Wang XiaoBo -- "Why Do I Write?"

gato · 8th February 2005, 03:41 PM

Mainland Chinese writer Wang Xiaobo: (1952-1997)

I've translated a short article written by Wang XiaoBo, entitled "Why Do I Write?", which was written as a preface to one of his novels. I would appreciate any comments.

There are three version:

(1) Bilingual version: http://polycrit.com/WangXiaoBo/WhyDoIWrite.HTM

(2) English only:
http://polycrit.com/WangXiaoBo/WhyDoIWrite_en.html

roddy · 11th February 2005, 08:57 PM

Looks great! Still got a load of Wang Xiaobo's stuff I need to find time to read . . .

Roddy

badatpool · 11th February 2005, 11:01 PM

Well done,gato. As for Jin Sheng Tan, he was a famous scholar and critic in Qing dynasty.I once mentioned him on my post but forgot writing about his "taste of ham"---"if you have some peanuts while eating the spiced dried bean curd, you'll find it tastes as delicious as ham". By the way, I found it long time ago (and discovered the peanuts means the raw peanuts are boiled in the salt water), nobody trusted me though...

Anyway,it's great to get the translation of Wang Xiaobo's works.

gato · 12th February 2005, 12:46 AM

Thanks for the info about Jin Sheng Tan. I'm rather uninformed about these people from the past who everyone else seems to know, and couldn't find out who he was from a google search.

Does "没来由" of "没来由地往悬崖上爬" mean "no reason" (kind of like "no rhyme or rhythm" in English)?

I'm going to make an attempt at translating his novella "黄金时代" (The Golden Age) shortly. I was very impressed with it when I read it some years ago. It reminded me of Kafka and Philip Roth. I don't understand why he hasn't been published in English, yet, while others like Mo Yan, Su Tong, and Wang Shuo have.

badatpool · 2nd March 2005, 04:33 PM

I think "没来由" means "no reason" here.

Golden Age, it's my most loved story of his. His novel language and his love in it is very charming and 很久无法释怀.

It must be a big job for translation. 加油喽!

gato · 18th March 2005, 05:39 AM

http://polycrit.com/WangXiaoBo/

My Wang Xiaobo page. I've started working on translating "The Golden Age" and have a couple of chapters online. I'm struggling somewhat with the old problem of whether or not to translate literally.

studentyoung · 18th March 2005, 11:17 AM

Quote:

I've started working on translating "The Golden Age" and have a couple of chapters online.

Great! "The Golden Age" is Wang's great work. Thanks so much for what you have done!

Quote:

I don't understand why he hasn't been published in English, yet, while others like Mo Yan, Su Tong, and Wang Shuo have.

For a quite long time, Wang's works were just popular on some secrete websites among college students. So at the beginning, few people had heard of Wang's name and seen his works. When his works slowly came out of the students' circles, his name was gradually known in public. Mo Yan and Su Tong's works had a chance to show on some successful films directed by Zhang Yimou (张艺谋), which arose great interest in the western world. And Wang Shuo's works won their reputation by his slangy and informal Beijing accent, and his local ruffian-like style and became so popular in common people in Beijing.
On the contrary, Wang’s works have had no chance to show on films and their contents were too sensitive in those days. So Wang was hard to find bookman to publish his works in China mainland at first. But now things are better! His works are more and more popular and his books can be easily found in bookshops.

Quote:

I'm struggling somewhat with the old problem of literalism.

As for your problem, I think maybe you can show it out, so that people online can give you some good advice.

Cheers! And thanks again!

studentyoung · 25th March 2005, 03:52 PM

Dear gato,

我只是匆忙翻看了一下，你的网站，你译得不错。下面是你有疑难的地方，我列了出来，谨供你参考：（希望可以帮得上忙！）

1
不打封闭就不能入睡。I couldn't sleep without getting a shot to ease the pain (feng bi???).
“封闭”是指一种叫“封闭止痛针”，又叫“封闭针anesthesia needle”，即麻醉针。
http://cb.kingsoft.com/search?s=%E5%...f-8&t=word 封闭针

头发乱如败棕，[like bai4 zong???]
“败棕”是指凌乱的椰树皮(coco bark)，又叫椰衣。你还记得小时候的扫帚都是用椰树皮做的吗？

2
河岸上有几对寨子里的牛在斗架，a neighboring village [zai4 zi li??? ]
“寨子”指的是少数民族的小村庄、小群落、小部落之类。

[LeiPo tribe???] 累颇族：
可能是校正得不好，应为景颇族（云南的一个少数民族）
http://culture.qianlong.com/6931/200...60@2000529.htm （中国56个民族）
http://www.google.com/search?hl=zh-C...%97%8F&lr=（景颇族）

王二！勒都！鸡巴！你们姐夫舅子合伙搞我！
姐夫：sister’s husband
舅子：you can call your mother’s brother 舅舅 (大舅子，小舅子)

陈清扬说，我很年轻时就饿纹入嘴，眼睛下面乌黑。
dark rings beneath [around???] my eyes
“Around” maybe is better. “眼睛下面乌黑”是指黑眼圈，因为劳累而把眼睛熬得有一圈黑晕在眼睛周围。

自己直挺挺躺在草地上。[lied down straight???]
“直挺挺”就是又直，又疆硬，无法放松（陈清扬那时正生气，没法放松自己的身体。）的意思。”Straight” maybe is better here.

对了，你有疑难的地方可否用别的颜色显示出来？——我找得辛苦啊！（还不知道找全了没有？）

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8th February 2005, 03:41 PM	#1
gato	Wang XiaoBo -- "Why Do I Write?" Mainland Chinese writer Wang Xiaobo: (1952-1997) I've translated a short article written by Wang XiaoBo, entitled "Why Do I Write?", which was written as a preface to one of his novels. I would appreciate any comments. There are three version: (1) Bilingual version: http://polycrit.com/WangXiaoBo/WhyDoIWrite.HTM (2) English only: http://polycrit.com/WangXiaoBo/WhyDoIWrite_en.html Last edited by gato; 5th May 2005 at 08:35 AM.

11th February 2005, 08:57 PM	#2
roddy Admin Admin	Looks great! Still got a load of Wang Xiaobo's stuff I need to find time to read . . . Roddy

11th February 2005, 11:01 PM	#3
badatpool	Well done,gato. As for Jin Sheng Tan, he was a famous scholar and critic in Qing dynasty.I once mentioned him on my post but forgot writing about his "taste of ham"---"if you have some peanuts while eating the spiced dried bean curd, you'll find it tastes as delicious as ham". By the way, I found it long time ago (and discovered the peanuts means the raw peanuts are boiled in the salt water), nobody trusted me though... Anyway,it's great to get the translation of Wang Xiaobo's works.

12th February 2005, 12:46 AM	#4
gato	Thanks for the info about Jin Sheng Tan. I'm rather uninformed about these people from the past who everyone else seems to know, and couldn't find out who he was from a google search. Does "没来由" of "没来由地往悬崖上爬" mean "no reason" (kind of like "no rhyme or rhythm" in English)? I'm going to make an attempt at translating his novella "黄金时代" (The Golden Age) shortly. I was very impressed with it when I read it some years ago. It reminded me of Kafka and Philip Roth. I don't understand why he hasn't been published in English, yet, while others like Mo Yan, Su Tong, and Wang Shuo have.

2nd March 2005, 04:33 PM	#5
badatpool	I think "没来由" means "no reason" here. Golden Age, it's my most loved story of his. His novel language and his love in it is very charming and 很久无法释怀. It must be a big job for translation. 加油喽!

18th March 2005, 05:39 AM	#6
gato	http://polycrit.com/WangXiaoBo/ My Wang Xiaobo page. I've started working on translating "The Golden Age" and have a couple of chapters online. I'm struggling somewhat with the old problem of whether or not to translate literally. Last edited by gato; 5th May 2005 at 08:37 AM.

18th March 2005, 11:17 AM	#7
studentyoung	Quote: I've started working on translating "The Golden Age" and have a couple of chapters online. Great! "The Golden Age" is Wang's great work. Thanks so much for what you have done! Quote: I don't understand why he hasn't been published in English, yet, while others like Mo Yan, Su Tong, and Wang Shuo have. For a quite long time, Wang's works were just popular on some secrete websites among college students. So at the beginning, few people had heard of Wang's name and seen his works. When his works slowly came out of the students' circles, his name was gradually known in public. Mo Yan and Su Tong's works had a chance to show on some successful films directed by Zhang Yimou (张艺谋), which arose great interest in the western world. And Wang Shuo's works won their reputation by his slangy and informal Beijing accent, and his local ruffian-like style and became so popular in common people in Beijing. On the contrary, Wang’s works have had no chance to show on films and their contents were too sensitive in those days. So Wang was hard to find bookman to publish his works in China mainland at first. But now things are better! His works are more and more popular and his books can be easily found in bookshops. Quote: I'm struggling somewhat with the old problem of literalism. As for your problem, I think maybe you can show it out, so that people online can give you some good advice. Cheers! And thanks again!

25th March 2005, 03:52 PM	#8
studentyoung	Dear gato, 我只是匆忙翻看了一下，你的网站，你译得不错。下面是你有疑难的地方，我列了出来，谨供你参考：（希望可以帮得上忙！） 1 不打封闭就不能入睡。I couldn't sleep without getting a shot to ease the pain (feng bi???). “封闭”是指一种叫“封闭止痛针”，又叫“封闭针anesthesia needle”，即麻醉针。 http://cb.kingsoft.com/search?s=%E5%...f-8&t=word 封闭针头发乱如败棕，[like bai4 zong???] “败棕”是指凌乱的椰树皮(coco bark)，又叫椰衣。你还记得小时候的扫帚都是用椰树皮做的吗？ 2 河岸上有几对寨子里的牛在斗架，a neighboring village [zai4 zi li??? ] “寨子”指的是少数民族的小村庄、小群落、小部落之类。 [LeiPo tribe???] 累颇族：可能是校正得不好，应为景颇族（云南的一个少数民族） http://culture.qianlong.com/6931/200...60@2000529.htm （中国56个民族） http://www.google.com/search?hl=zh-C...%97%8F&lr=（景颇族）王二！勒都！鸡巴！你们姐夫舅子合伙搞我！姐夫：sister’s husband 舅子：you can call your mother’s brother 舅舅 (大舅子，小舅子) 陈清扬说，我很年轻时就饿纹入嘴，眼睛下面乌黑。 dark rings beneath [around???] my eyes “Around” maybe is better. “眼睛下面乌黑”是指黑眼圈，因为劳累而把眼睛熬得有一圈黑晕在眼睛周围。自己直挺挺躺在草地上。[lied down straight???] “直挺挺”就是又直，又疆硬，无法放松（陈清扬那时正生气，没法放松自己的身体。）的意思。”Straight” maybe is better here. 对了，你有疑难的地方可否用别的颜色显示出来？——我找得辛苦啊！（还不知道找全了没有？）