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Contemporary Chinese Literature in Translation—A Review Article

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

Leo Ou-fan Lee
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Abstract

This article surveys the available English translations of contemporary Chinese literature from the People's Republic. In view of the post-Mao Party policy of relative freedom for creative writing, more works are pouring out of China than ever before. Of the most recent translations, the largest share belongs to Panda Books, a publishing subunit of the Foreign Languages Press in Beijing. Under the leadership of the Yangs (Xianyi and Gladys), a husband-and-wife team of great renown, this new Panda series has published more than a dozen titles as of 1984, and new ones continue to be received.

Despite its voluminous production, the editors of the Panda series have made certain choices that are of dubious value. Especially weak is the representation of traditional literary works, which are often drastically abridged or collected in slender anthologies. In comparison, coverage of modern and contemporary works is more exciting. The translations are generally correct, the most felicitous from the hands of Gladys Yang. However, the translations suffer from a certain uniformity of style and sometimes from severe cuts. Volumes in the series are nevertheless a useful addition to the increasing library of English translations of contemporary Chinese literature, now more than adequate for an undergraduate course.

Type
Review Article
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , May 1985 , pp. 561 - 567
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1985

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References

List of Titles Reviewed

Jin, Ba. 1981. Autumn in Spring and Other Stories. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
Eoyang, Eugene, editor and translator. 1983. Selected Poems of Ai Qing. Bloomington and Beijing: Indiana University Press and Foreign Languages Press.Google Scholar
Goldblatt, Howard, editor. 1982. Chinese Literature for the 1980s: TheFourth Congress of Writers and Artists. Armonk, N. Y: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Goldblatt, Howard, translator. 1982. Selected Stories of Xiao Hong. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
Hua, Gu. A Small Town Called Hibiscus. 1983. Trans. Yang, Gladys. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
Hsu, Kai-yu, editor. 1980. Literature of the People's Republic of China. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Zilong, Jiang. 1983. All the Colors of the Rainbow. Trans. Mingjie, Wang. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
Shoushen, Jin. 1982. Beijing Legends. Trans. Yang, Gladys. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
She, Lao. 1982. Beneath the Red Banner. Trans. Cohn, Don J.. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
Guangtian, Li. 1982. A Pitiful Plaything and Other Essays. Trans. Yang, Gladys. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
Link, Perry, editor. 1983. Stubborn Weeds: Popular and Controversial Chinese Literature After the Cultural Revolution. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Guangtian, Li. 1984. Roses and Thorns: The Second Blooming of the Hundred Flowers in Chinese Fiction, 1979–1980.Google Scholar
Binyan, Liu. 1983. People or Monsters? And Other Stories and Reportage from China After Mao. Ed. Link, Perry. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Liu, E. 1983. The Travels of Lao Can. Trans. Xianyi, Yang and Yang, Gladys. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
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Masterpieces of Modern Chinese Fiction, 1919–1949. 1983. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
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Seven Contemporary Chinese Women Writers. 1982. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
Conwen, Shen. 1981. The Border Town and Other Stories. Trans. Yang, Gladys. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
Conwen, Shen. 1982. Recollections of West Hunan. Trans. Yang, Gladys. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
Siu, Helen F., and Stern, Zelda, editors. 1983. Mao's Harvest: Voices from China's New Generation. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Stories from the Thirties. 1982. 2 vols. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
Li, Sun. 1982. The Blacksmith and the Carpenter. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
Wang, Mason Y. H., editor. 1983. Perspectives in Contemporary Chinese Literature. Saginaw Valley State College, Mich.: Green River Press.Google Scholar
Fengxia, Xin. 1981. Reminiscences. Trans. Yang, Gladys. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
Jiang, Yang. 1984. Six Chapters from My Life “Down Under.” Trans. Goldblatt, Howard. Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong Press.Google Scholar
Xianyi, Yang and Yang, Gladys, translators. 1983. Selections from the Book of Songs. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar
Shouchen, Zhang et al. 1983. Traditional Comic Tales. Trans. Yang, Gladys. Beijing: Panda Books.Google Scholar