A few days ago, Mo Yan, the Chinese novelist, Nobel Prize for Literature in 2012, was in Aix en Provence and for the fourth time. Why such a loyalty? Mo Yan has not forgotten the support provided for years by a group of academics, translators, publishers, many of whom live in Provence in the south of France.
For the last five years he had not visited France, the country which has translated and published the … Lire la suite
Eileen Chang is undoubtedly one of the major Chinese writers of the 20th century. Famous when she was only 23 years old in Shanghai in 1943 for two short stories “Love in a Fallen City” (1.2) and “The golden cangue ” (3). An amazing life, a great talent, a cult writer in Taiwan and China that the worldwide success of Ang Lee’s film “Lust caution” helped to recognize.
This success probably supported other releases including … Lire la suite
The unprecedented media promotion of this novel intrigued me. I read few espionage novels but the fact that it was translated from the Chinese raised some questions. However, the book lacked the political environment of the previous large-scale launch, that of “Wolf Totem” in 2007. In addition, an author of espionage novels who wins the Mao Dun prize is not common …In short enough reasons to read “Decoded” … and with great pleasure.
Publishers Penguin … Lire la suite
Yiyun Li’s talent is now widely recognized; it is rare to witness such an increase in quality in such a short period of time. Her fourth book “Kinder than solitude” leads to many questions; it should be read and specially reread as this second novel has just been published in the English-speaking world (1) We have carefully followed the publications (2) by Yiyun Li: two interviews, the first one by phone six years ago was … Lire la suite
It has been mentioned for a long time that huge amounts of plastic waste were floating on the oceans. This rubbish is concentrated in areas where different ocean currents converge. Since 1997, several scientific expeditions have identified an area of several million km2 in the Pacific Ocean 1000 km north of Hawaii (1); the dustbin of our consumer society …
An island of plastic waste is one of the major themes of a pleasant novel … Lire la suite
4/ En Occident, un intérêt limité:
La presse en France, n’a jamais montré beaucoup d’intérêt pour la littérature chinoise. Et pourtant c’est en France que Mo Yan est le plus publié (17 livres) du fait de la passion d’un petit groupe d’éditeurs et de traducteurs.
Mo Yan était peu connu dans le monde anglophone (9 livres publiés) mais paradoxalement la presse s’est beaucoup attachée à parler de cet écrivain et souvent avec des articles de … Lire la suite
Le prix Nobel de littérature a été attribué pour la première fois à un romancier chinois, Mo Yan. Evènement considérable dont se sont emparés les autorités de Pékin, les médias et les dissidents chinois du monde entier. Mo Yan a été jugé en fonction non de la qualité de ses livres, mais de positions politiques affichées ou supposées. Et pourtant son œuvre témoigne de l’indépendance et des capacités critiques d’un homme qui a été au … Lire la suite
Lloyd Fernando (1926-2008) is an important figure in the intellectual life in Malaysia; university professor, champion of the English language, lawyer, novelist. His best-known novel, “Green is the colour” (1993), was difficult to find but was republished in 2012 (1) in Singapore.
This is a good novel, which still looks pretty topical, on the tensions within a multiracial society.The race riots of the 13 May 1969, which caused hundreds of deaths and led the government … Lire la suite
Xiao Hong is one of the most important novelist of 20th century Chinese literature. She died in Hong Kong in 1942 after a literary career of less than ten years which had in China a great impact. She remains very popular especially with a female audience .
Xiao Hong and Hong Kong media :
In 2012, the anniversary of her death had resulted in several events. Novelist known and admired in China, who died … Lire la suite
Murong Xuecun is not yet forty years old. He is one of the brightest writers of a generation which is now being translated.These writers, like Han Han and Annie Baobei, are born with the internet. Three years ago, I regretted the small number of translations of this young generation, therefore we can welcome the release of “Dancing in the red dust”, translated by Claude Payen who is also the translator of “Leave me alone: a … Lire la suite
Zhenyun Liu is one of China’s best-known writers; many awards for his novels, a great success for the many films based on them. He was in Paris a few days ago to present two of his books: ” Remember 1942 ,” an essay on the famine in Henan Province and a novel: ” A word is worth a thousand words“, a text on communication and loneliness, which was awarded the main literary prize in … Lire la suite
Bertrand Mialaret | Mychinesebooks.com
Wang Xiaobo, who died in 1997, is a cult writer in China, especially among students. Sites, and forums are devoted to him and the anniversary of his death is the occasion of numerous commemorations.This is why the release in France of his novel “Future World”(1) is an important event, especially as his most famous work ” The Golden Age ” is very difficult to find in French (2).
Three holes in … Lire la suite
The Nanjing massacre and the 300,000 victims are one of the most tragic episodes in the history of the 20th century. It is rarely mentioned in Europe while the atrocities committed by the Japanese army during the storming of the former Chinese capital in December 1937 continue to poison relations between China and Japan.
Many films but few novels, apart from the book by Ye Zhaoyan, were devoted to this drama . But two