Interview by Wan Shuyuan 2022
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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 underrepresented in the world. Regarding the quality, the Qing Red Chamber Dreams in guanhua and Lu Xun's "The True Story of Ah Q" in early baihua were among the globally best pieces of literature of their time. In general, we can say that many works of Chinese literature of the 1920s was of a world leading high quality, also because the Chinese writers were in close exchange with the national literatures of the world.
Since 1930, when the League of Left Wing Writers was founded, Chinese authors changed from writing high quality literature for literature's sake to writing literature for political purpose, they voluntarily gave up quality and international compatibility. However, even under this environment, some excellent authors emerged like the ones I translated. So 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 ranks among the countries with the lowest popularity all around the world. A major reason for that is her corruption and autocratic system. If China can reform and open up more, also its culture will naturally become more popular all around the world.
Another reason why modern Chinese literature appeals to me is the local characteristics embedded in these works. For example, Mr. Jia Pingwa's works contain a large number of dialects, local traditions unique to his hometown, etc. His works are wonderful, but the amount of his works translated is much lower than the quality of his works deserves, because these parts are difficult to be translated into foreign languages. I think these distinctive cultures are also worth spreading, and I would be happy to translate such Chinese vernacular stories and bring them to the world.
Top Chinese literature of modern and contemporary times is extremely rich. Lu Xun has shaped the new vernacular. His whole life he was torn between the need he saw for political reform and his doubts, if literature can be effective in this respect. Among all international great writers, Lu Xun was the one who even stood above the Nobel Prize of Literature, when he declined to be listed as candidate for it. With Ah Q, Kong Yiji, The Madman's Diary, he wrote the internationally most advanced and modern literature of his time. Until today it is a desideratum to publish his Complete Works in English. I translated for example his essays on the book burning in Germany.
I also translated Yu Qiuyu's History of Calligraphy, which gives foreigners an in-depth inside into this important art and its role and position in Chinese cultural history, considering it the basis of all arts and as important as music, painting and literature.
Wang Meng has not only won the hearts of Chinese readers with his nostalgic revolution love story "Long live the Youth", but has also contributed a lot to the experimental development of the stream-of-consciousness style in literature. I have translated his short story "Hard Porridge" and his autobiographical book "China - Deciphered".
I very much enjoyed to translate Han Shaogong's works "Verblassender Mond über dem verlassenen Innenhof" (空院残月), which shows a dense atmosphere of 1930s China under Japanese occupation, and "Der Zorn des Buddha" (怒目金刚), which shows the stubborness of a rule breaker and also contains some supernatural elements.
Because of the life experience I share with Xu Zechen as student at Peking University, and therefore I felt very much at home when translating his "Ah Peking!".
Zhang Wei delivers both, on the one hand very intense descriptions of the struggle of men in nature and local sceneries with "Baummoos pflücken", "Meerwind", "Auf ins Maisfeld", "Fuchs und Wein", "Herbstzorn" und "Weintrauben im Herbstregen" and on the other hand the world of cadres between good intentions and the temptations of bribery with "Rette bitte den Künstler".
Although Han Han is better known as race driver and film regisseur, e.g. for the blockbuster "Four Seas", he is a successful and skilfull writer too, so I have translated his works "Three Gates", "Glorious Days", and "His Land". Compared to Guo Jingming, who is more celebrity than author, Han Han produces high quality literature, especially with his road novel "1988: I want to talk with the world", translated by Howard Goldblatt.
I also chose to translate Mian Mian's novel "Panda Sex" because I wanted to check, if it was really "rubbish literature" as it was once claimed by a critic. I visited her in Shanghai and discovered that her works are so authentic, because he mostly described her own life experience. The novel Panda Sex was composed with an experimental writing style: Only at the end of the novel, the reader understands that the recurring quotes in the novel are actual recordings, which Mian Mian took from philosophical talks at various parties in Shanghai.
In general, to support cultural attractiveness, the so-called "soft power" with "hard power" means, e.g. financial support, can backfire. The United States was long seen as a country where poor or criminal European immigrated to. It was a country of slavery and its racism was severe even until the 1970s. Since then, the United States have reformed and earned the trust of many other countries in the world. So without investing into soft power, it naturally became a soft superpower. People all over the world eat the unhealthy American fast food, simply because the United States has an attractiveness and people feel to be part of the "land of the free" or the "American dream" when they eat the food.
As I understand it, in 2000, the Chinese National People's Congress initially proposed a "go global" strategy. The Chinese government supports the export of Chinese culture financially 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 most funding was offered for propaganda books, and not from the perspective which works of literature and which fact books can be successful abroad. This practise has become better now. However, the sales figures of Chinese books abroad are still lowered because the partnering Chinese publishing houses make the final edit of the translations and have the final say how to design the covers. They often change the colors, take away the illustrations and eye-catching cover texts.
In this way, while many Chinese literary works have great potential for worldwide success, restrictions on how books look or are presented abroad sometimes undermine that potential. China still has a way to go in enhancing its own cultural appeal, and I hope that my translations will add to the effort to bring Chinese culture to the world. 主要是因为，从世界文学的角度来看，中国文学一直保持着良好的水平。《红楼梦》和《阿Q正传》从质量上讲是当时全球最好的文学作品中的代表作。总而言之，1920年代出现了许多在世界文学领域也称得上高质量的中国文学作品，其中缘由也是因为中国作家与世界各国的文学作品进行了密切交流。
自1930年中国左翼作家联盟成立以来，中国作家从为文学而文学变成了创作政治导向的文学，他们主动放弃了质量和国际化。然而，即使在这种环境下，也还是出现了一批优秀作家作品，比如我翻译的那些作品。所以今天仍然有一些优秀的中国文学作品。这些作品值得被翻译，让世界看见。
特别是当文学作品的引进多于译出时更是如此。中国文学作品被译介到国外的数量不多，原因之一是中国作为一个国家在全世界范围内的知名度最低。一个主要原因是中国的腐败和专制制度。如果中国能够实施改革开放政策，其文化也会自然而然在世界范围内变得更受欢迎。
中国现代文学吸引我的另一个原因是这些作品中蕴含的地方特色。例如，贾平凹先生的作品中包含了大量的方言、他家乡特有的地方传统等。他的作品很精彩，但其作品的翻译量却难以反映其作品应有的质量，因为这些部分很难被翻译成外语。我认为这些独特的文化也是值得传播的，我很愿意翻译这样的中国乡土故事，把它们带到世界上。
中国现当代的顶级文学是极其丰富的。鲁迅塑造了新的白话文。他的一生都在关注所看到的政治改革的需要和他的怀疑，即文学是否能在这方面发挥作用。在所有的国际大作家中，虽然当时鲁迅拒绝被列为诺贝尔文学奖的候选人，但其实他的作品甚至上高于诺贝尔文学奖的评奖标准的。他以《阿Q正传》《孔乙己》《狂人日记》几部作品写出了当时国际上最先进的现代文学。直到今天，用英文出版他的全集仍是一个宏愿。而我就翻译了他关于德国焚书的文章。
我还翻译了余秋雨的《书法史》，让外国人深入了解这一重要艺术及其在中国文化史上的作用和地位。书法是所有艺术的基础，与音乐、绘画和文学一样重要。
王蒙不仅以其怀旧的革命爱情故事《青春万岁》赢得了中国读者的心，而且对文学中意识流风格的实验性发展做出了很大贡献。我曾翻译过他的短篇小说《坚硬的稀粥》和他的自传书《中国-解密》。
我非常喜欢翻译韩少功的作品《空院残月》和《怒目金刚》，前者展示了一个规则破坏者的顽强精神，包含了一些超自然的元素。
因为我和徐则臣有共同的生活经历，都是北京大学的学生，所以我在翻译他的《啊，北京！》时感到非常自在。
张伟的书中阐述了两种情况，一种是如《采树鳔》《海的风》《钻玉米地》《狐狸和酒》《秋天的愤怒》 以及《秋雨洗葡萄》这样的作品，情感强烈地描述了人类在自然和当地风景中的斗争，另一种则是如《请挽救艺术家》这样的作品，写出了干部的世界在善意和贿赂的诱惑之间的挣扎。
虽然韩寒更多的是以赛车手和电影评论家的身份为人所知，例如，以大片《四海》而闻名，但他也是一位成功而娴熟的作家，所以我翻译了他的作品《三道门》《光辉岁月》和《他的土地》。跟与其说是作家不如说是名人的郭敬明相比，韩寒的文学作品质量很高，特别是他的公路小说《1988：我想和这个世界谈谈》，由葛浩文翻译。
而我之所以选择翻译棉棉的小说《熊猫》，也是因为我想确认一下，它是否真的如一位评论家所说的那样是“垃圾文学”。于是我在上海拜访了她，一番了解后发现，她的作品是如此的真实，因为书中主要描述的是她自己的生活经历。小说《熊猫》使用的一种实验性的写作风格：直到小说结尾，读者才会发现小说中反复出现的引用其实是真实的录音，是棉棉在上海各种聚会上录下来的哲学谈话。
一般来说，为了支持文化的吸引力，所谓的“软实力”加上“硬实力”的手段，如财政支持，会适得其反。长期以来，美国被视为贫穷或接收难民的国家。它是一个奴隶制国家，其种族主义甚至在20世纪70年代之前都很严重。从那时起，美国已经进行了改革，并赢得了世界上许多其他国家的信任。因此，在没有对软实力进行投资的情况下，它自然成为了一个软性的超级大国。世界各地的人都在吃不健康的美国快餐，只是因为美国有一种吸引力，人们在吃这些食物时感到“自由之土”或是“美国梦”的一部分。
据我所知，在2000年，中国全国人民代表大会最初提出了中国文化“走出去”的战略。中国政府在财政上支持中国文化的出口，特别是2007年以来。中国还支持将中国文学和宣传书籍翻译成外国语言。一开始，这项政策并没有得到适当的应用。大部分资金是提供给宣传书籍的，而没有从传播效果的角度来考虑。现在这种做法已经有所改善。然而，中国图书在国外的销售额仍然很低，因为合作的中国出版社对译本进行了最后的编辑，并对如何设计封面有最终决定权。他们经常改变颜色，去掉插图和醒目的封面文字。
这样一来，虽然许多中国文学作品具有被成功译介的巨大潜力，但对书籍外观或在国外展示的限制有时会影响译介进程。中国在提高自己的文化吸引力方面还有一段路要走，我希望我的翻译能够为中国文化走向世界的努力添砖加瓦。
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.
In modern Chinese literature one can see the sparks of ancient literature colliding with foreign literature. Lu Xun, for example, is not only a famous Chinese writer, thinker and revolutionary; in the process of translating Lu Xun's works, take Call to the Arms (Nahan) as an example, this work truly depicts the social life from the Xinhai Revolution to the May Fourth period, revealing the deep-seated contradictions, profoundly analyzing and attacking the old Chinese system and stereotypes, which provides readers with a new perspective to This provides readers with a new perspective to better understand the culture and characteristics of modern China. On the other hand, with the passage of time, new generations of authors have emerged in the literary world, such as the "post-80s" literature, describing the authors born after 1980. Especially after 2000, the "post-80s" writing, mainly youth literature, has achieved a brilliant success in the literary market.
Han Han is one of the more famous post-80s literary writers. In translating Han Han's "Triple Door", I learned that Han Han is full of wisdom, he uses his own unique narrative to express his understanding of the world, and when he finds himself in tension with the world, he is able to give a clever way to solve it. Han Han uses a humoristic critical surrealism to describe phenomena of contemporary Chinese society. Difficult for the translator is, that Han Han often uses traditional proverbs and then interpretes them not by their allegoric, but by their true meaning and creates a twist in the story line. Since the proverbs have different meanings in the target culture, it takes a long time to find solutions for these frequent turning points in Han Han's stories.
The works of Han Han and Lu Xun both reflect to a certain extent their different understanding of the times, and they have their own different views on different times, and when they reflect their thoughts on the times in their books, this in itself is a way to show their charm. The views of the authors of different eras have the characteristics of the people of different eras, and in understanding their thoughts and works is also the way one can understand China step by step.
中国近现代文学是理解中国及其中国文化本身最好的方式。作家能够让读者明白他们的想法，并且让读者们参与到他们的想法中来，让他们以中国的视野来观看中国。中国近现代文学中能够看到古代文学与外国文学碰撞产生的火花。比如鲁迅，他不仅是中国著名的文学家、思想家、革命家；在对鲁迅的作品进行翻译的过程中，拿《呐喊》为例，这部作品真实描绘了从辛亥革命到五四时期的社会生活，揭示了种种深层次矛盾，对中国旧有制度以及陈腐的传统观念进行了深刻的剖析与抨击，这给读者提供了一个新的角度来更好的了解中国近现代的文化与时代特点。另一方面，随着时间的流逝，一些新兴文学登上了文学界，比如“80后”文学。“80后”写作是新世纪之初中国最重要的文化现象。2000年以后，以青春文学为主体的“80后”写作在文学市场取得了辉煌的胜利。而韩寒则是“80后”文学写作中较有名气的一位。在对韩寒《三重门》进行翻译时，我了解到韩寒充满了智慧，他用自己独特的叙述方式将他对世界的理解表达出来，另外，当他发现自己与世界的紧张关系时，他能够给予一种巧妙的方法进行解决。韩寒与鲁迅的作品都在一定程度上能够反应他们对于时代不同的理解，对于不同的时代，他们有着自己不同的看法，而当他们将自己对时代的思考在书中体现出来时，这本身就是一种魅力展现的方式。不同时代作者的看法都具备了不同时代人的特性，在了解他们的思想和作品的过程中，也可以一步步了解中国。
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.
我认为这是一种偏见，实际上文学作品在跨文化的翻译过程中，并不会失去其原本的魅力。今天我们阅读的文学作品几乎全部都是译作。如果我们不把文学作品翻译成其他文字，那么我们国家的文学作品只会拥有本土读者；如果我们想要让作品走出去，最好获得诺贝尔文学奖，那就至少得把文学作品翻译成英文，当然最好还要译成瑞典语。
每一部文学作品都拥有或多或少的独特魅力。倘若一部文学作品在外国读者看来是极具魅力的，而本国读者却意见相左，我们把它译成外国文字则是一件很有意义的事情。但是我们在翻译文学作品的时候切忌改变其原本的魅力，既不能增加一分，也不能减少一分。要做到这一点需要考虑许多因素，一个就是我们必须对该文学作品有充分的理解和鉴赏。倘若本土读者对某些国内作品也无法充分地理解和鉴赏，那么翻译该作品的最佳译者可以是那些旅居该国多年的外国译者。通常成功的文学作品翻译大多是由译作语言为母语的译者来完成的，外国文学作品的翻译也同样如此。如果一部外国文学作品想要在中国文学市场取得成功，有必要请一位中国译者来翻译该作品。如果这位译者本人还是一位作者，那是最理想的情况了。这就不难理解为什么最好的诗歌翻译都是由那些译语为母语的诗人完成的。 在译者学习翻译的过程中，往往要求他们必须熟练掌握一门外语，其熟练程度等同于其母语。这一点除了那些从小在双语环境里成长的并列双语者可能实现，对于其他人几乎是不切实际的。因此，译者往往是将外国作品翻译成自己的母语时才能取得更大的成就。
4. 过去很长一段时期，西方对中国古典文学研究较多，而对现当代文学的翻译和研究较少。曾有外国翻译家直言：“中国当代文学在西方的处境如同沙漠。”这一现象背后的原因是什么？
Of course the world is a desert, when it comes to Chinese literature. And this is unfair, because there are actually works of literature with a high quality in China.
In Germany, non-German literature accounts for 12,5% of literature, but Chinese literature only for 0,3% of literature. However, before I engaged in translation, we had 11 Chinese literary books per year being translated into German. With my engagement, this figure has roughly doubled. How did I achieve this? I gathered a group of young sinologists in Germany, who all joined into a translators workshop. In this workshop, we now translate about 10 books from Chinese into German, most of it works of literature. With this output, we have doubled the number of books translated from Chinese into German since more than a decade now.
The reason behind the desert phenomenon is, that Chinese literature is only as popular as the country is seen by the international community. The worldwide market for Russian literature broke down since end of February 2022, and at the same time the worldwide market for Ukrainian literature has skyrocketed. Since there was no change in quality, we can see from that that there are foreign perceptions and the image of a country, which plays into it. The easiest way for Chinese literature to become celebrated around the world would be to become a country, which is even more clean and even more free than today.
因此我给自己定了一个目标：将更多的中国文学作品翻译成我的母语——德语。我在德国召集了一些年轻的汉学家加入到一个翻译工作室，一起从事翻译工作。我们目前已经完成了10本中文作品的德语翻译，其中大部分是文学作品。因为我们的努力使中国书籍德译数量同十年前比翻了一番。 造成文学“沙漠化现象”的原因则是：文学作品的受欢迎程度与该国在世界的受欢迎程度相关。从2022年2月底开始，俄罗斯文学的全球市场已经崩溃，而与此同时我们发现乌克兰文学的全球市场却迅猛增长。我们可以看到两国文学作品的质量并没有发生任何变化，是外国对于两国的看法以及国家自身的形象左右了其文学作品的受欢迎度。让中国文学作品誉满全球的最简单的办法就是中国政府进一步加强环境保护和人权保障工作。 其次因为各个国家的意识形态不同，难免会使中国当代文学在国外出现接受难或者认知偏差的情况。我想指出的是无论是哪国的文学作品，如果遭遇过度意识形态化、过度政治化的解读、阐释与译介，其文学性与诗学价值很可能会大打折扣甚至完全被遮蔽。 文化心态与接受心态因素：文化输入和文化输出国地位的对比会影响目标文化的输入意愿从而左右文化输出的成效。文化接受的不均衡性必然导致文化接受语境以及读者接受心态的不均衡现象，而文化层面的“傲慢”与“偏见”会影响翻译作品和翻译策略的选择，进一步影响到作品的传播。因而中国文学作品倘若需要走出去，首先参加这个交流的人必须充分准确地认识自己的文化，同时也充分了解接收国的文化。 翻译副文本因素：副文本即解读文本，是文本的重要构建形态，译作前言是构成副文本的重要组成部分。译者通过前言介绍作品的创作者、评价其作品、指导读者了解作品艺术特色及解读作品。中国出版商往往会将我译作的前言部分略去，这样会影响外国读者对该作品的了解，使中国文学作品在海外传播出现接受障碍。 五是对国外目标读者群体的研究不够深入会影响其对于中国当代文学作品的认知和接受程度。
5. 近年来，中国近现代文学在西方“遇冷”的现象有所改变吗？目前的接受程度如何？哪些类型的中国近现代文学更容易吸引欧洲读者？
There is the underlying problem of the popularity of China as a country in general in the eyes of people in America, Europe, and Africa. Especially in the United States we have seen a drop in popularity of China from 42% pro and 38% contra in 2008 to 22% pro and 73% contra in 2020 according to the Pew Research Center. Of course this drop in popularity is partly home made. So there are concrete measures to enhance the image of China in the world, e.g. reduction of corruption, enhancement of the rule of law, reliability, trust, power control, self-criticism regarding own problems and mistakes and the taking over of as much responsibility for peace and stability in the world as much China represents one fourth of the world population and is among the two largest economies in the world.
Literature itself can contribute its share by delivering high quality literature. Although most of Chinese literature is below world literature quality since the 1930s, there are still a few works worth translating. Some contemporary writers, such as Mo Yan, Liu Cixin, Yan Lianke, Su Tong, and Yu Hua, have already gained some influence among Western readers, but many more writers are still obscure. On the whole, Chinese literature has not yet developed a stable profile with its own characteristics among Western readers.
Chinese authors could also enhance the quality of their literature by learning several languages and reading the literature of other countries in their original languages. In 1920's China, Chinese writers naturally spoke different languages and also participated in the cultural exchange and translated literature. Through this intense cultural exchange, also Lu Xun's short story "The True Story of Ah Q" was translated into French and supported by the French author Romand Rollain.
Among the literary categories, science fiction, children's literature and online literature are more popular among Western readers, including European readers, while works with strong political content are less popular. According to a study by Ariadne Consulting, the scale of overseas users of Chinese online literature has reached more than 80 million in 2020, which has a very strong appeal to Western readers.
在美国、欧洲和非洲，中国作为一个国家本身的受欢迎度不高，这也影响了中国近现代文学在全球的传播。尤其是在美国，根据皮尤研究中心(Pew Research Center)的数据，可以看到中国的受欢迎程度从2008年的42%欢迎和38%不欢迎下降到2020年的22%欢迎和73%不欢迎。这使中国近现代文学在西方的传播仍不容乐观。
中国国家在西方受欢迎程度的下降，除国际原因之外也有一部分国内原因。对此，也有一些具体的措施，例如持续减少腐败、加强法治、可信度和自我批评，提升对权力机制的监管，以及继续为世界和平稳定作出应有的贡献。
文坛自身也可以多多产出高质量文学作品。自20世纪30年代以来，中国文学有时受政治因素影响，但高质量作品仍然较为丰富。像莫言、刘慈欣、阎连科、苏童、余华等一些当代作家已经在西方读者中具有一定的影响力，但更多的作家则依旧面目模糊。从整体上来说，中国文学尚未在西方读者中形成具有自身特色的稳定面貌。中国作家可以多阅读其他国家的文学作品，达到取长补短、兼收并蓄的效果。例如在20世纪20年代的中国，中国作家如鲁迅就积极参与文化交流和翻译。通过这种激烈的文化交流，鲁迅的短篇小说《阿Q正传》被翻译成法文，并得到了法国作家罗曼•罗兰的支持。
在文学类别中，科幻小说、儿童文学以及网络文学是西方读者包括欧洲读者较为欢迎的，而政治性强的作品则不太受欢迎。据艾瑞咨询研究显示，2020年中国网络文学海外用户规模已达到八千万以上，对西方读者有非常强的吸引力。
6. 你扎实的语言基本功和翻译水平使你的作品在欧美汉学界引起了广泛关注。你认为翻译中国近现代文学能为中西文化交流做出怎样的贡献？
If we want to better the situation of cultural exchange and mutual understanding, we may reform the country to make it more popular. We also need to bring people together. To get to know someone from the other country often changes the attitude towards the country. This can start with school partnerships and end with city partnerships. Of course there also needs to be found a long term solution between China's self-chosen isolation due to the Zero-Covid strategy and the open world around China.
We can also catch the attention of foreign readers with other cultural phenomena, which are received favorably. For example, the blockbuster movies of the 5th generation Chinese film directors has extremely pushed the reception of Chinese works of literature. Red Sorghum, Ju Dou, Life etc. are all works of literature adapted to films.
Another way is to introduce Chinese food culture with films like "The Wedding Banquet" or "Eat, drink, man, women" or Chinese martial arts with "Crouching Tiger, hidden dragon".
Moreover, the best way to understand a people a country a culture is by reading its modern literature. Through the text, the author can lead the reader into his mind and engage the reader in the trajectory of his thoughts, so that the reader can understand China through the eyes of the Chinese and break down prejudices. For example, An Lezhe and Luo Siwen's attempt to find a way out from a comparative philosophical perspective in their interpretation of the Analects successfully transmits ancient Chinese philosophical thought to the English-speaking world. Also Yu Dan's Confucius from the Heart has helped to export Confucian ideas internationally.
如果我们想要改善文化交流和相互理解的状况，除了上面罗列的方法之外，我们还需要让人们团结起来。通常来说，当人们真正了解了来自一个国家的人，他们常常会改变对这个国家的态度。因此我们可以多多与其他国家内部建立学校伙伴关系和城市伙伴关系等。当然，由于中国现在采取“清零”战略，选择自我隔离，而中国周边世界已经开放，我们需要找到一个行之有效的解决方案。
我们也可以用其他文化方式来吸引外国读者的注意，这个方法很受欢迎。例如，中国第五代电影导演拍摄的大片极大地推动了西方对中国文学作品的接受，《红高粱》、《菊豆》、《人生》等都是改编成电影的文学作品。
我们还通过电影《婚宴》、《饮食男女》等来介绍中国的饮食文化，或者通过电影《卧虎藏龙》来介绍中国的武术。
翻译中国近现代文学能够丰富世界文学，中国近现代文学中有许多优秀作品。这些作品值得被世界人民所看到。
此外，了解一个民族一个国家一种文化的最好方式就是通过阅读它的近现代文学。通过文字，作者可以带领读者进入他的思想，让读者参与他的思想轨迹，使读者能够通过中国人的眼睛了解中国，打破偏见。比如安乐哲和罗思文对《论语》进行阐释时尝试从比较哲学角度寻找出路，成功地把中国古代哲学思想传到英语世界。于丹的《论语心得》也帮助了全球传播儒学的道理。
7. 近现代东西方文学有何交流与相互影响？
China and the West in modern times has been the Western missionaries who came to China, the foreign students, and the overseas Chinese who emigrated. Western missionaries introduced classical Chinese literature to the West, such as James Legge who was one of the first to publish the Chinese Classics in English, whose purpose was to introduce Eastern culture, philosophical thought and customs to Western readers.
Chinese scholars, such as Zhu Shenghao, were among the first Chinese translators of Shakespeare's works, Guo Moruo of Goethe's works, and the quality and style of their translations are recognized by Shakespearean researchers at home and abroad. The mutual exchange of Eastern and Western literature in modern times has not only promoted the development of Chinese literature, but also enriched world literature. The rich variety of Western literature provides more choices for Chinese reading, not only Romeo and Juliet love stories, but also anti-utopian literature like Animal Farm. Chinese literature also brings something different to the West in terms of vision and experience. Based on his international readings, Mo Yan has created his vernacular works, which give Western readers a sense of the Chinese vernacular.
The exchange of literature is rising. Currently, we have a peak in German children literature licences going to China.
Also, more Chinese literature is translated into foreign languages, also due to the sponsorship program by the government.
However, printing books with money does not replace a missing market demand. Only if the market itself asks for Chinese books, Chinese literature will increase its worldwide presence. And if that happens, sponsorship is also not needed any more and could be reduced to the much smaller budgets of translation sponsorship we see in other countries.
近代以来中西文化交流的主力是来华的西方传教士、留学生和移民海外的华侨华人。 西方传教士把中国古典文学介绍到了西方，比如理雅各出版了《中国经典》的第一卷，其目的就是为了向西方读者介绍东方的文化、哲学思想和风土人情。
还有中国的有识之士如朱生豪是中国翻译莎士比亚作品较早的人之一，郭沫若是歌德作品最早翻译家之一，其译文质量和风格卓具特色，为国内外莎士比亚研究者所公认。
近现代东西方文学相互交流，不仅促进了中国文学的发展，而且还丰富了世界文学。西方文学种类丰富，为中国人阅读提供了更多选择，不仅有《罗密欧与朱丽叶》这样的爱情故事，也有《动物农场》之类的反乌托邦文学。中国文学也会给西方带来一些不一样的视野和体验。莫言在读获得诺贝尔文学奖的全球文学作品的基础上写了乡土作品，让西方读者真切感受到中国的乡土人情。
文学的交流正在上升。目前，我们有一个德国儿童文学许可证前往中国的高峰。
此外，更多的中国文学作品被翻译成外语，这也是由于政府的赞助计划。
然而，用钱印书并不能取代缺失的市场需求。只有当市场本身需要中国书籍时，中国文学才会增加其在全世界的影响力。如果这样，赞助也就不再需要了，可以减少到我们在其他国家看到的小得多的翻译赞助的预算。
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。
参考资料
https://www.sohu.com/a/442142_106055
外国翻译家：中国当代文学在西方的处境如同沙漠 2014-10-30 12:13
在昨天举行的一场“汉学与当代中国”座谈会上，面对采访的几位国外翻译家表示对中国当代文学作品在国外的翻译出版很不乐观，他们毫不留情地用“太差了”、“沙漠”、“怪怪的”等来形容中国当代文学在西方的处境，令记者感到意外。
怎么了
俄罗斯曾经三年没出版一本中国当代文学书籍
俄罗斯圣彼得堡国立大学东方系常务副主任罗季奥诺夫很形象的控诉中国当代文学在俄罗斯的“惨状”：“与政治经济的热相比，中国文学在俄罗斯不能说是冷的，但至少是凉的。”罗季奥诺夫介绍，“翻译逆差明显，达到了20倍，俄罗斯的80后和90后根本就不知道当代中国文学是什么，他们只了解西方文学。”
据他统计，1990年到2005年这15年间，中国当代文学在俄罗斯一共只出版了8本书，平均两年一本，“简直是沙漠”，2005年到2008年因为有合作项目，出版了几本书，2008年金融危机后到2010年的3年间，一本书也没有，2011年出版了1本，才卖出去1000册，2012年好一点，出版了2本，一共卖出去8300册。
加拿大西门菲莎大学教授、汉学家Jan Walls痴迷中国文化，不但给自己起了个地道的中文名字王健，还会表演数来宝。“我注意到，2013年我们的作家门罗得了诺贝尔文学奖后，中国的出版社出版了9本她的小说，而2012年莫言得了诺奖后，却没有同等的待遇，加拿大并没有因为莫言得奖就多出版他的书。”王健说，加拿大的汉学家和翻译家不少，但有个共同的“毛病”，就是重视中国古典文学，轻视中国当代文学，包括他自己，作为叶嘉莹的学生，也更喜欢翻译古诗词。
西班牙马德里自治大学东亚研究中心主任、翻译家达西安娜·菲萨克，在上世纪80年代就翻译了大量的巴金、钱钟书等名家的作品到西班牙。她也直言中国当代文学在西班牙的境况不乐观。
为什么
中国当代作品的翻译连资深汉学家都发憷
对于中国当代文学作品不被国外接受的另外一个原因，是跨文化的翻译过程让作品失去了其魅力。土耳其安卡拉大学中文系主任欧凯带着几个中文流利的博士生来中国交流，他指了指自己的学生，“土耳其目前中国文学的大部分译者都是我的学生，我不应该这样直接批评我的学生，但我必须要说，翻译得太差了，很多错误。”
欧凯的手机里面存着许多张图书的图片，每一张里都有用红色笔圈出来的字句。欧凯向《北京晚报》记者展示这些他随时翻看的翻译作品，其中有铁凝的《永远有多远》，欧凯很喜欢铁凝的文字，“可是你看，这本书的名字就翻译错了，还有王刚的作品《英格力士》，书名直接翻译成《英语》了，这怎么能一样呢。”欧凯又翻到一本莫言的作品，其中的“八路”翻译成了“第八大道”：“他们不了解中国文化，不了解创作背后的含义，如果我是普通读者，到书店里拿起这样一本书翻一下，根本不会去买。”
这种翻译的困难有时也并不只是年轻的译者中文水平有限所致，而是中西文化差异过大。菲萨克告诉记者，尽管已经有三十年的翻译经验，但是在翻译当代作品时还是发憷：“翻译当代的文学作品有些困难，大部分都是通过英文和法文的译本再翻译成西班牙文。”这样就造成了二次转述中和原文更大的误差。她还提到，中国曾经组织了一批西班牙语好的外语人才，将中国作品翻译到西班牙。“我不认为这种做法可行，因为我看了书以后，觉得语言都是怪怪的，读者看过之后可能更觉得中国是个距离遥远的文化了。”
怎么办
这事儿需要政府牵引 靠个人力量肯定不行
欧凯的建议很直接，希望土耳其政府和中国政府共同为翻译作品的质量把关。“政府必须介入，之前的翻译都是很个人的事情，喜欢哪本书，跟出版社说，就开始翻译，根本无法保证翻译的质量。”欧凯认为，可以成立一个委员会，监督和审查翻译的质量，为作品严格把关，“这件事情肯定要政府去做，靠个人的力量是不行的。”
罗季奥诺夫则提出了具体的建议，希望俄罗斯的孔子学院和中国作家协会合作推出翻译项目，“不但要翻译，更要推广，不是把书出版就行了，还要大力推广，比如莫言和余华这样一批有名气的中国作家，完全可以走商业宣传的方式。”罗季奥诺夫也敏感地提出，在翻译作品时要特别注意本土读者的接受程度：“我发现很多在中国特别受欢迎的作品，俄罗斯人很不喜欢，甚至还会反感，引起对于中国人的误解，挑选什么样的文学作品很关键。”
菲萨克一直以来担心的西班牙“缺少真正懂中文的人”的人才不足问题，随着2008年西班牙大学开始招收本科汉语专业的学生有了很大改变，可以寄希望于后辈：“目前已经培养了一批年轻的汉学家，真正在搞翻译，真正因为喜欢中国文学才会做这件事。”
同样为人才担心的加拿大学者王健也说，别看加拿大面积大，但是人口还不及云南省的人口，翻译人才就更少了。“现在有一个现象，是中国移民到加拿大，在大学继续学习中国文学的学者们，有这样一批中青年学者在从事翻译工作，都是自发的。”王健说。 本报记者陈梦溪返回搜狐，查看更多