Contemporary Chinese Literature Going to the World ：Xue Mo's Works -- Connecting Oriental Culture

Contemporary Chinese Literature Going to the World

Xue Mo's Works -- Connecting Oriental Culture

At 14:30 on September 29, 2020, Yao Jianbin, Professor of School of Chinese Language and literature of Beijing Normal University, Liu Jiangkai, Associate Professor of Academy for International Communication of Chinese Culture of Beijing Normal University, and Chen Yanjin, Editor of People's literature Publishing House, have visited the National Base for International Cultural Trade for a dialogue forum entitled "Contemporary Chinese Literature Going to the World", where they exchanged views on the translation, dissemination, promotion, overseas influence and future prospects of contemporary Chinese literature and took Xue Mo, the national first-class writer, and the overseas translation and publication of his works as examples for an in-depth interpretation.

Chen Gang, Deputy General Manager of Beijing Cultural Investment Development Group Co., Ltd., mentioned in his opening speech at the forum, as a national cultural trade service platform constructed by Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China and the People's Government of Beijing Municipality, the National Base for International Cultural Trade (Beijing) has always been committed to serving as "the window for Chinese culture to go global and promoting the convergence for the world culture in China". The participation in Frankfurt Book Fair of writer Xue Mo, and the research and voice on the worldwide platform of all present teachers, are not only conducive to the understanding over the world of Chinese literature and culture, but also of great significance for the establishment of a good national image and the deepening of the future international cooperation. Our platform is willing to work with all of you with one heart and one mind to make joint efforts for Chinese literature and culture to go global.

Liu Lixia, Deputy Secretary General of the Publishers Association of China, mentioned in her opening speech at the forum, the purpose to hold this activity is to introduce Chinese literature to the world, convey the good voice of Chinese literature, and share the interpretation and research results for Chinese writers represented by writer Xue Mo and their works, which will help the world to have a thorough knowledge of China and its excellent traditional culture.

During the forum dialogue, Professor Yao Jianbin, who has always been devoted to the study of overseas dissemination of contemporary Chinese literature , believed that the overseas dissemination of classical Chinese literature, along with that of modern Chinese literature and of contemporary Chinese literature, as three sections that complement and achieve each other, has constituted overseas dissemination of Chinese literature. In different regions and countries, the acceptance and recognition of Chinese literature at different stages differ greatly. Generally speaking, as far as the existing overseas dissemination of Chinese literature is concerned, it is increasingly obvious that the overseas dissemination of contemporary Chinese literature gains momentum, while the overseas dissemination of Chinese classical literature has been going on steadily and continuously.

At present, the English-speaking world has still served as a significant reaction and test field for the overseas dissemination effect of Chinese literature. Due to various reasons, the dissemination effect of Chinese literature in other languages will show differences with rich connotation.

Professor Liu Jiangkai believed that, in the literary genre, novels and poems can still gain popularity from the perspective of overseas dissemination and acceptance. Since the 20th century, among the Chinese writers whose works have mainly been translated overseas into English, the contemporary writers have outnumbered the modern writers, and the quality of their works has also been higher than that of the latter, all of which can prove that since the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up, China has not only made great development in economy, but also achieved world-renowned results in literature and art.

How can we spread these good works overseas and make them acceptable to readers to the greatest extent? In the view of Associate Professor Liu Jiangkai, to disseminate contemporary Chinese literature overseas, the principle of "cross-field integration and collaborative innovation", as a systematic operation for a long time, should be adhered to. He first emphasized the quality of the writer's creation, for which can be taken as the starting point and foundation of all high-quality overseas dissemination. And the second most important is the translation of works, then the publishing and distribution, as well as the coordination and development between other related processes. He also stressed that from the national cultural sector to scientific research institutions in universities and social non-governmental organizations, from writers to translators and agencies, the overseas dissemination of a book or even of the contemporary Chinese literature as a whole, is always an interdisciplinary, cross-language and cross-cultural collaborative project. Therefore, writers should be patient and the primary thing for them is to create good works. As mentioned in the Xue Mo's works, as a writer, one does not need to ingratiate himself with the readers deliberately, for bad products will be eliminated and good works will be survived through the test of time. We are supposed to have faith in the power of readers.

Chen Yanjin said that as a powerful writer in the Chinese literary circle, Xue Mo has been shortlisted for the Mao Dun literature Award for three times, with eight full-length novels, including Desert Rites, Curses of Western Xia, The Wildfox Ridge and The Legend of Heroes From Liangzhou. At present, an epic masterpiece Suosalang with 100,000 lines and millions of words written by him is about to be published. Based on the rural areas of western China, the works of Xue Mo have shown the history and present of the west and the western culture, created the images of such western local figures as farmers, hunters, camel herders, and folk soldiers, and further depicted their survival, soul, love and belief. With the effect of inquiring about human nature and seeking eternity, his works have been full of majestic and vivid artistic appeal and possessed the power to wash and sublimate the inner soul. Praised by several domestic media as " western novels in the true sense" and "invaluable works of art", some of the works have been published by some foreign publishing and distribution organizations.

The British Newspaper the Guardian once published the full text of Old Man Xinjiang in English and considered it one of the five best short stories in contemporary China.

A column of Xue Mo's novels has been opened in the 15th issue of the "Chinese literature and Culture", an American English Magazine, with the comment that embracing the unique writing style full of great spirituality and imagination, the author Xue Mo has not only perfectly integrated life, reality, history and faith, but also endowed unique spiritual strength and charm thoroughly in various time-space interwoven narratives.

The rich and profound local Chinese background, the vivid and mysterious western Chinese culture, and the strong faith and affection in Xue Mo's works, as well as the unique thinking and exploration of such human issues as existence, human nature, soul, life and eternity, have aroused the extensive attention of top translators and sinologists from all over the world, and Xue Mo has successfully established cooperation relations on translation with them, such as Howard Goldblatt of the United States, Nicky Harman of Britain, Carducci Lisa of Canada, Hans-Peter Kolb of Germany, Constantin Lupeanu of Romania, Liljana Arsovska of Mexico, Dinesh Kulatunga of Sri Lanka, etc. So far, Xue Mo's works have been translated into more than 20 foreign languages, involving English, German, French, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Italian, Nepali, Spanish, Arabic, and so on. And as many as 35 translation versions of his works have been published by Bacopa Verlag Publishing Company, Wanzhi House of Sweden, Red Eagle Publishing House of Turkey, ArabLiterature Center (ADAB), Neptune Publications and Nepal Book Hill Co., Ltd., and at the same time, more and more translations will be available to readers from all over the world after being published by numerous influential publishing houses in succession.

In recent years, Xue Mo has been committed to cultural and educational exchanges and cooperation between China and foreign countries. He ever attended the Sino-French Cultural Forum with a speech entitled literature and Spirituality at the French Institute (L'Institut de France), and visited successively more than 20 countries and regions, including North America, Europe and South Asia. In 2019, Xue Mo held a dialogue with Wolfgang Kubin, a renowned sinologist from Germany, at Frankfurt Book Fair. The "Bookshelf for Xue Mo's Works" has also entered the United States, Canada, Italy, Hungary, Nepal and other countries in succession, promoting the expansion of popularity of Xue Mo overseas.

All highly recognizing the achievements of Chinese literature and the characteristics of Chinese culture embodied in the Xue Mo's works, these three experts believed that the overseas dissemination of a new batch of contemporary  Chinese literature represented by Xue Mo's works will enter a new stage. The video of this dialogue will be launched for a cloud exhibition at the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF), which is currently being held, and will be released on the online Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany in October.