Lost in Translation

Thankfully, some established foreign publishers, led by Penguin Group and Random House, have begun to direct their attention to the vast Chinese market and make their business presence felt here. With their help, books written by prestigious Chinese writers, such as Lu Xun, Zhang Ailing and Qiang Wenzhou, are given a chance to enter the global market and reach more readers.

This movement, however, also sets an alarm bell ringing. Considering that Chinese writers are usually slow to enter copyright trading in the global market, professional agents are needed to inform them of the global practices, the latest trends in foreign markets and launch promotion campaigns accordingly.

Economic globalization also acts as a stimulus in China’s ambitious campaign to promote its culture. With China’s robust economic performance, foreigners are becoming ever-more eager to understand China, as can be seen in the steadily growing number of Chinese books translated into foreign languages. In addition, more foreign readers are beginning to lift their eyes up toward Chinese literary works.

This sets the stage for Chinese literature to go global, but also presses us to move forward with a sense of urgency. This is the viewpoint of Huang Youyi, vice president of TAC.

In the year 2004, the News Office of the State Council of China and the General Administration of Press and Publication launched China Book International, a program to promote the translation and publication of Chinese works overseas. The campaign, designed to make Chinese publications “go global” in a more efficient manner, issues an annual Recommended Bibliography for China Book International, and introduces books to publishers at home and abroad by means of book fairs, mass media, websites and magazines.

Admittedly, it requires cooperation from all walks of life to see any movement in the campaign. Despite all these lingering problems, Chinese literature, slowly but surely, will reach the rest of the world if we give a serious answer to the question: HOW?

By Xu Xinlei