Honoring the nation's great communicators

The Lifetime Achievement Award in Translation was founded in 2006. Household names like Yang Xianyi (1915-2009) and Xu Yuanchong (1921-2021) were among the previous recipients.

Chen Luyu, renowned TV host and deputy director of TAC's literature and arts translation committee, says that she had many opportunities in her career to interview, talk with or interact with generations of translators.

She recalls interviewing Xu in 2017, who, in his later years, devoted himself to translating Shakespeare's complete works in pursuit of surpassing existing versions.

Chen says she was touched by the older generation's faith in the undertaking, which drove them to contribute, sometimes with just pen and paper and limited dictionaries and reference books, even amid turbulent times.

With her father specializing in Swahili and her mother in Bengali, Chen says that seeing the veteran translators receiving the award reminded her of when, as a child, she watched her parents work at their desk with a stoic spirit, indifferent to fame and fortune, but spurred on to promote mutual understanding between people speaking different languages.

Chen also took the example of Dong Qiang, professor of the French language and literature at Peking University, as a representative of the middle-aged generation who have witnessed China's integration into the world and cultivated a deep understanding for both Chinese and Western cultures.

She says that all these translators have especially profound knowledge of their own cultural traditions, which has extended their career potential.

In the younger generation, however, she says she has seen enthusiasm, despite the relatively unsatisfying remuneration the calling sometimes provides. She was impressed by He Yujia, translator of British food writer Fuchsia Dunlop's works and Joan Didion's Slouching Towards Bethlehem, and Zhong Na, translator of three bestsellers of post-'90s Irish writer Sally Rooney — Conversations with Friends, Beautiful World, Where Are You? and Normal People.

Chen notes that it's wonderful for a translator to help a young writer reach a large audience in a new market, and the value of translation has long been underestimated.