Two Cities in Tune

Jazz standards + Chinese folk songs + great piano playing + sassy singing + fab art venue = Two Cities in Tune! Pianist and teacher extraordinaire Steve Sweeting and singer/lyricist Jasmine Chen performed at the Two Cities Gallery last night. It was a lovely program consisting of Cole Porter tunes, Chinese lullabyes, and other multiculti mishmashes. In addition to being a very talented jazz singer, Jasmine is a gifted lyricist--she wrote many of the words to standards such as "Take Five" as well as original music by Steve. One of my favorites was when they sang Quizas, Quizas, Quizas in both Spanish and Mandarin in counterpoint, then sang-spoke the English translations over the music. Very tongue-in-cheek, very sassy, and a totally apt meeting of East and West through music.

Shanghai Daily headline: Peace reigns in Lhasa. WTF??

Yesterday's headline on the English-language state-owned paper Shanghai Daily made my eyes pop. "Peace reigns in Lhasa as riot mobs succumb", the headline blared, above a photograph of a police detail and a motorcycling couple who seemed to have not a care in the world.

Contrast this with the FT's Asia headline today.

Beijing says it shot Tibetan ‘rioters’

Tibet’s government-in-exile, urging pro-Tibet demonstrators to adhere strictly to non-violence, accused China of spreading “propaganda” and “lies” alleging Tibetans instigated violent protests, as Chinese state media said police had shot four rioters in ‘in self-defence’.

I tried clicking on the link but surprise surprise, could not access it. I managed to get a two-second glimpse of Tibetan monks marching but then got the tell-tale "could not find server" yellow error message.

The Shanghai Daily article quoted a Tibetan official extensively, who made it extra clear that Western media had consistently exaggerated claims of violence in its biased reporting.

"Some Western media distorted the facts and viciously described the severe crime as a peaceful demonstration, so as to slander our legitimate efforts to keeping social stability as a violent crackdown,'' he said.

Some Chinese friends of mine have expressed pretty much the same sentiment, that the Western media has consistently played up the victimhood of the Tibetan people and cast the Chinese authorities as grim rulers with an iron fist. This FT article published today probes the question of mutual perception in the media--and interestingly, one of the few pieces on Tibet not blocked by the Great Firewall.

A few choice quotes:

The government propaganda, which can seem staggeringly crude to foreigners – Zhang Qingli, China’s party chief in Tibet called the Dalai Lama “a monster with human face and animal’s heart” – does not appear out of place at home.

Mr Zhang’s tirade is at one with comments permitted on internet bulletin boards, such as the one hosted by sina.com, China’s largest portal. “Add countries supporting Dalai Lama to the blacklist of terrorism!” said one of the milder postings on Wednesday.

Dubai = Shanghai on Steroids?

Interesting piece in the Far Eastern Economic Review, with their newly revamped site--very snazzy!

Shanghai on Steroids

Earlier Shanghai-Dubai Google searches have also led to tidbits that have intrigued me—though generally tidbits that should not surprise anyone familiar with the connections and competitions that often exist between cities that have attained or aspire to global city status. For example, I discovered through one search that nonstop flights link Shanghai and Dubai. From another that an American architect played a key role in designing both the Pudong's Jinmao Tower and the Burj skyscraper slated to become by far the tallest building in already skyscraper-filled Dubai. And from a still different one that both cities are racing to secure bragging rights as home to the tallest building on earth, a distinction that, according to some sources (there are varying methods for measuring this), Shanghai has just wrested from Taipei but Dubai will soon snatch.

I can see the Mori Tower from my office, a.k.a. the "Can-opener". Sure looks sleeker than Taipei 101's stack of Chinese takeout boxes!

Economist 1: Kristol 0

Did that SNL skit give a wake-up call to the media to start being more hard on Obama, especially after Hillary's snarky "pillow" comment in the CA debates? William Kristol's column today was one attempt at aiming the barrel at the Obama camp, but this lowball ended up backfiring in his face. Basically Kristol went on about the fact that Obama had wilfully played down his presence at the [blatantly racist] Rev. Wright's speech on July 22, making him somehow a "deceitful" and complicit politician. Kristol's overblown climax for his column is to declare this symptomatic of Obama's ongoing deceit, that this crowing about a new kind of politics was just hot air.

Is that so? Uh, well, actually,

The Obama campaign has provided information showing that Sen. Obama did not attend Trinity that day. I regret the error.

It's certainly the first time I've seen a correction appended to the beginning of the article rather than tagged sheepishly to the end. This must be the editor's halfhearted way of apologizing for a serious lapse in editorial judgment in which facts were not factchecked, opinions were polemicized and mud was flung:

The more you learn about him, the more Obama seems to be a conventionally opportunistic politician, impressively smart and disciplined, who has put together a good political career and a terrific presidential campaign. But there’s not much audacity of hope there. There’s the calculation of ambition, and the construction of artifice, mixed in with a dash of deceit — all covered over with the great conceit that this campaign, and this candidate, are different.

Well, Kristol wanted to talk about deceit and conceit, but the crux upon which his entire piece was based was promptly debunked because it simply was not true. Who's the conceited deceiver now? The Economist, that bastion of skeptical snarkiness, posted this great response ripping apart Kristol not only for his flawed argument, but also for his "characteristically hackneyed" prose. Referring to the paragraph in question:

But the second thought doesn't necessarily flow from the first; the latter, indeed, rests on the sly and insulting mischaracterisation of Mr Obama's supporters as a bunch of lefty naifs. Barack Obama is a politician running for political office. Surely many of his supporters simply prefer him to Hillary Clinton and John McCain. They're voting for him not because he's a messiah or a saviour, but for the oldest and most basic democratic reason: he's better than the other guy (gender-neutral "guy", of course).

I love it when good old common sense kicks in. But then again, I'm loathe to say that the only reason that anyone supports Obama is simply because he's the better of three evils. Now John Kerry may have been a douche bag but I votedforhimanyway.com, but Obama really is a politician I can rally around--not just because of pure rhetoric, but because of character. Dreams of My Father is a really good read. I have to say that I respect him so much more now that I know he's a good writer!

Chinese Poem

This poem by J.D. McClatchy has allusions to 床前明月光, the only Chinese poem (I am ashamed to say) I know by heart.

Whatever change you were considering,

Do not plant another tree in the garden.

One tree means four seasons of sadness:

What is going,

What is coming,

What will not come,

What cannot go.

Here in bed, through the south window

I can see the moon watching us both,

Someone’s hand around its clump of light.

Yours? I know you are sitting out there,

Looking at silver bloom against black.

That drop from your cup on the night sky’s

Lacquer you wipe away with your sleeve

As if its pleated thickets were the wide space

Between us, though you know as well as I do

This autumn is no different from the last.

The Text as a Guide

Howard Goldblatt spoke about his most recent work, the epic novel "Wolf Totem" by Jiang Rong at the Shanghai International Literary Festival at M on the Bund yesterday. The alpha grandddaddy of contemporary Chinese literature, Goldblatt was adorably humble and seemed bemused that he, the translator, would be the central focus for a book launch for once. He's got that "who-me?" self-deprecating air that belies a fiery passion for and belief in the necessity of non-English literature in translation. "Many people are studying Chinese for all the wrong reasons nowadays," he said, setting down his wine glass to jab the air with his finger. What might those wrong reasons be? "Well, business, for instance!." He went on to insist, with only the slightest shred of jokiness, "I truly believe that the real point of studying Chinese is to translate great literature and to study it for a living." A man after my own heart, indeed.

During the Q&A session, Goldblatt expressed many thoughts that many amateur translators (such as yours truly) have always perceived subconsciously, but never vocalized. "When I'm translating, all these questions run through my head: am I overtranslating, am I undertranslating, am I expressing the literal truth of the text or am I conveying the spirit of what the author meant to say?" As a midwife of the work, where does one draw the line between linguistic facilitator and conscientious editor?

Someone in the audience asked Goldblatt who possessed a greater measure of voice in the end translation of "Wolf Totem": the author, or himself? He paused for quite a while before responding. "How can I answer this question? It's all him, and it's all me. It's Jiang Rong's story, his structure, his plot, his characters, his voice, even--but those words are all mine. So there's just as much of myself in the ultimate expression as there is of the author."

The mark of a good translator is her ability to make good decisions--a translation can't possibly succeed with straightforward slavish dedication to the letter of the text. Chinese and English are such fundamentally different languages that literal translations are practically impossible. In this sense, the difference frees up the translator to pick the right idiomatic turns of phrase in the landscape of linguistic possibilities. The original text acts as a guide, not the blueprint.

With the translation of "Wolf Totem," a book that has received a great deal of critical attention in China, Goldblatt believes he's reached another zenith in his illustrious career. According to John Updike in a 2005 New Yorker joint review of Su Tong and Mo Yan's books, the field of contemporary Chinese fiction is "the lonely province" of this one man, who has translated something like 60-odd Chinese works ranging from Yuan-dynasty drama to modern day poems. What was amazing to me was that this guy did not read books prior to being shipped off to Taiwan by the US Navy as a 22 yr old! He then studied Chinese by himself, ended up in grad school, and started catching up on a lifetime of reading-- American novels, German drama, English poetry, and of course, Chinese classics. Just goes to show what man can do when he puts his mind to it. I almost think that his "late bloomer" kickstart to reading literature is the reason for his unwavering drive for it. Goldblatt was just so in thrall of these books and authors he was discovering that he couldn't possibly fathom doing anything else for the rest of his life--and it's this element of ecstatic surprise that lends magic to his translations. He didn't finish reading "Wolf Totem" in its entirety before embarking on his translation: he wanted to be constantly surprised as a reader, he said, so that he could convey that breathless joy of discovery for the reader as a first-time reader himself. An interesting experiment, and one that would've been imprudent for anyone else but this seasoned pro.

Here's an excellent interview with the formidable Professor on Full Tilt.

Take Three

This is my third attempt at starting a blog since my arrival to Shanghai. Insh'allah, this one will have a longer shelflife than my previous sad attempts. Thanks to Ms. Lin's tip I have found a way to circumvent the Great Firewall of China, which in recent days has been working on overdrive to keep the evil, distorted and subversive news about Tibet out of China's cyberspace. Will the Chinese government's string of PR bungles ever end? After hearing PR professional and blogmeister Will Moss (aka Imagethief) speak at a recent conference, I am beginning to see the PR apocalypse that the Chinese government is wreaking upon itself. No amount of retroactive damage control can reverse the snowballing bad news about China's human rights record and environmental havoc. All sorts of dissident groups are taking advantage of the Olympics to bring attention to their cause this year. The only question remains: what can China do to save itself from further free-fall in the hearts and minds of the world's conscientious watchers?