New arrivals of a Sinophone Proust, a celebration of Lucknow and Urdu culture, and a new solidarity campaign to share Palestinian literature. Our editors are bringing you the latest literary news from on the ground, and there’s plenty to discover.
Xiao Yue Shan, Blog Editor, reporting for China
“Life is too short, and Proust is too long.” This snarky remark by (maybe) Anatole France has long hovered over the labours of translators worldwide, as much a challenge as it is an implicit acquiescence to just how difficult and time-consuming the text is. As multiple as his English appearances, Proust in Chinese also comes to us through a plethora of voices. There exists at present only one complete collection of À la recherche du temps perdu《追忆似水年华》in the Chinese language, published in 1989 through a concerted effort by Yilin Publishing House and a total of fifteen translators (who called themselves the “Suicidal Translators Squad”). This is the only version that has accompanied readers for over thirty years—with plenty of updates, corrections, and criticisms along the way—though the possibility of alternative editions always beckoned temptingly from the beyond; critics are always quick to note (not entirely without resentment) that in neighbouring Japan and South Korea, five or six full translations of this masterwork has been made available to the public.
Short as it may be, life presents plenty of distractions and exits for the overwhelmed translator. Luo Xinzhang exhausted himself after 50,000 characters. Xu Jun made it until halfway through the fourth volume before giving up at an impressive 230,000 characters, having expended eight hours a day for over two years (and also suffering from depression). Xu Hejin passed away. Zhou Kexi plead a lack of physical stamina, saying that he was drained by the text’s beauty. Many of them, along with readers, expressed tremendous regret that there would not be a single unified representation of Proust in the Chinese language, fluid in style, levelling up to the original, rooted in a single, persistent mind.
Then in 2020, something changed. The Dafang offshoot of CITIC Publishing Group suddenly announced the “Proust Project”, involving a plan to newly translate À la recherche du temps perdu with a single translator at the helm, based on Gallimard’s revised and annotated 1987 edition. The individual selected for the job was Kong Qian, a professor of French at Nanjing Normal University, who had been named Best New Translator at the 11th Fu Lei Translation Awards for her work on Kaouther Adimi’s Our Wealth. Kong has since been given ten years to complete the task—one that is, for any literary translator, a dream. It is the opportunity to occupy a permanent estate in world literature, a claim to a text that has embedded itself in both the literati and the public consciousness of China, even amidst the hurried days. (The book is so famous in China that directors will use it as a prop, in order to directly communicate a character’s highbrow tastes or worldly intellect.)
Just a few days ago, however, a new excerpt was released to the public. Beijing-based publisher NeoCogito, in collaboration with Shanghai Literature and Arts Press, sent out a selection from their forthcoming publication of Du côté de chez Swann《斯万家那边》, volume 1 of À la recherche du temps perdu. Translated by Chen Taiyi, whose previous works include everything from Tintin to Memoirs of Hadrian, the book is due out. . . soon (although the Taiwanese version of this translation, in traditional Chinese, was published in January 2023 from 木马图书 Trojan Horse Press). Apparently, Chen has also been given a deadline of ten years to finish the job. The dream of the translator, as it turns out, is always a shared one.
It’s utterly fascinating to me that after three decades of hand-wringing, we now have two announcements of Proust’s arrival within a few years, with the first volumes coming out within months of one another. As another publisher wryly said in the group chat: “The work left unfinished by men is completed by women.” If one cares to ask the Anglophone public which translation of Proust they should read, they would be met with a confounding tide of passionate, educated answers; this may, at first, seem quite frustrating, but I find it to be an absolute marvel. Chen wrote in her translator’s note: “Reread, revise, die yesterday and be reborn today. . .” Translation is an everlasting dialogue, and thus a lifegiving force. It is inherently variant because life is always amidst a process of endless exponentiation. As George Steiner wrote in After Babel: “only great art both solicits and withstands exhaustive or wilful interpretation.” It’s worth remembering, when thinking about which translation is best, which translation is worthy, which translation deserves publication. . . that literature—and language—only feels rich to us because of its profound abilities to accumulate, evolve, conversate, and be reinterpreted. I anticipate the oncoming abundance for my fellow Chinese-language readers with tremendous delight.
Areeb Ahmad, Editor-at-Large, reporting from India
In early February, I had the good fortune of attending the 2024 Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival. In its fifteenth edition, the theme was “Aashiqana Lucknow”, which aimed to celebrate love and its various aspects in connection with the city of Lucknow and the Awadh region in general, and featured local crafts and traditions as well.
As to be expected, Urdu was at the forefront; most curated events and shows paid homage to the beauty of the language that is synonymous with the land. From Urdu sher-o-shayari and mushairas to bait bazi and ghazal performances, poetry and music were the clear vehicles of this dedication. There were also literary talks on the love poetry of Mirza Ghalib, as well as on love and Urdu etiquette. A few book releases were also on the schedule: amongst them, The Chandayan, the medieval Indian epic by Maulana Da’ud was published in a definitive translation by Richard J. Cohen, accompanied by paintings and scholarly essays; and Talat Mahmood: The Definitive Biography, a book on the titular Indian playback singer by Sahar Zaman. There were also magnificent performances of Urdu oral storytelling traditions, such as Dastangoi and Qissagoi.
In other news, Muse India announced the shortlist for the 2023 GSP Rao Translation Award, which is given annually to an exceptional work of translation from any Indian language into English. It is open to both classic and contemporary books, and there is no requirement for the author to be alive. The titles are: Fire Bird by Perumal Murugan (Tamil, translated by Janani Kannan), Hymns in Blood by Nanak Singh (Punjabi, translated by Navdeep Suri), Post Box 203 Nala Sopara by Chitra Mudgal (Hindi, translated by Madhu Sriwastav), Rohzin by Rahman Abbas (Urdu, translated by Sabika Abbas Naqvi), Stories of the True by Jeyamohan (Tamil, translated by Priyamvada R), Taranath Tantrik And Other Tales from the Supernatural by Bibhutibhushan (Bengali, translated by Devalina Mookerjee), Telugu: The Best Stories of Our Times edited by Volga (Telugu, translated by M. Sridhar and Alladi Uma), The Puppet’s Tale by Manik Bandyopadhyay (Bengali, translated by Ratan Kumar Chattopadhyay), Valli by Sheela Tomy (Malayalam, translated by Jayasree Kalathil), In That Mill, I Too Was Forged: Poems by Narayan Surve (Marathi, translated by Jerry Pinto). The date for the winner announcement has not yet been disclosed.
Carol Khoury, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Palestine
Solidarity and support events and initiatives with Gaza are continuing around the world as the war enters its sixth month. Among the latest is an announcement from Librarians and Archivists with Palestine (LAP); a network of self-defined librarians, archivists, and information workers in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for self-determination. LAP has initiated their international reading campaign “One Book, Many Communities”, a project that draws inspiration from their other ongoing campaign, “One Book, One Town”, wherein people in local communities come together to read and discuss a selected title. This campaign is designed to introduce readers to the richness of Palestinian literature, and create a broader awareness and understanding of Palestinian history and the struggle for self-determination. For 2024, LAP invites readers, librarians, and others to organize gatherings around the book Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza by Mosab Abu Toha. The book won the 2022 Palestine Book Award, the 2023 American Book Award, Arrowsmith Press’s 2023 Derek Walcott Poetry Prize, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry.
It’s worth mentioning that this poetry collection was written and published in English. LAP is also gathering translations of the title poem “Things You May Find in My Ear,” to share with readers on their website, and you can contact onebookcampaign@gmail.com to share a translation or if you have questions.
To be part of this, consider hosting a discussion group in April or May to be connected to readers across the globe who will be reading and discussing this book at the same time.
See LAP’s 2024 toolkit and resource guide for tips on hosting your event, and let LAP know what you’re planning. They’ll share public events on their website and social media. Also do read their statement on Gaza, and the recently-released report tracking the Israeli damage to archives, libraries, and museums in Gaza since October 2023.
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