Interview by Wan Shuyuan 2022

Back to JM page

Links to other interviews as background information: 2021_Interview_with_Duan_Yuanyuan, Longer_interview_version_dated_March_3_2021, Interview_Univerlag_2022.

Aim: Give guidance for the field, make some provocative but true statements. Reflect current discussions both in China and internationally. Refer to Web literature work by Chen Dingjia (CASS) and to "Intellectual History" by Chen Zhongyi.

汉学家吴漠汀：我为何翻译中国现当代文学?

近年来,随着中国作家屡在国际获奖，越来越多中国现当代作家的作品开始受到世界关注。德国汉学家吴漠汀翻译了鲁迅、许地山、郁达夫、朱自清、冰心、巴金、钱钟书、王蒙、张洁、刘再复、贾平凹、余秋雨、韩少功、许泽晨、张伟、韩寒、绵绵等一大批中国作家的众多作品。

中新社记者拟以“我为何翻译中国现当代文学?”为题，采访德国汉学家吴漠汀教授。

采访问题如下：

1. 你不仅翻译了《红楼梦》德文版本，还先后翻译了鲁迅、许地山、郁达夫、朱自清、冰心、巴金、钱钟书、王蒙、张洁、刘再复、贾平凹、余秋雨、韩少功、许泽晨、张伟、韩寒、绵绵等一大批中国近现代作家的作品。你为何钟情于中国近现代文学？

The main reason is, that from the perspective of world literature, Chinese literature is of bad quality, because Chinese authors cannot write totally free. But we still have a few works of excellent Chinese literature today. These works are worth to be translated and to made known to the world.

This is the more the case, since we have many more e.g. English, French, Spanish and German literature translated into Chinese than the other way round. One of the reasons why not much Chinese literature is translated into foreign languages is that China as a country because of its corruption and autocratic system ranks among the countries with the lowest popularity all around the world. If China can reform and open up more, also its culture will become more popular all around the world.

Jia Pingwa has been translated far less than he earns it, because with his local flavor and many local traditions and dialect, he is difficult to translate.

The Chinese government supports the export of Chinese culture especially since 2007. It also supports the translation of Chinese literature and propaganda books into foreign languages. In the beginning, the policy was not applied properly. The proposed books were often propaganda books and not selected from the perspective which ones can be successful abroad. This practise has become better now.

2. 中国近现代文学的魅力何在？翻译近现代文学如何加深了你对中国的了解？

Modern and contemporary literature is one of the best ways to understand a country and a culture. Authors have the ability to drag readers into their thoughts, to let them participate in their line of thoughts and let them look at China through Chinese eyes.

Examples!

3. 很多文学作品在跨文化的翻译过程中，会让作品失去原本的魅力。那么，你在翻译中国近现代文学作品时，是如何克服翻译瓶颈的？和翻译中国古典文学有何不同之处？

It is not true, that works of literature lose their original attraction when translated into a different language. That is a prejudice. Almost all literature we read today is translated literature. If you do not translate, you only have national literatures read by local people. If you want to win the nobel prize of literature, you need to be translated at least into English, and best also into Swedish.

Every original has its specific attraction. It can be low or high. If it may be of high attraction to foreign readers - which is not always the same as to be attractive to local readers - then it is worth to be translated. When you translate, you can either make it more attractive or less attractive. This depends on a lot of factors. One is, that you need to understand and appreciate the original fully. Many Chinese readers also cannot understand and appreciate a work fully. So the ideal translator is a foreigner, who has lived in China for several years. There are almost only native speakers of the target language, who produce successful translations in the literary field. The same is true for foreign literature: If it wants to be successful in the Chinese literary market, it needs to be translated by a Chinese translator. An even more ideal translator would be an author by her or himself. So the best poetry translation is done by poets who translated into their own language.

In the education process of translators, they are told that they should master the foreign language as well as their own language. But this is not possible except for people who grew up truly bilingual. Therefore, one should translate into one's own language in order to achieve the best success.

受访者简介：

吴漠汀(Martin Woesler)，男，生于1969年，德国著名汉学家、欧洲科学院院士、欧盟让•莫内讲席教授，德国维藤大学研究院、曾任德国慕尼黑应用语言大学中文系主任、罗马第三大学讲席教授、美国由他谷大学副教授。2019年9月受聘湖南师范大学潇湘学者特聘教授。主要研究领域为《红楼梦》、比较文学、翻译、跨文化交流、中国现当代文学。他通晓德语、汉语、英语，先后翻译鲁迅、许地山、郁达夫、朱自清、冰心、巴金、钱钟书、王蒙、张洁、刘再复、贾平凹、余秋雨、韩少功、许泽晨、张伟、韩寒、绵绵等一大批中国作家的作品。他同史华慈（Rainer Schwarz)先生共同翻译完成的《红楼梦》,是《红楼梦》首部完整德文译本。荣获2020年度中国政府友谊奖。