu Zhongxian recalled that he and Liu Mingjiu were also teachers and friends, "I cooperated with him until 2018, and we had a few meals together in 2017, and then his health gradually declined." ”
"What impressed me the most was not the three volumes of the magnum opus "History of French Literature", nor his later translation of Camus's "The Plague" and Exupery's "The Little Prince". He focused more on editing French literary works, and the "Twentieth Century French Literature Series" published a total of 70 books, which were divided into 10 batches, each batch of 7 books, to borrow a French publisher's term is the 'Seven Star Series'. Each batch is 7 books, and the foreword to almost every work was written by him, and some were written by the translator himself, which shows that he is very knowledgeable and bold, because many 20th century works in the 80s were still considered absurd and decadent, and Mr. Liu launched these works very powerfully. Yu Zhongxian recalled that Liu Mingjiu was naturally expansive, "He was particularly attractive when he spoke, often dancing with his hands, and his five fingers were open, which was particularly energetic." ”
As a translator who introduced "Hello, Sorrow" into China, Yu Zhongxian introduced that when the book was translated in the 1980s, the atmosphere was not yet accepted by readers in China. "At that time, readers could not read what was inside, and by the time the book was republished in 2000, it was different, because at that time there was also a generation gap between two generations in our country. After I translated it back then, I felt that this writer was also this one who wrote well, and the other works were translatable or not. Like "The Little Prince", when Mr. Liu translated it, there were already fifty or sixty translations around the world, mainly for his granddaughter. ”
Mr. Liu translated "The Little Prince" to give a gift to his granddaughter, and there is also a sad past behind it. The gentleman is a man of temperament, his son died very early, and he died unexpectedly abroad... He has always paid close attention to the growth of his granddaughter, which is also a spiritual sustenance for him. Mr. has a lot of support for juniors, even to his own nanny, and the nanny's daughter is also trained by Mr. and went abroad to study. ”
"Translation work is actually about everyone doing everyone's business. I personally still believe in Mr. Lu Xun's set of ways, literal translation. Of course, it is not a hard translation, but it is still necessary to put the 'letter' of Sindaya in an important position. When Mr. Liu says 'Huajing', I think he means to preserve the meaning and method of the original work, while taking into account the acceptance of Chinese readers. In this regard, I have a slightly different view from Mr. Liu, I think that as long as the way and meaning of others are introduced, although in some words, we may not have 'transformed' in Chinese, but slowly, it is impossible to form a new usage of Chinese, and we must use translated words to transform or supplement our Chinese. We don't talk much about this, let's talk about it. Yu Zhongxian finally said.