The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast

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Ep 53 - The Membranes with Chi Ta-wei and Ari Larissa Heinrich

April 28, 2021

‘Two peach trees, two entirely different universes.’

[ this is episode 1 of our Taiwan Season ]

In the fifty third episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are peeling back The Membranes (膜 / Mó). Joining me at their respective computer terminals in the ocean floor biodome are its author Chi Ta-wei and translator Ari Larissa Heinrich.

// NEWS ITEMS //

// WORDS OF THE DAY //

(赞 - zàn - ‘like’, as in Facebook, Wechat etc)

(情 - qíng - emotion, affection, sentiment)

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

// Episode Sponsor //

Buy Paul French’s Destination Peking here:

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Episode Transcripts

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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!!!

// 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!

// 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

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

// 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

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Episode Transcripts

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Ep 41 - Lao She and Cat Country with Molly Silk

October 27, 2020

Art for Episode 41. It has Lao She, surrounded by insane cats.

It is not often that one has the opportunity to observe the extinction of an entire civilisation

In the forty first episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are venturing into Cat Country (猫城记 / Māo Chéng Jì), a science fiction oddity of the Republic of China. Helping me save the nation and stay off the damned reverie leaves is Molly Silk, a doctoral researcher of Chinese Space Policy.

// NEWS ITEMS //

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(迷叶 / Mí Yè / reverie leaves)

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

The Wandering Earth: A Device for the Propagation of the Chinese Regime’s Desired Space Narratives? by Molly herself
The Trial by Franz Kafka
Lao She in London
I Am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki
The Cat Returns (2002, dir. Hiroyuki Morita)

// Handy TrChFic Links //

INSTAGRAM 🐈 TWITTER 🐈 DISCORD 🐈 MY SITE 🐈

Ep 40 - Liu Cixin and Death’s End with Keith Justice Hayward

October 20, 2020

The ultimate fate of all intelligent beings has always been to become as grand as their thoughts.

Episode 40 is no ordinary episode! This time TrChFic is crossing over with Couch Command and its esteemed host Keith Hayward to jump right down the Chinese sci-fi wormhole of Liu Cixin's haymaker-punch ending to his Three Body Problem trilogy, Death's End (死神永生 / Sǐshén Yǒngshēng). Hell yes.

// NEWS ITEMS //

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(警告 / Jǐnggào / warning)

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

What Makes Chinese Science Fiction Chinese? by Xia Jia
The Roman and Chinese Empires
The London Chinese Scifi Group and their discussion of The Lighthouse Girl by Baoshu
The Cultural Revolution, Fanaticism and Rationality in The Three-Body Problem - a Master's thesis that gets into some of what Keith and I discuss

// Handy TrChFic Links //

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Ep 36 - Gujian with Emily Jin

July 30, 2020

'I think there is no brother in this world as strange as you'

In the thirty sixth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at a video game(!) series called Gujian (古剑/ Gǔ Jiàn). Helping me level up and face my shadow self is Emily Jin, a highly active Chinese science fiction translator, and better yet: a hardcore Gujian fan!

Gujian isn't a Western Tolkeinesque RPG, nor is it a JRPG Final Fantasy-style affair. It's made in China, set in China, and played (mostly) by Chinese gamers. You may not be shocked to learn that it's a Wuxia RPG, with a little Xianxia magic thrown in for good measure.

// NEWS ITEMS //

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(剑 / Jiàn / a straight, double-edged Chinese sword)

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Hao Jingfang on Paper Republic

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Ep 26 - Hao Jingfang and Vagabonds with Ken Liu

March 7, 2020

Ep 26 art

"A person from one civilisation looks at their surroundings as distinct objects and events and considers them separately. But when a person from another civilisation looks in as an outsider, they prefer to view everything through the lens of political power and try to explain everything based on that perspective."

In the twenty sixth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Hao Jingfang's Vagabonds (流浪玛厄斯 / Liúlàng Mǎèsī)

It would be tempting to say that Vagabonds is a Chinese science fiction rewrite of Ursula K le Guin’s The Dispossessed. My guest Ken Liu would be the first to stress that while there’s some truth to this, readers would be much better off treating the book as thing unto itself. He’s right- this is a book with no shortage of ideas or interpretations. Storywise, here’s what you need to know: it’s a red socialist planet ‘versus’ a green and blue corpocracy. Sit down, get comfy, and pick a side. Or don’t. Not picking a side may be the point.

Publishers: EN - Simon & Schuster - Head of Zeus // CN - New Star Press

Ken Liu on Paper Republic

// NEWS ITEMS & UPCOMING BOOKS //

THE HIDDEN GIRL by Ken Liu
SECOND SISTER by Chan Ho Kei
MINECRAFT THREE BODY PROBLEM!!!
Hao Jingfang & Ken Liu's Hugo acceptance speeches
Neoplatonism
Camus on rebellion
Inequality in UK politics
'Minzhu' in Chinese politics

// Handy TrChFic Links //

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Ep 23 - Baoshu and What Has Passed Shall In Kinder Light Appear

January 12, 2020

Ep 23 art

"Later, I kept on hoping China would host the Olympics again, but it never happened. After I became a father, I told my son about that night, and he refused to believe China had once been so prosperous."

this is episode 7 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction Season

In the twenty third episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Baoshu's What Has Passed Shall In Kinder Light Appear (大时代 / dà shídài), available to read in the Broken Stars anthology, edited and translated by Ken Liu.

Baoshu reverses time, sending his protagonist through a life that begins with the Beijing Olympics and ends before the communist revolution. I go it alone on this episode, and maybe it’s for the best because this story made me cry. It’s beautiful.

// Discussed in this Episode //

Philosophy01 Baoshu interview
Ken Liu's favourite lines
On Bo Xilai
Zhao Ziyang, Prisoner of the State - SOURCE - MIRROR

// Handy TrChFic Links //

INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD // MY SITE

Ep 22 - A Summer Beyond Your Reach with Xia Jia

December 18, 2019

Ep 22 art

'The summer isn’t over yet. There are so many fun things to do.'

this is episode 6 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction Season

In the twenty second episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Xia Jia's A Summer Beyond Your Reach (你无法抵达的夏天/nǐ wúfǎ dǐdá de xiàtiān)

Xia Jia herself joins me via Skype from California to talk about her stories. French culture comes up three times in this episode. I really didn’t see that coming. Xia Jia’s stories do fuse deep thought with deep feeling, which I suppose does sound a bit French. Anyway! It’s a very fun episode, so have a listen.

Translators: Emily Jin, Carmen Yiling Yan, Ken Liu

Publisher: Clarkesworld

// Discussed in this Episode //

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Han Song on Paper Republic

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Ep 21 - Han Song and the Fundamental Nature of the Universe with Nathaniel Isaacson

December 11, 2019

Ep 21 art

'Everything is going to descend into chaos and disorder. Entropy will accelerate rapidly...'

this is episode 5 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction Season

In the twenty first episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Han Song's The Fundamental Nature of the Universe (宇宙的本性/yǔzhòu de běnxìng)

A tale of artificial intelligence and ennui. Or should it be angst? Or simply just yanjuan? Musing darkly with me on this episode is its translator Nathaniel Isaacson, author of Celestial Empire: The Emergence of Chinese Science Fiction. He translated this story, so he ought to know a thing or two about it!

FULL TEXT - academic access required

// Discussed in this Episode //

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Episode 21 transcript