Ethnic ChinaLit

Une terre de lait et de miel, Stéphane Lévêque’s rendering of Fan Wen’s Shuǐ Rǔ dàdì (水乳大地, 范稳著), will be available for purchase in French bookstores and online beginning March 28.

Shui Ru Dadi tells the tale of a multi-ethnic settlement in Lancangjiang Canyon—gateway to Tibet—beset by battles between arrogant French Catholic missionaries, incompetent Han officials and their marauding troops, Naxi Dongba Shamanists, and the dominant Tibetans, not all of whom lead pacific, vegetarian lives in the local lamasery.

The saga spans most of the 20th century, hopping back and forth between the decades and capturing the non-linear Tibetan sense of time. Fan Wen’s imagination almost seems to get the better of him as Living Buddhas levitate, Shamans summon spirits for battle, and Communist Party officials rue their Red Guard days, but his tale is firmly rooted in the locale’s colorful history. Historical fiction with dabs of highly entertaining “supernatural realism” thrown in, if you like.

Related links:

• An interview with author Fan Wen
• An interview with translator Stéphane Lévêque
• English excerpt from the last part in the trilogy, Canticle to the Land (大地雅歌)