Translation Review - The University of Texas at Dallas

INTERVIEW WITH MABEL LEE: TRANSLATING NOBEL
PRIZE WINNER GAO XINGJIAN’S SOUL MOUNTAIN
By Lily Liu
The following is the edited transcript of an interview
with Dr. Mabel Lee, who translated 2000 Nobel
Prize winner Gao Xingjian’s novel Soul Mountain
into English. The interview was conducted in April
2001 by Lily Liu, who has translated the essays of
contemporary Chinese women writers of the
Republic of China. She works as a writer/editor in
Washington, D.C.
Dr. Mabel Lee is Honorary Associate Professor in
Chinese Studies at the University of Sydney in
Australia. Born in Australia of Chinese parents, she
majored in Chinese at the University of Sydney,
where she obtained her B.A. with First Class
Honours in 1961 and her Ph.D. in 1966. She joined
the University faculty in January 1966. She retired
from teaching in January 2000, but has continued to
supervise Ph.D. candidates.
Dr. Lee’s research has focused on late 19th- and
20th-century Chinese intellectual history and literature.
She has published on Zhang Taiyan, Lu Xun,
Gao Xingjian, Liu Zaifu, and Yang Lian. She speaks
fluent Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese.
Dr. Mabel Lee with Nobel Laureate 2000 Gao Xingjian, taken in
February 2001 at Seattle.
Q. How did you first meet Gao Xingjian?
A. I met Gao Xingjian in Paris on March 23, 1991. I
was traveling to Berlin and on to Copenhagen with
my daughter and had arranged to meet Chinese poet
Yang Lian in Paris. At the time I had translated two
volumes of Yang Lian’s poetry, Masks and Crocodile
(Wild Peony, Sydney, 1990) and The Dead in Exile
(Tiananmen Publications, Canberra, 1990), and had
just completed the manuscript of Yi (Green
Integer/Sun & Moon, Los Angeles, forthcoming
2001).
Yang Lian at some point suggested, “Let’s go
and see Gao Xingjian!” So, after a phone call, we
arrived at his apartment in Bagnolet.
During the night, Gao spoke about some of the
real incidents that occurred following the ban on the
performance of his play “Bus Stop” in 1983 and his
flight from Beijing in order to avoid having to write
self-criticisms and possibly being sent to a prison
farm. He’s a great storyteller.
He also brought out a copy of Lingshan, which
had been published in Taipei the year before. After
leafing through the pages, to my own surprise and to
his, I asked if he had a translator and if he would like
me to work on the translation of Lingshan. He said,
“I’d be delighted if you would.” No other details
were discussed, but a verbal agreement had been
made on the spot.
Q. Why did you want to translate this book?
A. I liked the idea of Gao’s experimentation with
narrative techniques, and the poetic feel of his language
had enormous appeal. I somehow sensed that
Lingshan was an important work, and after I had
undertaken to translate it, it took on the nature of a
mission. I completed the manuscript of Soul
Mountain in 1998 and then sought a publisher
through a literary agent.
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