No Chinese encyclopedia entry has been called a niche, but this one can be described as a small number of Chinese Simplified web search results. At 7 p.m. Beijing time on October 7, the Swedish Academy officially announced the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature: Abdulrazak Gurnah, a writer from Tanzania, won the crown. After learning of this result, many colleagues around the upstream journalists, and even senior foreign literature lovers, directly used the "unpopular and non-promise award" to describe this year's results.
As of now, Abdulzak Guna's works are only sold in original copies on e-commerce book-buying sites
Looking at the various predictions and quizes that will arouse strong repercussions among netizens and literature lovers every year during the Nobel Prize season, Abdulzak Guna is an unfamiliar name. Upstream journalists note that even the Nobel Prize writers that some literary enthusiasts like to guess will be distributed on a rotational basis by continent, and his name has never been one of Africa's popular writers.
"The name really does not have any impression, if I remember correctly, his works have not been published in China..." On the evening of the 7th, hearing the results of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, He Bin, a contracted writer at the Chongqing Academy of Literature and a veteran of foreign literature, sighed to reporters. However, in his view, although the result is completely unexpected, it can also be regarded as not jumping out of the existing law of this world-renowned literary award: it can always discover the unpopular, and the unpopular prize is not unpopular.
In the publishing circles and book review circles that have been paying attention to foreign literature for many years, this year's result is undoubtedly "upset". In previous years, after the Nobel Prize winners were announced, reporters almost always received relevant Chinese edition information from domestic publishing institutions focusing on foreign literary publishing, but this year, almost everyone is talking about "upset". African writers have always been a group of people who have not lacked attention to the Nobel Prize in Literature, but the most often leading names are Kenya's Nguji WaTiango.
"Chill! There are very few translations from domestic publishing houses! Well-known book critic Hou Wenwen told the upstream news reporter that like Mircea Cartarescu, who has always been number one on the bookmaker's odds list, Abdulzak Guna has not yet published Chinese version of a single book.
AnThology of African Short Stories, first published in 2000, featured two works by Abdulzak Guna
Of course, the work of the new Nobel Laureate is not completely "without trace" in China. Upstream reporters inquired that the African Short Stories Anthology, first published by Yilin Publishing House in 2000, included two short stories by Abdulzak Guna: "Bossy" and "The Cage".
After the results were revealed on the evening of the 7th, the reporter also noticed that a public account content that had only been circulated among foreign literature lovers 4 years ago was rediscovered, and it was Abdulrazak Gurnah's work "Desertion" that was recommended at the time.
According to reports, this work is closely related to the history of Tanzania where the author Abdulzak Guna was born, as well as to his own story. The Lost tells the story of Abdulzak Guna's brother (Amin) and his lover (Jamilia), among others. According to Abdulzak Guna, the entire story runs from 1899 to 1963, during which time the local experience from British rule to independence, and the protagonists of the story also experience three generations.
In the opinion of Aimee, the author of this book review, the greater significance of this work for herself is that it "gives me a new literary perspective." Many lovers of foreign literature also attribute such writing to "postcolonial writing." "It's always been a hot topic." He Bin also told reporters.
Upstream journalist Qiu Jinyi