Jean Francois Billeter and Wen, a love of nearly fifty years.

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Jean François Billeter is a well-known Swiss sinologist and professor emeritus at the University of Geneva. Some of his books are references such as “The Chinese Art of Writing” (1), which has been translated into English, studies on Zhuangzi (2), an essay on the contemporary history of China, “China three times silenced” (3). Other books deal with philosophy, politics, translation; the sinologist even becomes a polemist in his excellent “Contre François Jullien” (4), the famous … Lire la suite

Li Ang, literature, sex and power in Taiwan

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Li Ang is a Taiwanese writer known abroad, but the translations into French and English only give a very limited idea of her fifty years of literary activity. This is especially the case for her short stories, which will be examined in connection with her career by reserving the three translated novels (3,4,5) for a future article.

– A childhood in Lugang and the first controversies:

 

Lugang was one of the most important cities in … Lire la suite

Wu Ming-yi, a magician in the field of literature.

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Wu Ming-yiAmong significant writers in Taiwan, Wu Ming-yi occupies a leading position. Born in 1971, after studying literature and writing important works on rivers, coastal populations and butterflies, he is a professor of literature at Dong Hwa University.

I mentioned the release of his second novel, “The man with the compound eyes” which had  some impact in the English-speaking world but had hardly been supported in France; a very good novel on pollution and … Lire la suite

Xue Yiwei, a writer famous in China and almost unknown in Montreal.

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xue-yiwei-4Two short stories collections, “War Stories” and “Shenzheners” by Xue Yiwei , a celebrated writer in China who lives in Montreal for almost fifteen years, are now translated into English.

 

– From Shenzhen to Montreal:

 

He grew up in Changsha, Hunan, where he worked for a local government body after studying computer science in Beijing. In 1989, at 25, he published his first novel “Desertion“, an essentially … Lire la suite

Guo Songfen, a Taiwanese novelist and a victim of the Diaoyu islands…

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Guo SongfenThe Diaoyu Islands (Sendaku) are located 200 km NE of Taiwan and 400 km SE of Okinawa. They are uninhabited and were part, with Taiwan, of the territorial conquests of Japan after the defeat of China and the treaty of Simonoseki (1895).

 

At the end of World War II, Chiang Kai-shek refused to occupy these islands; the United States returned them to Japan with the Okinawa Treaty signed in 1970. Protests from Taiwan and … Lire la suite

Read “Paper Republic” (2)

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Cao Wenxuan

Cao Wenxuan

Two months ago, we have already mentioned the “Read Paper Republic”program. On Thursdays, the site of these English translators living in China, Great Britain or the United States, publishes a translation of a short story or poem by a contemporary Chinese writer.

This initiative has been able to support writers with a limited audience outside China and created interest on social networks for Chinese literature. In recent weeks, texts of good … Lire la suite

Read “Paper Republic”.

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Dave Haysom

Dave Haysom

“Paper Republic” as from 2007, is a forum of English translators living in China, Britain and the United States, to exchange news, opinions on Chinese literature and its authors as well as facilitating the contacts and publications between China and the rest of the world.

This is to promote Chinese literature abroad by organizing literary events, by publishing information, reviews and translations to publishers. Databases of “Paper Republic” about writers, translators and translations … Lire la suite

Eileen Chang, a Chinese “star” writer.

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Eileen Chang 4In Shanghai, in 1943, a young woman of 23 years old is becoming immensely famous by publishing in a popular magazine, a serie of stylish short stories, sophisticated, tragic, sentimental … Perhaps, at that time, for readers a way out of bombing, thousands of victims and the Japanese occupation.

She is a star by her beauty and natural elegance. The quality, accuracy, sometimes the cruelty of her writing, makes her short stories the finest examples … Lire la suite

Chi Zijian, a Chinese memory of the Jews in Manchuria.

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Chi-ZijianThe life of the Jews in Harbin, Manchuria, during the first half of the 20th century is a little-known episode that revives with talent the Chinese novelist Chi Zijian in “Good night Rose”. Three collections of her short stories had already been translated into French from 1997 to 2004. Two years ago, are published the short stories “All nights in the world” and a few days ago the novel “Good night Rose” . She is … Lire la suite

Lu Xun superstar.

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Lu Xun (3)We mentioned in 2010 the two collections of short stories by Lu Xun, translated and commented by Sebastian Veg, “Cries” (1923) and “Wanderings” (1926), which established the literary fame of the writer. The Editions Rue d’Ulm joined these two items and also included “Wild Grass” (1927) in a book, pleasant to read, with quality paper and good typography.

“Wild Grass”, prose poems

The collection includes, in sixty pages, twenty three texts written in Beijing … Lire la suite

Yu Hua, more short stories and a novel.

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Yu Hua photoYu Hua is best known for his novels, including “To live”, translated in 2003, and more recently “Brothers”(Anchor books, 2010). But short stories are an essential part of his work; a reasonable number has been translated, which allows to measure their importance and their evolution. That is why we welcome the recent release of “Boy in the twilight”, a collection of thirteen short stories, written between 1993 and 1998, translated into English by Allan … Lire la suite

Hwang Chun-ming: also for literature, Taiwan is not a part of China.

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Hwang-Chun-mingHwang Chun-ming is one of the most famous Taiwanese writers. Born in Taiwan, attached to the island, to the ordinary people, the language and the culture, he is one of those who have supported the search of their roots.

The collection of short stories “I love Mary ” which has just been published (1) in a French translation, is an expression of his talent. It is uncommon, after a few months, to remember all the … Lire la suite

Mu Xin, a Chinese scholar lost in New York.

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Mu XinMu Xin, writer, painter, poet, had to wait 80 years and his return to Wuzhen, his hometown, to be recognized after living twenty five years in Queens, Forest Hills ..

Wuzhen (Zhejiang) , a tiny little Venice
A small town between Hangzhou and Suzhou, built on canals, proud to be the birthplace of the great writer Mao Dun (1896-1981) , but who must now share the glory with Mu Xin. He was born in 1927

… Lire la suite