Nobel laureate (and The Case for Literature-author) Gao Xingjian spoke at the Singapore Writers Festival a couple of days ago, and Clarissa Oon reports in The Straits Times Translation is like "rewriting from scratch": Nobel literary laureate Gao Xingjian
Among the titbits of interest:
Among the titbits of interest:
The young Gao devoured European literature in translation. "I never felt I was reading a Frenchman, Russian or Englishman, just an individual whose works I was very interested in."And:
In today's globalised world, no one can put the brakes on such cross-cultural exchange, he added.
Despite being seen by many as a Chinese writer, the straight-talking Gao said he had long stopped following developments in his home country.
"I'm more concerned about Europe, the crisis that it is in, which is not just financial but intellectual. There are no longer any fresh ideas and philosophies."