The Unquiet Dreams of Lesser Malaysian Writers

Using the ‘Global Malaysian Novel’ as a focal point, my paper demonstrates how the emergence of this critical conceptualization is a shift that problematizes traditional postmodern and postcolonial modes that have not yet transcended the nation as a frame of reference. When ‘Global Malaysian Novels’ are being written, marketed and sold outside Malaysian borders, to what extent do these texts retain their capacity for representation: Asian identities, national identities, regional and diasporic? While a critique of their complicity in Global Literary Markets centered in the U.K. and U.S. is often reduced to an ad hominem attack, there remains much to be said about the effects of their increasingly transnational material productions upon their more formally understood aesthetic and literary qualities. As such, I explore the discursive effects of the ‘Global Malaysian Novel’ as a transnational production in Southeast Asia, and how literary scholars have approached contemporary Asian literatures and attempted to situate them within realms of the national, within postcolonial Southeast Asia and within wider World Literature frameworks. In particular, I chart not only the historical production of literary texts written in English in Southeast Asia since 1945, but the current discourse of English Literary studies in the region.

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.

Japanese Literature in Contemporary Hungary

This paper sheds light on the main trends in translation of Japanese literature in contemporary Hungary and theorize the role of Haruki Murakami’s works in making Japanese literature widely recognized. Firstly, the paper gives a general overview on translations of Japanese literature in Hungary in the post-1989 era. I argue that after a decline in translation in the 1990’s, the spread of anime and manga combined with the popularity of Haruki Murakami’s novels generated a growing interest in Japanese literature and culture in Hungary resulting in changed translation strategies. While translations were limited to pieces of the so-called junbungaku (pure literature) in the pre-1989 era, numerous pieces of taishūbungaku (popular literature) have been translated since the 2000’s, attracting a wider range of readers than ever. Based on book reviews from critics and readers published in traditional and social media, the second part of this paper will explore the main platforms of Japanese literature and analyze its reception. I argue that the magical realist setting combined with dialogues on fundamental questions of life create a specific literary mode which satisfy the Western readers’ desire for the exotic Other, ensuring the place of Japanese literature in the Western literary world.

Gao Xingjian’s Escape from Orientalism

Of Mountains and Seas (1989) and Snow in August (1997) are two plays which Gao Xingjian completed in France and contain direct references to ancient Chinese cultures. With reference to Gao’s “cold” theatrical techniques of suppositionality and tripartite acting, I argue such plays not only expose the Orientalist impulses in their portrayals of Chinese mythology and Zen Buddhism but also breathe new life into these ancient Chinese traditions. By highlighting Gao’s emphasis on observation, this paper demonstrates how his “escape” from Orientalism via literature is less about the avoidance of Orientalism than the reflexive observation of Orientalism.

Drifting in the World Literary Space

For Hong Kong poet Leung Ping-Kwan (penname: Ye Si, 1949-2013), travel allows him to visit literary capitals, in which his works are translated into local languages. Without regarding himself as merely a Hong Kong writer, Leung intentionally reminisces about his travel accounts in these literary centers, accentuating how his life is permeated by European traditions. This essay examines the trope of travel in Leung Ping-Kwan’s poems along with his prose essays, focusing on the dialectical thinking of centers and peripheries. I contend that the idea of travel points to the poet’s personal experiences as well as his literary endeavors while embarking on his poetic journeys. I adopt the notion of “self-exile” to describe the moment when Leung stays away from his native land and ponders on how Hong Kong Literature – the so-called “small literature” – can raise its visibility if it is presented in the international literary scene. Specifically, he draws several routes to the literary centers, Paris and Berlin in particular. And without simply being assimilated into the dominant literary culture, Leung usually writes in Chinese and tactically inserts the images of Hong Kong while illustrating the European urban imageries.

Canon Breeds Canon

In this article, I explore the relationship between the reproduction of hegemonic discourses of national representation in the reception of literature in translation and processes of canonization. I argue that World Literature as a paradigm hinders our efforts of overcoming the burdens of canonization. As a case study, I analyze the implications of building and reproducing a canon of Japanese literature in translation in the United States for the way Japan has been represented in public discourse in the last thirty years. I will focus on the reception of Murakami Haruki as the contemporary representative of the canon of Japanese literature in translation. My goal is to examine how the circumstances of Japanese literature in translation perpetuate mechanisms of canonization in their engagement and legitimation of an ongoing logic of representation that is non-confrontational with agents in power. I aim to test the extent to which studying the reception of East Asian literature in translation can help us promote a broader discussion on the appropriateness of such frameworks in our understanding of the contemporary literary phenomenon.

Bringing the Monkey King to the World

By the end of 1930s, Waley had already established his reputation as a sinologist and an outstanding translator of Chinese poetry. Under what circumstances did Waley decide to translate the novel Xiyou ji into English? How does Monkey connect to social and literary realities during his time? If we follow Pascale Casanova’s application of Abram de Swaan’s “floral figuration” to her discussion on the literary world, how is this Chinese novel of the periphery linked to the center through Waley’s translation and other “cosmopolitan intermediaries”? Furthermore, if world literature, as David Damrosch proposes, is “an elliptical refraction of national literatures,” in what ways does Monkey respond to the tension between the receiving culture and its national context? By addressing those questions, this paper seeks to demonstrate Waley’s multiple relationship with Xiyou ji and highlight various factors that contribute to the canonization of the novel in a larger space of world literature.

Some Lamentation Passages in Sanskrit Poetry (Especially in Kālidāsa’s Mahākāvyas)

The paper gives a detailed comparison of the two Sanskrit lamentation passages, the laments of Aja (Ragh. 8. 37–69) and Rati (Kum. 4.1–38); it is conducted against the background of some other texts with similar content. The laments share a number of similar motifs. When examining the structure of these passages (as well as that of other related texts, not only those written in Sanskrit), the following elements may be discerned: the speakers’ stupor or loss of consciousness; their attempts at self-destruction; an address to the dead in which personal experiences are recalled. The lamenting persons are shown as coming to cry over themselves, thereby embracing some personal memories and finding comfort or protection. Apart from offering words of comfort, the consolatory speeches addressed to them also give an explanation of the causes of their loss (the death of Indumatī or the incineration of Kāma).

Early Evidence for the Egyptian God Kheprer

Analysing early pieces of evidence for a phenomenon has always been a problematic task and it can be more difficult when dealing with a religious topic. Anachronistic approaches have often been projected in this kind of research, which brings inaccurate interpretations and findings. This paper concentrates on early testimonies for the ancient Egyptian god Kheprer, the deity of the morning sun and autogenesis. It discusses some previously suggested Predynastic, Early Dynastic, and Old Kingdom sources (such as finds of beetles in vessels, the so-called Libyan Palette, Giza writing board, figures of beetles, personal names and titles, Pyramid Texts) that can refer to the existence and belief in this deity. This study focuses mainly on the problematic issues in the interpretations of those finds, demonstrating thus that the only secure evidence for Kheprer comes from the Pyramid Texts.