To most Chinese, New Zealand is a remote and unfamiliar country.
Yet, one New Zealand-born author at least believes the gap can
possibly be bridged by literature.
With this in mind, Stevan
Eldred-Grigg, a social historian and fiction writer, with the
collaboration of Annie Shih, a Chinese translator from Taiwan, has
recently brought his first and best-selling novel Oracles and
Miracles to Chinese readers.
This is the first novel by a living New Zealand writer to be
translated into Chinese and published in the Chinese mainland,
according to the 50-year-old Eldred-Grigg, who met Chinese media
and academic representatives during a reception at the New Zealand
Embassy in Beijing on August 22 to launch the book.
Oracles and Miracles is a story about twin sisters living in
a world of dreams while growing up in poverty. Grounded in history,
the book vividly portrays the past of the city of Christchurch and
reflects the vicissitudes faced by many in Zealand during the
period from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Since it was first published in 1987, the novel has sold more
copies than almost any other works of fiction published in New
Zealand. The story of the twin sisters has been incorporated into
the syllabus for secondary schools and universities. It has also
been adapted for stage and radio in the country as well as in
Australia.
Though it is a best-selling novel in New Zealand, can it be readily
accepted by Chinese readers, considering the disparities in history
and cultural and social background between two countries?
Dr. Eldred-Grigg expressed his confidence in this during an
interview with www.ccgp-fushun.com, although he admitted he knew
almost nothing about modern Chinese readers.
"On the one hand, my book deals with a world different from that
experienced by Chinese readers. But, I think these differences will
actually interest them and arouse their curiosity about another
society and another culture. And, really, the experiences of the
twin girls and their mother, as described in my book, are the
experiences of most Chinese women, and the experiences of women
anywhere, though the details of their lives are different," he
argued.
"When I began the book, I wanted to write about the lives of almost
all women in history. So I used a lot of Western folk tales, trying
to make the novel like a simple folk tale that almost all people
would be able to identify with," said Dr. Eldred-Grigg, in
explaining why his novel has been so popular for 15 years in New
Zealand as well as some other English-speaking countries.
Maybe this can also be a factor helping the book find favor with
Chinese readers. Actually, the present society of China bears a
certain similarity to the historical and social background of the
characters in this book in a transitional period from traditional
cultures and values to modernity and universality. Young people are
taught to believe that a world of opportunities is open to them and
that, if they are intelligent and healthy, they will rise up the
pile.
A
graduate in history from the University of Canterbury and the
Australian National University, Eldred-Grigg has worked as a writer
since completing his doctorate. He has so far published a total of
13 novels and non-fictional works.
Will he continue to introduce more of his books to Chinese readers?
"Certainly I will if the marketing of Oracles and Miracles
in China turns out to be successful," he said, noting an awareness
that not enough people writers and publishers in the West think
about China. "Most Westerners still think of Europe and North
America as their important markets for literature. And yet, there
are certainly intelligent readers in China waiting to know the
world," he pointed out.
(china.org.cn by staff reporter Chen Qiuping, August 28, 2002)