Half the Sky

Amid all of the doom and gloom about poor translations, poorly-paid translators, and shameless plagiarism, it is easy to overlook the good translations that are being done, both into and out of Chinese. One bright spot is a new series of contemporary Spanish literature by women.

The series, called La mitad del cielo ("half the sky") in Spanish and 她世纪 ("Her Century") in Chinese, features the works of twelve Spanish writers, and it won its publisher, People's Literature Publishing House, the Casa Asia award this month:

Owing to the Year of Spain in China, the publishing house has prepared the publication, between 2007 and 2008, of 12 new titles of contemporary Spanish literature that make up a collection of gender literature. This collection includes works by Carmen Martín Gaite, Elvira Lindo, Rosa Regás, Carmen Laforet, Belén Gopegui, Maruja Torres and other acknowledged Spanish writers.
[...]
The fact that its editorial stock includes not only classical works—of which royalties are paid—but also literature by writer who are alive, as well as the creation of a collection of literature written by women, which has a special meaning for the jury, and its project contributes in an unquestionable manner to a better mutual understanding of both societies.

A three-day "Literature with an Ñ" symposium, held on the occasion of the series launch, brought around a dozen Spanish authors to China where they met with Chinese authors on panels devoted to the discussion of various aspects of Spanish literature.

On a panel held at the Beijing Cervantes Institute on Tuesday, Cristina Fernández Cubas, Rosa Montero, Hipólito G. Navarro, and Mo Yan discussed Spanish fiction.

Moderator Chen Zhongyi, director of the Foreign Literature Research Institute at CASS, spoke of the present time as a wonderful period for Spanish literature. With this growth, however, has come commercialization, something that was a concern to the writers who appeared on Tuesday's panel.

Rosa Montero spoke of the need to do book tours and appear on TV—authors need to be good public speakers these days—and Mo Yan agreed that the situation was similar in China. The time when an author could gain a national reputation from publishing one or two short stories in a literary magazine is long past, but Mo Yan said he'd rather sell just 50,000 copies of a novel than appear on TV.

Of course, 50,000 copies would be a dream come true for many mid-list writers, and Mo Yan's name sells even without softball interview appearances. But translated literature might be a different story: Mo Yan joked about his reception in Korea, where one reader urged him to update the ugly author's photo that appears on his books there. Apparently he "looks much better in person," and some Korean readers make purchases based on whether the author is good-looking.

The issue of author marketing also came up at a Sino-Korean literature symposium held yesterday in Shanghai. Wang Anyi was the marquee Chinese author in a panel discussion with several women writers from Korea:

[Eun Heekyung 殷熙耕] said that at a book expo in Beijing she had heard an interesting story. Someone asked about the difference between male and female authors in China, and a woman writer responded, "Women writers are better at selling books, but men win more prizes." She asked Wang Anyi whether this was the case. Wang said that she hadn't investigated the situation herself, but mentioned that publishers make a point of emphasizing gender when they publish works by women. And they also place an emphasis on beautiful women. Wang said somewhat resignedly that as a serious woman writer, she especially disliked those promotional methods.

Ironically, at the Cervantes Institute panel, Mo Yan's presence seemed to be a nod in the direction of the Chinese marketplace, as press reports demonstrate: the Beijing Morning Post and the Beijing Times highlighted his remarks on Spanish authors, and the Beijing Daily Messenger's short item on the event was devoted entirely to a parenthetical remark he made defending the value of contemporary Chinese literature.

Zhao Zhenjiang (赵振江), who translated the poems of Antonio Machado for a handsome volume put out by Hebei Education Press on the occasion of the Year of Spain in China, was present for the series launch. He thanked the Cervantes Institute and the government of Spain, which sponsored the publication of that book as well as the Half the Sky series through its Ministry of Culture. He also thanked the Chinese publishers for being willing to risk losses for the cause of making contributions to international literary exchange.

Literature in translation may not be a lucrative market, but so long as governments are willing to pursue soft power by promoting their domestic culture abroad, foreign audiences can look forward to some interesting reading.