Translation Review - The University of Texas at Dallas

RENDITIONS: 30 YEARS OF BRINGING CHINESE LITERATURE TOENGLISH READERSBy Audrey HeijnsRenditions, published by the Research Centre ofTranslation at the Chinese University of Hong Kongand commonly recognized as the leading journal ofChinese literature in English translation, celebrates its30th anniversary in 2003. Its sixty issues cover morethan 2000 years of Chinese literature, from classicalworks of poetry, prose, and fiction to their contemporarycounterparts, as well as articles on art, Chinese studies,and translation studies.In the commemorative booklet The RenditionsExperience 1973-2003 (June 2003), editor Eva Hungsays: “The long view tells us that to publish a journal iseasy — particularly in these days of desktop publishing— but to sustain one of recognized quality requires a lotmore than technology and funding. It calls for a dedicatedstaff as well as the long-term support of translators,writers, readers, teachers, well-wishers and critics.” Theessays in this booklet are written by authors, scholars,translators, and readers of Renditions, who express indifferent ways their relationship with the journal andwhat they perceive to be its value and contribution. Theyand many others have been part of the success ofRenditions over the past thirty years. To understand thebackground of this journal, we have to go back to theearly 1970s.The Hong Kong of the 1970s witnessed an emergingcultural consciousness that demanded recognition forthe population’s Chinese roots. Hitherto, English was theonly official language in Hong Kong. It was not until1973 that the Chinese language was finally given an officialstatus comparable to English. It is therefore understandablethat many in Hong Kong felt the need tostrengthen the position of Chinese language and culture.At the same time, Chinese people outside of the People’sRepublic of China were concerned about the destructionof Chinese culture resulting from the Cultural Revolution(1966–1976). Many writers in Mainland China were persecutedfor what they wrote, accused of being “antirevolutionary”and sent away to live in harsh circumstancesin the countryside. Because hardly any literary writingwas published during this period and classical literaturewas part of the “four olds” that had to be swept away,one could say that there was a literary void.Hence, in bicultural and bilingual Hong Kong, ahaven from the frenzy of the Chinese mainland, a keensense of mission developed: on the one hand, to preserveChina’s cultural heritage, and on the other, to introduce itto the world. In this climate, Renditions was created.George Kao, who joined the newly establishedTranslation Centre of the Chinese University of HongKong in 1972, came up with the idea to publish a periodicaldevoted to English translations of Chinese literarywritings. Kao and Stephen Soong, the person behind thefounding of the Centre, commenced editorial work for30 Translation Review