Chinese literature remains largely unknown in the West – translators to blame

Göran Malmqvist

A lack of good translators and a sense of reluctance among Western publishers to publish non-European literature has been hindering the spread of Chinese literature, said Swedish linguist and sinologist Göran Malmqvist.
The scholar, who has been assigned a key role in selecting Nobel laureates in literature, indicated that Chinese and other Asian writers need to expand to a universal readership, yet there are still too few competent translators.
“A former Secretary of the Swedish Academy [which is responsible for awarding the Nobel Prize in Literature] once said that ‘world literature is translation; translation is world literature. Without translation, there is no world literature.’ So the role of a translator is immensely important,” he explained to Macau’s media yesterday, when asked to share his opinion on Chinese literature.
The professor acknowledged that there is merely a handful of highly competent translators of modern Chinese literature in the United States and Europe, which is “not enough to go around.”
“Unless that situation is changed, a great deal of non-European literature will remain unapproachable by the readers in the other regions. That is a great pity,” he said.
Accordingly, the scholar called for more “amateur translators,” like himself, to translate their preferred literary works so that their compatriots can also experience the joy of reading the original.
“I feel if you are able to translate, you should do so. There are many scholars that feel that translation is not what a scholar should engage in, and I couldn’t disagree more. I would rather put it this way: I think it is the obligation of anyone who has gained a good knowledge of a language to use it to spend some of their time translating.”
Unfortunately, even among the works completed by professional translators, the scholar pointed out that “far too often, you’ll find that translations are poor.”
However, not only does a poor translation distort the purpose of the original work, but also the publishers’ intentional version on an original storyline or wordings as well.
The professor gave an example of Lao She’s classic piece “Camel Xiangzi [Rickshaw Boy],” arguing that an American publisher altered the novel’s final chapter into a Hollywood ending, as it was considered too tragic for the American public.
“That is tragic, and that is still so: you have very many American publishers who insist that the translators should change or leave out portions of the text,” he said, adding that it has happened to contemporary Chinese writers such as Mo Yan and Li Rui, who were “defenseless” in such situations.
“Another problem is that fewer and fewer foreign publishing houses are willing to publish non-European literature,” added the scholar. “It’s very difficult to find a house that will publish it. In Switzerland, 78 percent of foreign literature is translated from English, and only 1 percent of the works were from the Far East, Africa and Middle East. This is very a terrifying [phenomenon].”
Regarding the anxiety prevalent in Chinese society about when its literature can step on the world stage, the Sinophile historian drew attention to the nation’s literary achievements in its early history on mythology, poetry and literary theory.
“These achievements were done at a time when many European nations didn’t even have a language. At the time period where you had poets like Li Bai, Du Fu and Wang Wei, people in Northern Europe were crawling about in the woods, being raised in forests; they didn’t even know the word ‘literature.’”
“So China has always been well ahead of the rest of world when it comes to developing its own literature. So to ask me now when China will catch up with world literature, to me is rather ridiculous,” he responded.
The scholar further indicated that 1985 was a very important year for China’s contemporary literature, as many successful novels and prominent writers emerged. “If it can continue like that, Chinese literature will develop very well,” he said.

sinologist expects less use of simplified characters

the renowned Sinologist commented that “simplified Chinese characters are neither good-looking nor useful,” and he believes that “after some decades, simplified Chinese characters will be put aside.” “It was completely unnecessary and a big shame to simplify the traditional Chinese characters in 1958. Some people in the mainland regret this now,” he argued.