Overview

In Translation Stories from Modern China, Professor Bonnie S. McDougall gives readers a rare firsthand account of not just the career but the international life of a trailblazing translator. From the unexpected beginnings of her passion for modern Chinese literature when she accidentally enrolled in a Chinese class in Australia to being sent to Peking University, McDougall details the experiences that sparked a lifelong obsession with translating. This riveting book offers a rare glimpse into McDougall's work at the Foreign Languages Press and her encounters with some of the most avant-garde writers in China in the early 1980s. McDougall reveals what it was like to translate the works of Bei Dao, Chen Kaige, He Qifang, and Mao Zedong and to work with translators like Gladys Yang and Yang Xianyi. She also discusses how she delved into the enthralling and previously overlooked love life and sexual history of literary giants Lu Xun and Xu Guangping, unraveling stories from the 1920s and 1930s that have been shrouded in mystery. McDougall's exploration doesn't stop there; she delves into the vibrant world of modern Hong Kong literature, bringing her narrative into the present day. The penultimate chapter unveils her thought-provoking ideas on literary translation, culminating in her latest obsession, ""we own our own words,"" highlighting the profound connection between translators and their craft. This memoir is not just a chronicle of McDougall's extraordinary career but a thrilling adventure through modern Chinese literary translation and life, where she has been both a keen observer and an active participant. Insightful and humorous, readers will be enlightened and entertained by the vivid storytelling of a true pioneer. *Includes photos.

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9781638571889

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Reviews

""Bonnie McDougall's stellar career as a scholar and translator of modern and contemporary Chinese literature has taken her from Australia to China, and also to Europe and the United States. In this lively memoir, which I have read with pleasure, she looks back on her early training and her experiences in these places. Readers will especially be interested in her accounts of her contacts with Beijing's young poets of the 1980s when she was employed by the Foreign Languages Press. Her account of her problematical relations with her editors and publishers is very informative too. Scholars of translation studies will appreciate her personal views on some thorny issues in the translation from Chinese, and students of modern and contemporary Chinese literature will also want to read this book to benefit from her insights and advice."" -Wilt L. Idema, Harvard University ""Professor Bonnie S. McDougall is one of the most distinguished and distinctive voices in the study of modern Chinese literature. As a practical translator of Chinese literature, she has made some monumental contributions, including being the first person to introduce the work of Bei Dao to the English-reading world and bringing about a full translation of Dung Kai-cheung's widely acclaimed work Atlas. As a scholar who thinks and writes about translation in all its aspects, she is uniquely perceptive and unrivaled in her ability to describe and analyze all that is involved in bringing translations of Chinese literature to the reading public. In this book, she looks back on her very rich career as a translator, blending it with a biography of her academic career across four continents. Her personal experiences in Maoist China and early Reform-era China, her dealings with various British, American, and Hong Kong publishers, and especially her ongoing musings about the best ways to translate specific words, names, or titles are truly fascinating and will also be eye-opening for any readers who believe that translation is a straightforward task. Readers will also appreciate the ironically self-deprecating manner in which she reminisces on her own efforts to constantly improve as a translator, and they will be grateful to learn about the many ways in which she has advocated for better acknowledgment and compensation of translators."" -Michel Hockx, University of Notre Dame ""Bonnie S. McDougall's Translation Stories from Modern China is part memoir, part literary history, and part practical guide to the art and craft (as well as the travails and pleasures) of translating modern Chinese literature by an important pioneer and highly versatile figure in the field. Ranging over time, place, authors and their texts, this book offers readers engaging glimpses into the contexts, choices, cultural sensitivities, and sheer hard work that have shaped her impressive international career as a translator and scholar."" -C. D. Alison Bailey, University of British Columbia

Author Information

Bonnie S. McDougall (FAHA) is Honorary Professor at the School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Sydney, Emeritus Fellow at the Australian Academy of the Humanities, Emeritus Professor of Chinese at the University of Edinburgh, and Honorary Fellow at the Australian Society for Humanities. The most recent additions to Dr. McDougall's extensive list of publications include Translation Zones in Modern China: Authoritarian Command Versus Gift Exchange as well as co-translations with Anders Hansson: Atlas: The Archeology of an Imaginary City by Dung Kai-cheung (Columbia University Press), Cantonese Love Stories: Twenty-five Vignettes of a City by Dung Kai-cheung (Penguin Special), A Catalog of Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On by Dung Kai-cheung (Columbia University Press).

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