Translation from the ... Chinese

       In China Daily Chris Davis looks at Unlocking China's literary gems through translation -- wondering:

How many more Noble Prizes for Literature could China be winning if only their writers could get more international audiences through translation ?

       Sic, and sigh .....
       Though good for Olivia Milburn for pointing out:

As for Nobel Prizes waiting to be won, Milburn finds the fixation "deeply disturbing, and probably as damaging for Chinese literature as the quest for Best Foreign Film has been to large sections of the Chinese film industry."

       (Recall also Julia Lovell's book on the (desperate) Chinese Nobel-ambitions, The Politics of Cultural Capital.)
       Sad also, her point:

Milburn mentions another trend where well known Chinese novels have been translated into English and appear in abridged versions, a process she calls "horrifying". She cited Jiang Rong's Wolf Totem and Jin Yong's The Deer and the Cauldron as two recent examples.

"If these book were available translated into English in full with an extra abridged version, that would be one thing," she argued. "But the decision to simply publish short versions is (in my opinion) shocking. If the publishers of these translations thought that the historical details were too difficult for English readers, they should have arranged to translate a different type of book."

       The idea of an 'extra' (i.e. separate) abridged version is, of course, fantastical; still, the problem of such shameful large-scale editorial interference is one that is far too little mentioned and discussed, with publishers generally fairly reluctant to even admit to what is, sadly, a widespread practice.