UK sinologist finds valuable source 鈥 the 311 bus
Print Edition
For British Sinologist Robin Gilbank, taking the No. 311 bus in the northwestern Chinese city of Xi鈥檃n is as enlightening as attending a lecture on Chinese literature.
During the bus rides to and from Northwest University, where he is an associate professor, Gilbank picks up idioms and expressions from the chattering commuters, helping him to build his vocabulary in the local dialect.
The scholar has translated 1.5 million words of Chinese into English in the past decade.
A native of North Yorkshire, Gilbank developed an interest in Chinese culture during his time at Aberystwyth University in Wales, and started reading Chinese literary classics such as the 鈥淏ook of Poetry.鈥
When he first came to Xi鈥檃n to apply for a teaching position in 2008, he immediately fell in love with the city.
鈥淭he locals are friendly and hospitable. And they speak in dialect, just like the way people in North Yorkshire do,鈥 Gilbank said.
Xi鈥檃n, capital of Shaanxi Province, is located in the Guanzhong Plain, a cradle of Chinese civilization. The region has a long tradition of producing prominent writers.
But the difficulties of translating their work 鈥 often rife with obscure idioms and local dialect 鈥 have been the main barrier to attracting Western readers.
Gilbank decided to give it a shot. He began to work with Hu Zongfeng, professor of literature and translation at Northwest, who helped him gain a more precise understanding of the original text.
Gilbank traveled widely with Hu across the province, attending all kinds of events from weddings to funerals in remote villages. 鈥淭hese trips offered me more perspectives on literature in Shaanxi as well as China,鈥 said Gilbank.
In 2010, Gilbank and Hu translated Jia Pingwa鈥檚 novel 鈥淭he Country Wife鈥 into English and published it in New Letters, an American literary journal. Since then, the two have jointly translated more than 30 Chinese novels.
Gilbank said with the development of China鈥檚 economy, a growing number of Western readers are keen to learn about a more realistic and multidimensional China through novels.
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