From Gaomi to Nobel

The global translation field is characterized by a core-periphery structure. The translation of Chinese literature into English falls into the category of translation flows from the periphery to the core. Combining Bourdieu’s field and capital with world literature studies, this article explores the factors impinging on the production, circulation and consecration of Chinese literature in the English literary field with the English translation of Nobel Laureate Mo Yan’s fiction as an illustrative case study. By so doing, the article shows that the logic of market dominant in the English publishing field plays a decisive role in the production and circulation of Chinese literature in the English world. The translation agents such as translators, publishers and editors act as gatekeepers in the selection process and facilitators in the consecration process. With the analysis of the case of Mo Yan, the article argues that the success and canonization of his fiction in the English world relies not only on the aesthetic and commercial stakes of its publishing context, but also on the promotion and consecration via the joint efforts of the English publishers, the editors, the literary agent and Howard Goldblatt who possess a multiplicity of capital in their own fields.

Understanding the Nobel Laureate ‘Mo Yan’ Through His Fiction

One of the main characteristics of Contemporary Chinese Literature is that it has remained true to the time it represented. Although it has been used extensively to serve the political agenda of the Communist party on occasions, but it has managed to carry forward the idea of realism, which started to flourish during the May Fourth period. After the announcement of the policy of “Reform and Opening up” by Deng Xiaoping in the Post Mao period China, a brilliant story teller emerged from the rural area of Gaomi in Shandong province of China. This paper aims to understand the phenomena created by Mo Yan’s writings in contemporary period of Chinese literature. The paper initially has discussed the major trends in post-Mao period Chinese literature to provide the background for understanding the emergence of Mo Yan. The paper has tried to discuss the major trends in Mo Yan’s writings focusing on the fiction-world created by him in his novels. Then it has further analysed the characteristics of Mo Yan’s writings. Finally, through the analysis of available contents a conclusion has been drawn.

Análisis de dominios científicos de la investigación de la traducción de obras de Mo Yan en China a través de Citespace

El presente trabajo tiene el fin de dar a conocer, con la aplicación de Citespace V.5.3.R7, herramienta para analizar registros bibliográficos de publicaciones relevantes, la tendencia del estudio traductológico de las obras de Mo Yan en China durante el período del 1999 al 2019. Por ello, se recopila una base de dato bibliográfico compuesta por 1,529 artículos académicos al respecto de la plataforma CNKI. Basándose en redes Pathfinder y Pruning sliced network, se revelan las concentraciones temáticas de referencias cocitadas, las líneas de investigación por palabras clave y clústeres, se analiza la distribución cuantitativa de las publicaciones, se destacan las revistas, instituciones y autores clave por medio de grafo y datos de CNKI. De acuerdo con los datos sacados, se harán contribuciones para profundizar el estudio traslativo de obras de Mo Yan. Palabras clave: Mo Yan, Bibliometría, CNKI, Traducción, Citespace

El El destino y el camino: un análisis comparativo de la naturaleza/el mundo rural en las novelas de Miguel Delibes y Mo Yan

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo realizar un estudio comparativo del símbolo de la naturaleza/el mundo rural en las obras de Miguel Delibes y Mo Yan, siendo ambos importantes figuras de la literatura de España y de China. Mediante un análisis a la nature writing de sus obras, que engloba la construcción del espacio literario, el lenguaje y la función del paisaje de la naturaleza/el mundo rural, trataremos de sacar las similitudes entre sus creaciones literarias y las diferencias en el significado de la naturaleza/el mundo rural para ambos autores: siendo para Delibes es el destino del ser humano, mientras que para Mo es el camino de búsqueda de la esencia de sí mismo.

Howard Goldblatt’s Translations of Mo Yan’s Works into English: Reader Oriented Approach

This article examines the strategies followed by Howard Goldblatt, the official translator of Mo Yan while translating his works from Chinese into English. Mo Yan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012 and critics argued that it was Goldblatt’s translation that was mainly responsible for Mo Yan’s Nobel Prize in Literature. Though Mo Yan’s works in translation are available in various languages, it is Goldblatt’s version that has become most popular. Therefore, from the perspective of Translation Studies, it would be interesting to identify the techniques used by Goldblatt that make his translations so special. The present paper compares titles, structure, and culture-specific expressions in the original and its English translation to identify the strategies followed by Howard Goldblatt in translating Chinese literary texts.

The motive of overcoming history and fate and the Buddhist worldview in A. L. Ivanchenko’s novel “Monogram” and Mo Yan’s “Tired of being Born and Dying”

The article analyzes the motives of overcoming history and fate in the novels by A. L. Ivanchenko “Monogram” and Mo Yan “Tired of Being Born and Dying” in the context of the Buddhist worldview of both authors. The images of the main characters, the chronotope, the themes and problems of the works are examined through the prism of the Buddhist attitudes presented in the books; and life strategies and escape strategies of the Russian and Chinese characters are compared. The reborn Ivanchenko and Mo Yan's characters overcome their karma and their family's karma by conquering affective conditions and coming to the end of the life cycle. They discover the conventional nature of a human's existence through the motif of mirroring (the Russian author) and proximity to the wildlife (the Chinese author). The protagonists in the Russian and Chinese novels are characterized by a complex structure of consciousness, which tends to multiply and reveal its illusory nature. Time in both novels is cyclical and virtually devoid of movement, despite the presence of the characters in the actual political history. The space of both books tends to turn into a myth, revealing images of eternity through the earthly specifics of the place: the heroine of “Monogram” is in the Buddhist “looking glass”, while the hero in “Tired of being born and dying” is in the manor, which is a model of mythological cosmos. The controversial history of China and Russia of the previous century, A. L. Ivanchenko and Mo Yan's political extremes become a starting point for unfolding the internal plot, the plot of the heroes' Buddhist transformation and finding their Buddhist peace.