China’s contemporary literature’s overseas dissemination of new landscape novels is remarkable.
Japanese version of Three-body
On July 4th this year, the Japanese version of Liu Cixin’s science fiction novel "Three-body" was sold out on the first day of its listing in Japan. In just one week, it was printed 10 times, with a printing quantity of 85,000 copies.
The success of Liu Cixin’s novels in Japan is not a case. In recent years, the number of Japanese writers and works with world influence is increasing. Science fiction, spy novels, online novels and other types of literature are increasingly influential among foreign readers; In addition to the English-speaking world in Europe and America, the acceptance of China literature by Asian and Eastern European countries is also gratifying. With the more frequent and in-depth literary exchanges between China and foreign countries, it is very important for China literature to better "go global" by understanding the spread and acceptance of China literature overseas.
Genre novels are remarkable.
In March of this year, China Literature Overseas Development Report (2018) was released, which investigated the overseas spread of China literature in recent years. Yao Jianbin, the editor-in-chief of the Report and a professor at Beijing Normal University, said: "In addition to continuing to focus on traditional pure literary works, many countries have extended their perception to China’s contemporary martial arts novels, mystery novel, mystery novels, tomb-robbing novels and various popular online novels." The international influence of genre novels is constantly improving, and new literary categories such as science fiction, network literature and spy war novels are becoming the windows for overseas readers to understand China literature.
"Science fiction literature has become a new business card for China literature to spread overseas." Yao Jianbin said. Science fiction literature not only went out through translation channels, but also realized "going in" to some extent. Through the international awards, foreign library collections, book sales, book reviews and paper research, it can be seen that the overseas dissemination and recognition of China’s science fiction literature, represented by Three-body, are gradually improving.
In 2016, The Invisible Planet: Selected Works of Contemporary Science Fiction in China, published by Thor in the United States and reprinted by Zeus in the United Kingdom, and The Wandering Earth, reprinted by Zeus, included the works of Liu Cixin, Chen Qiufan, Cheng Jingbo, Xia Jian and others. In February 2016, Clark World Yearbook: 8 included Cheng Jingbo’s Tomb of Fireflies and Xia Jian’s Old Stories of the Spring Festival in 2044. In July 2016, Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Fiction of the Year: 2016 included Bao Shu’s works. Foreign publishing houses, magazines and literary websites have paid continuous attention to China’s sci-fi works.
Online literature is also very popular overseas. China online literature writers have many Korean bosom friends. From 2015 to 2016, with the popularity of China’s online novels such as nirvana in fire, Hua Qiangu, Song in the Cloud, That Starry Sky, Na Pianhai, etc. in Korea’s Asian Economy, an article entitled "330 million people were deeply fascinated, China’s online novels caused a market explosion" pointed out that "China’s online novels have now extended to the whole world and become a window for foreigners to understand China culture and Chinese." Another article in the newspaper, China’s online literature has become the mainstream of the world, highly praised China’s online literature, saying that "China’s online literature is being exported overseas, and there are fanatical fan groups in Russia, the United States, Canada, Britain, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam".
Sun Heyun, an associate professor at the School of Foreign Languages and Culture of China Communication University, found that: "Korean readers’ feedback on China’s online literature is very positive, and young readers have discovered a new type of China literature that can be docked without burden." By observing the members’ messages on YES24 website in South Korea, Sun Heyun found that novels such as treading on thin ice, nirvana in fire and Hua Qiangu fascinated Korean readers.
The success of Mai Jia’s spy war novels abroad once set off a "wheat whirlwind" overseas. "Compared with pure literary works, foreign publishing houses are quick to attack spy war novels that are partial to popular literature. Such works add new elements to contemporary literature and enrich the ways to know and understand China overseas." Jiang Zhiqin, a professor at Shandong Normal University, pointed out in his research.
The popularity of Decryption has also attracted overseas readers’ attention to China’s spy war novels. The works of Chen Haoji, Chen Zijin, Gang Xueyin, Qin Ming and Song Ying have been translated overseas, and the influence of China’s spy war novels cannot be ignored.
Towards more minority language areas
"In the past, we always paid attention to the spread of China literature in the English-speaking world in Europe and America. In recent years, through various literary exchanges, I found that some small-language countries such as Eastern European countries and Southeast Asian countries are also very interested in China literature. I hope that China’s contemporary literature will have more small-language translations." The editor-in-chief of World Literature said happily.
Vietnamese readers have a strong interest in China literature, and the number of translations and introductions of China literature in Vietnam has increased year by year, accounting for a considerable proportion of foreign literary works in Vietnam. From the early 1990s to the early 21st century, there was an upsurge of China literature in Viet Nam. Shen Congwen’s Border Town, Zhang Xianliang’s Half Men Are Women, and Wang Meng’s Heart of an inch of grass have been translated into Vietnam and welcomed by Vietnamese readers. On the one hand, it shows that the two countries are in the same Asian cultural circle, and there are more possibilities for communication in history, politics and folk customs. On the other hand, it is due to the long history of exchanges between Chinese and Vietnamese cultures since ancient times.
The spread of China’s contemporary literature in Vietnam also influenced the creation of Vietnamese writers. After winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, Mo Yan’s popularity among Vietnamese writers was further enhanced. According to reports, the novels of contemporary young writers such as Chen Qinghe Phantom, Du Huangyao and Ruan Yuzi in Vietnamese literary circles have more or less adopted the narrative techniques in Mo Yan’s novel "Big Breasts and Fat Buttocks" and have been recognized by Vietnamese readers.
"We should pay attention to the translation and dissemination of China literature in Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam. During my contact with Vietnamese cultural circles, I found that they are very eager to understand China’s contemporary literature and hope that more contemporary literature will be introduced to Vietnam." Happy to say.
Some key translation projects make the translation and publication of Indian China literature more systematic. At the end of 2015, the "Sino-Indian Classic and Contemporary Works Translation and Publishing Project" was launched in India; In 2016, the Indian translation team was formally established and put into the work translation project. All the Chinese teachers in Indian universities are engaged in translation, which represents the higher level of literary translation in China, India. Contemporary literary works selected for this project include The Dust Settles, Fatigue of Life and Death, White Deer Plain and Shaanxi Opera. The designated publisher of the translation is the National Book Foundation of India, one of the major Hindi and English publishers in India.
Zeng Qiong, an associate professor at the School of Asian and African Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, believes that "this is a milestone for China literature to go abroad, especially to India."
The popularity of China TV series in Thailand has led to the translation of related publications. Some Thai fans who love China literature can’t even wait for the publishers to translate them, so they start translating them themselves. Treading on thin ice, empresses in the palace and legend of miyue are numerous in Thailand, which has promoted the spread of China literature in Thailand.
Chinese and foreign translators work together
Although the influence of China literature in the world has gradually increased in recent years, it is still far from commensurate with China’s comprehensive national strength and international status. "In the past few decades, China has introduced the best literary works in the world for the first time. The important works of representative writers from various countries have basically been translated into Chinese, while the number of foreign translations of China’s works is quite small." Happy to say.
Summarizing the classic cases of overseas communication of China literature, we can find that various publishing projects play an important role. Projects such as Classic China International Publishing Project, Silk Road Scholarly Translation Funding Project and China Contemporary Works Foreign Translation Project have been continuously promoted, and various official and non-governmental organizations have made concerted efforts to let more overseas readers see China’s literary works.
"In recent years, through a series of projects to fund and reward China’s book translation and overseas publishing, it has effectively promoted the global sales of multilingual versions of China’s literary works." Yao Jianbin said, "In this process, we should pay more attention to the evaluation and feedback of the project, not only to translate China literature, but also to see whether the translation is good or not and whether foreign readers can see it."
In the choice of target countries, writers and publishing circles have a broader vision, no longer just staring at English, French, German and other languages, but also have a world vision. Yao Jianbin believes: "The overseas spread and development of China literature is all-round and global, and cannot be limited to the English-speaking world or the traditional western powers."
Cultivating and establishing an excellent team of translators has become a key factor for contemporary literature to better go global. The role of sinologists is irreplaceable. Happy to think: "the team in foreign translation is relatively strong, and sinologists need the advantage of their mother tongue outside Chinese translation. This team is still relatively small."
In recent years, through the World Sinology Congress, the International Sinology Translators’ Congress and other Sino-foreign exchange activities, the Chinese Book Special Contribution Award, the Lu Xun Literature Award and other incentive mechanisms, and other measures to train foreign translators studying in China, foreign translators’ understanding of China literature and their enthusiasm for translation are improving. Fu Xuelian, an Italian sinologist, translated Liu Cixin’s Three-body into Italian and published it. Yahya, an Arabic translator, translated the representative works of Xu Zechen and other writers, which was welcomed by the Arabic world.
In addition, "it is also very important to establish a stable relationship between writers and translators, brokers or publishers, attach importance to the role of professional online journals and websites, and promote the copyright agent system to enhance the overseas influence of China contemporary literature." Yao Jianbin said.
"Culture, including literature itself, is part of the charm of a country and a nation. The process of contemporary literature going overseas is also a process of equal exchange of national cultures. " Happy to say.
Although the influence of contemporary literature overseas needs to be strengthened, it has become an important window to show China culture and Chinese charm. (Reporter Zhang Pengyu)