Zhiqing Zhong, a "a literary editor and translator of Hebrew literature", is interviewed in Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz by Shiri Lev-Ari. She compares the experiences of the Chinese and the Jews in the wake of twentieth-century atrocities."In the 1950s, the Germans began to recognize the injustice they perpetrated against the Jewish people," Zhiqing says. "But the Japanese still do not accept responsibility for their actions, not even the massacre and rape of Nanking. That's what really hurts."
Zhong has "translated 60 Israeli novels to date".
"'My Michael' and 'To Know a Woman' [by Amos Oz] each sold 10,000 copies. They were mainly read by literary figures and students. There are two university institutes here that teach the Hebrew language, but there are no Hebrew literature courses yet. Interest in European and American literature is only beginning now. This may be followed by an interest in Jewish and Israeli literature."
I must clarify: in the sentence "you have translated 60 novels..." (Ha'aretz) , "you" is a plural form. The accurate sentence should be "about 60 Hebrew novels were translated into Chinese in China", please see the Hebrew Ha'aretz in the original.
ReplyDeleteThe last sentence would be better in this way, "Hebrew literature in China is just a beginning".
Unfortunately, like most Westerners, I must rely on English for the quotations I clip from news websites.
ReplyDeleteFurther, "Hebrew literature in China is just a beginning", while understandable, is ungrammatical. I doubt that the Ha'aretz translator would make such a mistake.
I hope you have good luck disseminating the works of Oz and Keret in China.
I would like to contact Zhong zhiquing because I found her laptop this week. How can I join her ? my email adress is edmond.rocher@vn.schindler.com
ReplyDeleteEdmond ROCHER