The Transparent China Translator

The Chinese translation of the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson (史蒂夫·乔布斯) and the newest version of the iPad have two things in common: both are massive best sellers in China, and both were produced under high-pressure conditions.  The 500,000-character biography was translated into Chinese in under 30 days by a team of four living in Beijing, Wuhan, Nanjing and Hong Kong, and the resulting fast-food prose has been much criticized in the Chinese press.

Until recently, the miserable working conditions under which the iPad is produced in China—leading to serious health problems, suicides and deaths due to factory fires—have not been given much media attention in the West. The Jobs “success story,” Apple’s excellent profitability and its long-term image as “anti-establishment” have all contributed to the media bubble.

But the New York Times’ latest in-depth investigative report, In China, Human Costs are Built into an iPad, may well hurt Apple’s image not just in the US, but in China too. It documents the bootcamp-inspired management at Apple’s contractor, Foxconn, that led to suicides that eventually forced it to move its plant from Shenzhen to Sichuan, deadly explosions due to aluminum dust, and suppliers who purchase parts and services from smaller, undisclosed firms where working conditions are undoubtedly much worse.

Significantly, the New York Times’ report appeared in full in Chinese (苹果的血汗代价), just a day or two after it was published online in English, on the beta site of Caixin.com. Tight-lipped Apple executives refused to answer questions from the New York Times, but Caixin.com’s publication of the article should make Apple public relations’ officers worldwide a bit nervous. After all, Apple has publicly acknowledged that mainland China is one of its fastest growing markets worldwide, and perhaps the only one where recent product launches almost resulted in riots.

Headed by influential media maverick Hu Shuli (胡舒立), Caixin.com regularly investigates corruption and scandals of all sorts that make the government in Beijing very nervous, from their in-depth coverage of the faulty buildings that collapsed in the Sichuan earthquake, to the Hunan scam that saw state family planning program employees seizing babies born to families violating the one-child policy, and then selling them to adoptive parents overseas for profit.

Apple, beware: US investigative reportage is highly respected in China, and its translation and publication by Caixin.com—revered for its gutsy reporting—is likely to tarnish the image of the firm once lead by China’s most admired entrepreneur.

I grew up in places with names like “Winnetka” and “Sewickley,” spellings no doubt based on mangled transliterations of old, even ancient Native American words. I vaguely recall that Sewickley meant “sweet water,” but no one seemed sure.

How many cities, mountains and rivers in China, I wondered, hide their non-Han origins?

The reindeer-herding Evenki (鄂温克族) of northeast China once hunted in an area that includes parts of today’s Heilongjiang Province, Inner Mongolia and Siberia. Sadly, due to the vagaries of Sino-Russian politics, Evenki in China have little access to their relatives on the northern side of the Amur—known as the Heilongjiang (黑龙江, “Black Dragon River”) in China—or to their traditional homeland in Russia. Read the rest of this entry »

Isabel Hilton reviews two Chinese novels at The Guardian, both of which have become popular films:

History is tricky stuff, particularly in China. Both of these novels are set in a passage of 20th-century history that has been the object of both state manipulation and censorship. Although they stand alone as works of fiction, their historical settings also offer clues to China’s contemporary concerns.

The action of The Flowers of War (by Geling Yan, translated by Nicky Harman (pictured), Harvill Secker, £10) takes place during the dreadful months of the Nanjing Massacre of 1937-38; Under the Hawthorn Tree opens in 1974, in the dying days of the cultural revolution. The authors are well established in mainland China, though both are resident in the US: Shanghai-born Geling Yan left her homeland after the suppression of the Tiananmen student movement in 1989, while details about Ai Mi – a pen name – are notably scarce. Her novel first appeared in 2007 on a website popular with émigré Chinese students. The website was blocked in China but the novel was sent to a Chinese publisher and became a bestseller in print. Both books have inspired feature films directed by film-maker Zhang Yimou, the choreographer of the 2008 Olympic opening ceremony.

Yu Jie (余杰), the author of China’s Greatest Actor: Wen Jiabao (中国影帝温家宝)—banned in China proper—arrived in the US recently and has ignited a controversy back in China with his description of abuse at the hands of the security apparatus (‘Buried Alive’: A Dissident’s Words Become a Catchphrase):

Mr. Yu, who is also a leader in China’s underground Protestant church, arrived in the U.S. with his wife and family on Jan. 11. He told the Wall Street Journal after his arrival that he had repeatedly been denied permission to leave China after being severely beaten in late 2010, but he was finally allowed to board a plane after signing a statement saying he would not engage in any “illegal or unconstitutional” activities overseas.

Exile in the U.S. would seem like a good way to sideline Mr. Yu, whose works – including the 2010 book “China’s Greatest Actor: Wen Jiabao,” in which he accused the Chinese premier of being disingenuous about reform — are already banned in the country.

But on Thursday, the writer found his words getting significant play in the closest thing China has to a public square: the popular Twitter-like microblogging site Sina Weibo.

What caught microbloggers’ attention was Mr. Yu’s description of his persecution by state security agents, provided in a statement released in the U.S. on Wednesday. Particularly popular was the phrase “buried alive” (活埋, huomai), part of a threat Mr. Yu says was leveled at him by a security agent after fellow writer Liu Xiaobo, a close friend, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010.

Jan 22, 2012 update:

Seediq Bale is one of 9 films to be shortlisted for this year’s

Best Foreign-language Film at the Academy Awards.

———–

When I studied at Taipei’s Normal University, students were fined for speaking Taiwanese (Táiyǔ) on campus. Refusing to use Mandarin, the tongue of Taiwan’s latest colonizers, was considered very politically incorrect. No doubt Chen Shui-Bian thought he was being cool when he campaigned for president flouting his Taiwanese, but all that is passé. Wei Te-sheng ( 魏德圣) has just shot a 4.5-hour epic about one Aboriginal tribe’s war of resistance against the Japanese in the 1930s, entirely in the Seediq language. Dean Napolitano at the Wall Street Journal reports: 

Taiwanese director Wei Te-sheng’s ambitious new movie is a 4.5-hour epic, filmed in an obscure tribal dialect with non-professional actors in key roles.

Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (赛德克‧巴莱) was filmed on a budget of $25 million. It is based on a true story — little known even in Taiwan — of Seediq tribes, who launched an armed rebellion in 1930 against Japanese colonial rule. The Japanese occupation of Taiwan began in 1895 and extended until its defeat in World War II.

Take note, Ha Jin (哈金): it appears you are being “reclassified.”

A Chinese citizen born in Liaoning and holding an M.A. in Anglo-American Literature from Shandong University, he was working toward his Ph D at Brandeis U in the US when the tanks rolled onto Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.  He made the politically incorrect decision to become an American citizen not long after.

Ha Jin has insisted on writing in English, and has published several works including poetry, short stories and well-known novels such as War Trash.

Labeled by the Chinese publishing establishment as problematic—he refused to return to China for many years after the June 4th Incident—Ha Jin had no success in publishing his writing in China.

Until recently, that is, with his novel Nanjing Requiem, recently launched in Chinese as <南京安魂曲>. Apparently this examination of the Nanjing massacre—a favorite topic of Chinese patriots—has made him more palatable to the authorities, so we may well see more of his work appearing in Chinese soon.

But curiously, Ha Jin’s new image is not that of an “overseas Chinese writer” per se. Literary News (文学报) has just published a long and interesting interview with him (美籍华裔作家哈金), and in the headline he is referred to as a “huá yì,” a term that dictionaries define as a person of Chinese ethnicity born outside China. In the US, that makes you, informally perhaps, an “ABC” (American-born Chinese). Generally speaking, in China a Chinese living abroad is referred to as a “huáqiáo” (华侨), meaning “overseas Chinese.”

Thus the question: is there any significance to Ha Jin’s reclassification as a “huá yì“? Does that place him lower or higher on China’s hierarchy than, say, a huáqiáo or an “unhyphenated” American?

These aren’t the simple questions they might appear. Gao Xingjian (高行健) also left China in the 1980s and became a citizen of another country, France in his case.  He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000, but despite the fact that he was born and raised in China and writes in Chinese, the official Chinese press always refers to him as a French writer. Every year in the run-up to the announcement of the Nobel Prize, thousands of netizens unfailingly complain that no Chinese writer has “ever” won the Nobel Prize for Literature. . .

See here for the full program. Below are those featuring Chinese writers (text is from the Bookworm site):

A Wanderer’s World – Chinese Travel Writing (14:00 11th Mar at The Bookworm)

Travel writing has a long history in the West extending back to before Marco Polo. Now as a growing Chinese middle class strikes out to explore the globe, a new crop of Chinese travel writers are documenting these travels. Xu Zhiyuan, editor-in-chief of the Chinese edition of Business Weekly and a FT contributor, is one of these pioneers. Join us to hear Xu speak on his latest book, A Wanderer’s World (一个游荡者的世界), which chronicles his adventures and journeys around the globe. 65 RMB

Different Realities: Writing Memoir (18:00 13th Mar at The Bookworm)

Maria Tumarkin and Hong Ying are both of generations that have experienced intense political and social turmoil and change. Tumarkin immigrated to Australia from the USSR in 1989. In her latest memoir, Otherland, she travels back to her native country with her daughter to attempt to piece together her past. What she finds is that the country of her childhood no longer exists. Hong Ying, one of China’s most celebrated writers and the author of the internationally bestselling memoir Daughter of the River reflects on China’s tumultuous recent history through her own coming of age tale. Her latest collection of short stories Little Girl continues to follow her uneasy place within society, as well as her attempt to share this past with her own daughter. Tumarkin and Hong discuss how to honestly write about the past and the stories mothers tell their daughters. Maria Tumarkin is brought to you by the Australian Embassy of Beijing’s Australian Writers’ Week. 65 RMB

Knifepoint – Chinese Spy Thrillers (18:00 14th Mar at The Bookworm)

Mai Jia is China’s best-known author of spy thrillers. His popular works mix intrigue with romance and have been awarded the Mao Dun Literature Prize and adapted into films and television programmes. His latest novel Knifepoint (刀之阳面 and 刀之阴 面) tells the story of two undercover agents – a man working for the Kuomintang and the female Communist spy who seduces him – set against the backdrop of war and chaos. Join us as Mai Jia discusses espionage, seduction and thrill of the chase. In Chinese with English translation. 65 RMB

China in Ten Words (20:00 14th Mar at The Bookworm)

In his latest work, China in Ten Words, the acclaimed author of Brothers and To Live Yu Hua turns his pen to non-fiction. He frames the Chinese experience over the last several decades with ten common phrases: “people,” “leader,” “reading,” “writing,” “Lu Xun,” “disparity,” “revolution,” “grassroots,” “copycat” and “bamboozle.” Listen as Yu Hua gives his candid take on China’s meteoric economic and social transformation, mixing personal stories and astute analysis. In Chinese with English translation. 100 RMB

City of the Dragon (20:00 15th Mar at The Bookworm)

Di An is one of China’s most buzzed about young writers. Part of the ’80s generation, Di An’s works explore the complexities of modern relationships in China. Her books The City of the Dragon I & II (西决) were runaway bestsellers in China. Join us to hear from one of China’s most promising new voices. In Chinese with English translation. 65 RMB

The Art of Translation (13:00 16th Mar)

Is something always lost in translation? If so, how do you choose what to lose and who should choose – the author or the translator? Literary translation is fraught with pitfalls and difficulties, yet it enables important cultural exchange and understanding. Julia Lovell has translated the work of Lu Xun, Yan Lianke and Zhu Wen. Ouyang Yu has translated Hanif Kureishi, Anna Enquist and Kingsley Bolton. They discuss and debate the art of translation with Paper Republic’s Eric Abrahamsen. Ouyang Yu is brought to you by the Australian Embassy of Beijing’s Australian Writers’ Week. 65 RMB

From Banished to Screwed (12:00 17th Mar at The Bookworm)

Han Dong has been a major voice in Chinese literature since he burst onto the scene in the 1990s. His acclaimed novel Banished! was shortlisted for the Man Asia Literary Prize. His latest novel Screwed (知青变形记) is a surreal tale of a high school student, Xiaofei, sent to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution and his friendship with Girlie the Ox and Girlie’s peasant caretaker. When the monotony of the countryside sets in, Xiaofei starts a rude rumour that causes an uproar between the “educated youth” and the locals. Join us as Han discusses his latest book and his avant-garde poetry. In Chinese with English translation. 65 RMB

Tibet: The Harmonious Land? (18:00 21st Mar at The Bookworm)

Sichuan-native Fan Wen’s best-selling novels delve deep into the complex interaction between culture, religion and national identity in Tibet. Drawing on his personal experience and historical accounts, Fan created his epic trilogy A Tibetan Three-Movement Song (Harmonious Land 水乳大地, Compassionate Land and Canticle to the Land). Join us to hear Fan talk about the tangled interactions between ethnic minorities, Han culture and foreign missionaries on the Tibetan plateau. In Chinese with English translation. 65 RMB

Pathlight Magazine (20:00 22nd Mar at The Bookworm) 

Pathlight Magazine is an exciting new literary publication created by Paper Republic and People’s Literature Magazine (人民文学杂志). The project features new and emerging Chinese writers translated into English, often for the first time, including Di An, Be Feiyu, Xi Chuan, Qi Ge, Zhang Wei, Liu Xinglong, Liu Zhenyun and Li Er. Editor-in-chief Li Jingze, assistant editor-in-chief Qiu Huadong and Paper Republic’s Eric Abrahamsen discuss this important project and the future of Chinese literature in translation. In Chinese with English translation. 80 RMB

Autocratic rulers despise two things above all others: mockery and. . .poetry. The Guardian reports on the latest indictment in China’s attempt to silence its writers, in Chinese Dissident Zhu Yufu Charged with Subversion:

Reuters in Beijing (January 17, 2012)

Listen to Nicky Harman’s translation of Deer Park (呦呦鹿鸣) by Chinese writer Han Dong (韩东).

Visit here and look for Podcast.

Rabid anti-Japanese opinion isn’t hard to find in China’s media. But a recent column in Southern Metropolis Weekly (南都周刊), How the Japanese Manage their Soft Power (日本人对软实力的经营), arguably China’s most liberal thinking weekly, offers an interesting glimpse of Nipponophobia among China’s foreign-educated elite.

The columnist, Xue Yong (薛涌), is (or was, since Chinese captions can be ambiguous) apparently a visiting scholar in the US, and the author of several books in Chinese about Chinese politics and culture.

Although the subject of his column is nominally how the Japanese use soft power to their advantage—and what China should learn from that—much of the essay is a mean-spirited attack on the American Japanologist, Donald Keene, who recently took Japanese citizenship.

“Shortly after the country was laid low by an earthquake and tsunami in March [2011], the academic said he would leave his native America for good, become a Japanese citizen and live out his last days in Japan,” reports the Financial Times. “The announcement made headline news. Japanese spoke, many with tears in their eyes, of the courage he had given them in their hour of need.”

But if the 89-year-old Keene’s decision to settle down permanently in Japan appeared laudable to the Japanese, and caught the interest of some in the West, columnist Xue Yong’s take on the man and his action are rather different.

The first thing that Xue Yong does is to demean Keene’s academic achievements:

. . .the great majority of what he [Keene] has written is plain and direct. His writing is heavy on events and light on analysis; he is not a scholar of original thinking. 

And:

The new generation of scholars can’t avoid the feeling that his [Keene’s] writing lacks depth. Read the rest of this entry »