The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast

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Ep 51 - Li Juan’s Xinjiang non-fiction with Christopher Payne and Jack Hargreaves

March 25, 2021

'I stand alone on the earth, unable to bring the show to an end'

In the 51st episode of the Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we're heading into the far west to come face-to-face with Li Juan, a Han Chinese writer who has found some degree of fame writing soulfully about her experiences living among the Kazakh herders of Xinjiang Province. Braving the frontier with me are two of her translators, TrChFic returnee Christopher Payne and friend-of-the-pod Jack Hargreaves. The former translated Li Juan's Distant Sunflower Fields and the latter is one of the two co-translators of her Winter Pasture.

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// NEWS ITEMS //

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// WORDS OF THE DAY //

(“Koychy!” - a versatile Kazakh exclamation, often meaning “no way,” “no thanks,” “get out,” “leave it out” )

( 荒野 - huāngyě- wilderness)

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// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

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The 50th Episode Party!

March 17, 2021

Starting a podcast is not a dinner party

In the fiftieth episode of the Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, I put my feet up and have a beer! Woohoo!

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The TrChFic mailing list

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Ep 49 - The TrChFic Megacrossover Part 2: Moderns

March 3, 2021

'One morning, Salinger was woken from sleep by deafening noises. Dazed, he gazed outside the window and saw a row of gleaming Baekdu bulldozers, which had been modified from Chonma-ho battle tanks, bearing down on his cabin.'

In the forty ninth episode we continue our megacrossover, this time tackling modern literature. Once more unto the jazz hall, dear friends, once more, as we tackle: lamppost sexuality, mantou typography, disposable(?) wuxia, and the philosophy of chicken nuggets. No, really. I'm not joking. Wait, come back!!!

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// NEWS ITEMS //

Taiwan Year at the Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing - Egoyan Zheng Excerpt
Jeremy Tiang - The World Is Not Enough - is world literature just a ‘spice rack’ for lazy Westerners?
Lost in Translation: What’s the Problem with Chinese Literature in the West? - Zoom talk w/ Jianan Qian, Nicky Harman, and Eric Abrahamsen
Reading "The Story of the Stone" with 白先勇 Pai Hsien-Yung and 陳毓賢 Susan Chan Egan - a superstar Zoom talk!

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// PODCASTERS & THEIR CHOSEN STORIES //

Rob and Lee of The Chinese Literature Podcast chose Sealed Off by Eileen Chang

William and Kevin of Rereading the Stone chose Shanghai Foxtrot by Mu Shiying

Yifan of 文化土豆 Culture Potato chose A Bond Undone, Chapter 1 by Jin Yong

and your host Angus chose Salinger and the Koreans by Han Song

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// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

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// Episode Sponsor //

Buy Jeremy Bai AKA Deathblade's The Heretic Peacekeeper here:

Amazon: http://mybook.to/9h10eTHP

Kobo, Nook, etc: https://books2read.com/u/mgzxxx

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// Handy TrChFic Links //

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Ep 48 - The TrChFic Megacrossover Part 1: Classicists

February 14, 2021

'What sort of a fiend are you that you dare change into my appearance, take my descendants captive, occupy my immortal cave, and assume such airs?'

In the forty eighth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are doing something a little different! In this episode half of a small army of Chinese lit podcasters join me to discuss their favourite stories from dynastic China.

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// NEWS ITEMS //

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// PODCASTERS & THEIR CHOSEN STORIES //

Mason of the Plum Forest Podcast chose 'The Thunder God', from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio

John of Chinese Lore chose Chapter 2 of The Outlaws of the Marsh, tr. Sidney Shapiro

Yang of The Chinese Mythology Podcast chose 'Weaver Shi Meets a Friend at the Strand from Stories to Awaken the World (醒世恒言) by Feng Menglong, tr. Ted Wang and Chen Chen

Tianqi of Stories from a Chinese Studio chose ‘Two Monkeys’, from Journey to the West tr. Anthony C Yu

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// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

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// Handy TrChFic Links //

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Ep 47 - Ma Jian and Beijing Coma with Ronald Torrance

February 5, 2021

When you've stared at the past for so long that time dissolves, you'll be able to wake from your slumber

In the forty seventh episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are falling into Beijing Coma (肉之土 / Ròu Zhī Tǔ). Avid Ma Jian reader Ronald Torrance is here to guide me from perimeter to epicentre of this colossal novel, and the weighty events it reckons with. Even without politics, stakes are high here: life/death, time/memory, flesh/history, and the intimate bonds that can exist between translators and writers.

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// NEWS ITEMS //

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// WORD OF THE DAY //

(地标 - Dìbiāo - Landmark)

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// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

The People's Republic of Amnesia by Louisa Lim
Beijing from Below: Stories of Marginal Lives in the Capital's Centre by Harriet Evans
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeline Thien
What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear by Baoshu
Prisoner of the State by Zhao Ziyang
Death Fugue by Sheng Keyi
Balloon by Pema Tseden
The loneliness of Yan Lianke
Mo Yan & censorship
How China's censors are taught about 'restricted topics'
Meng Po and her memory-erasing soup
Cui Jian, rock music, and socialist/patriotic anthems at Tiananmen

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// Handy TrChFic Links //

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Ep 46 - The Flock of Ba Hui with Dylan Levi King

January 22, 2021

If anyone is reading this notebook — don’t come looking for me. Don’t.

In the forty sixth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are undergoing black initiation into The Flock of Ba Hui (巴虺的牧群 / Bāhuī de Mùqún). Returning to the show to rescue me from the abyss - or hurl me into it - is the extremely online Dylan Levi King. We have quite a beast to wrestle with this episode. Lovecraftian fiction, from the Chinese internet, curated, translated and packaged in paratexts by two particularly unorthodox individuals.

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// NEWS ITEMS //

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// WORD OF THE DAY //

(邪神呼唤 - Xiéshén Hūhuàn - the call of Cthulhu)

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// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

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// Handy TrChFic Links //

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Ep 45 - Strange Beasts of China with Yan Ge and Jeremy Tiang

January 14, 2021

In bars like this, on nights like this, the people of Yong'an would talk of death

In the forty fifth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are hunting for the Strange Beasts of China (异兽志 - Yì Shòu Zhì). Two very special guests are joining me this time - the book's author Yan Ge and its translator Jeremy Tiang. If I sound a little off-kilter this episode, it's because I'm star struck!

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// NEWS ITEMS //

Faraway by Lo Yi-Chin - coming out this September
How Lin Qi's Poisoning Death Shocked China - A suspected murder by poisoning related to the Three Body Netflix adaptation
Round up, Round up - News #1 - Paper Republic now has its own news roundup!

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// WORD OF THE DAY //

(异 - Yì - strange/different)

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// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

The Shanhaijing
Bestiary by K-Ming Chang
Fifty Sounds by Polly Barton
Attrib by Eley Williams
I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
the mighty 小儿赶牛 - red bull & ergoutou baijiu
the seven sages of the bamboo grove
The 'san xian/third line' industrialisation plan

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// Handy TrChFic Links //

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Ep 44 - Ge Fei and Peach Blossom Paradise with Canaan Morse

December 22, 2020

Every person's heart is an island, trapped by water, sequestered from the world

In the forty fourth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are going in search of Peach Blossom Paradise (人面桃花 - Rénmiàn Táohuā) by Ge Fei. Rowing me through the lingering mists and dark waters is craftmaster Canaan Morse, its translator.

Ge Fei has been covered once before on this show. We did his Flock of Brown Birds in Episode 30. This time we are dealing with something less surreal. On the surface, it's a typical 'important Chinese novelist writes historical saga' affair. But beneath...

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// NEWS ITEMS //

There and Back Again: Tracking Down Transliterations in Stories of the Sahara - a blog from translator Mike Fu
Paper Republic's 2020 Roll Call of Published Translations from Chinese
Understanding Chinese Fantasy Genres - a guide from translator Jeremy Bai AKA Deathblade

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// WORD OF THE DAY //

(徒 - Tú - in vain)

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// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

the 100 Days' Reform
The Invisibility Cloak also by Ge Fei
In the Heat of the Sun (1994, dir. Jiang Wen)
The Tradition of Telling and the Desire of Showing in Ge Fei’s ‘Fictional Minds’

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// Handy TrChFic Links //

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Ep 43 - Can Xue and I Live in the Slums with Stefan Rusinov

November 26, 2020

'Underneath the hole is another hole. Do you dare go down?'

In the forty third episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are grappling with the experimental literature of Can Xue, as embodied in I Live in the Slums. Helping me train for the performance of a lifetime is Chinese-to-Bulgarian translator & friend of the pod, Stefan Rusinov.

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// NEWS ITEMS //

Yan Ge's White Horse shortlisted for the Warwick Women in Translation prize
Lovecraftian stories from the Chinese internet: The Flock of Ba Hui

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// WORD OF THE DAY //

(审丑 - shěn chǒu - examining ugliness AND/OR the abject, if you like)

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// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

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// Handy TrChFic Links //