USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    China
    Home / China / Society

    Joyce's Finnegans Wake sells out quickly in China

    Agencies/China Daily | Updated: 2013-02-01 09:10
    The Chinese version is no easier to read than the original, the loyal-minded translator assures, but James Joyce's Finnegans Wake has still sold out its initial run in China - with the help of some big urban billboards.

    Wang Weisong, chief editor of the Shanghai company that published the first Chinese translation of the Joyce classic, coyly said at a recent forum in Shanghai that he wasn't expecting any success for the book, but that the modest initial run of 8,000 copies has sold out since it went on sale on Dec 25. He said more copies are being printed to meet demand.

    Joyce's <EM>Finnegans Wake</EM> sells out quickly in China

    A Chinese man points near a large billboard advertising the translated work of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake on a street in Beijing on Wednesday. Ng Han Guan / Associated Press

    Dai Congrong, who spent eight years translating it, told the same forum that she didn't fully grasp the novel but that it was supposed to be difficult, and that she kept the Chinese version that way.

    "I would not be faithful to the original intent of the novel if my translation made it easy to comprehend," Dai said, according to a transcript the Shanghai People's Publishing House posted online.

    Despite waning interest in foreign literature over the past couple of decades, the Shanghai News and Publishing Bureau said the novel's sales in Shanghai last week were second only to a new biography of Deng Xiaoping in the category of "good books", a term reserved for more serious reads.

    The book, widely considered Joyce's most experimental and inscrutable work, was promoted by an unusual billboard campaign in major Chinese cities - with 16 of them in Shanghai alone. Xinhua News Agency said it was the first time a book had been promoted that way in China.

    Some critics say the surprise hit has pandered to a superficial demand among some Chinese for high-brow imports.

    "Pushed by a current of unprecedented vanity," is how Shanghai native and New York-based writer Li Jie described the Finnegans Wake phenomenon in a post on his micro blog.

    "It's beyond my comprehension that a niche work should cause a sales tsunami," Li Weiqi, a bank employee and an avid reader from Shanghai, wrote on his micro blog after he spotted a huge outdoor light box advertisement for the novel. "Might it be that it's being hawked as a commodity to attract the pretentious?"

    He added, "I am sure I cannot decipher the novel, not even a word."

    Murong Xuecun, a renowned Chinese author and critic, is planning to get a copy of the translated novel. "It has the reputation of being inscrutable, and people are so curious they want to read it themselves," Murong said. "I am sure that's universal around the world. It does not say the Chinese readers have a higher taste."

    The demand for translations of foreign-language novels exploded during the opening-up period in the 1980s and 1990s when China was eager for new thought. Joyce's Ulysses was warmly received when it was first translated in the mid-1990s.


     

    Editor's picks
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    xx中文字幕乱偷avxx| 免费无码毛片一区二区APP| 国产午夜精品无码| 日本乱偷人妻中文字幕在线| 人禽无码视频在线观看| 三级理论中文字幕在线播放| 少妇人妻偷人精品无码视频新浪| 日韩中文字幕在线视频| 久久无码一区二区三区少妇 | 精品欧洲AV无码一区二区男男| 亚洲精品一级无码中文字幕 | 亚洲精品无码久久久影院相关影片 | 天堂最新版中文网| 伊人蕉久中文字幕无码专区| 精品无码一区二区三区爱欲九九 | 永久免费av无码网站yy| 最新中文字幕在线视频| 一本一道AV无码中文字幕| 久久精品?ⅴ无码中文字幕| 精品国产a∨无码一区二区三区| 久久亚洲日韩看片无码| 久久中文精品无码中文字幕| 色婷婷综合久久久中文字幕| AV无码免费永久在线观看| 精品无码人妻一区二区免费蜜桃| 亚洲AV人无码激艳猛片| 亚洲AV无码专区电影在线观看| 亚洲中文字幕无码一去台湾| 最近2019中文字幕一页二页| 日韩精品无码一区二区三区AV| 熟妇人妻系列aⅴ无码专区友真希| 日韩精品中文字幕第2页| 中文字幕无码成人免费视频| 综合久久久久久中文字幕亚洲国产国产综合一区首 | 亚洲啪啪AV无码片| 亚洲欧洲无码AV电影在线观看| 久久久久亚洲AV无码专区首JN| 亚洲色无码播放| 亚洲AV中文无码乱人伦下载| 日韩国产精品无码一区二区三区| 狠狠噜天天噜日日噜无码|