Ha Jin would have encountered tremendous conflict, censorship, political pressure, lack of readership and revenue, and possibly more severe consequences had he written his short stories in Chinese for a Chinese audience.
Passages that would raise controversy in “The Saboteur” over civil rights include the railroad policemen’s unprovoked tea-tossing, unwarranted arrest, and rough handling of Mr. Chiu (5), as well as the torture of Fenjin outside the jail (11-13). Disrespectful terms for government officials such as “hooligan” (4), “egg of a tortoise” (6), “donkey-face” (6), “savages” (15), and “saboteurs of our social order” (7) would likely be unacceptable for publication. Coercion to sign the confession as a condition for release (14) would be taboo.
“A Tiger-Fighter is Hard to Find” contains wrongdoing in falsified government paperwork and approvals for obtaining the protected tiger (55), physically abusing it (57-58, 62), and finally killing it (64). The paragraph on the sale of the carcass to a “state-owned...Pharmacy Factory” (64) would be problematic, as would all the symbolic references to the communist regime, and direct mention of Chairman Mao when the driver arrives on a bicycle (68).
If Joseph Conrad had written Heart of Darkness in his native Polish rather than in English, postcolonial literature would most certainly have been changed.
Conrad’s audience would have been, of course, limited to those capable of reading Polish. The issues of colonialism and empire building did not apply to Poland where most readers of Polish reside, but did pertain totally to Britain. Since Conrad reached the English audience in the UK at that time, plus English readers in India, Australia, South Africa, the West Indies, America, Canada, and other colonized areas, his message was spread world-wide. It entered the minds, imaginations, and consciences of both the dominators and the dominated. With the adoption of English as the common language of business and higher education in many nations, Conrad’s narrative has gained a broader readership with the passage of time.
Heart of Darkness has served as a springboard for many other authors to write in English about all facets of the controversial topics he broached. Conrad is referenced in Naipaul’s The Mimic Men (165), and discussed at length in interviews of and essays by Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart. Had Conrad’s contribution been in Polish, the genre probably would have been delayed, possibly shorter-lived, and likely would have had shallower repercussions.
More specific to China, four is considered unlucky since the pronunciation of the number and the word for death are similar. It is also widely known that Buddism is based on Four Noble Truths:
ReplyDeleteI am really glad you ferreted this fact out as I find it fascinating in light of how often 4 was woven into the story.
Also, you level of organization and "list" making is a window into your personality, one can only assume. Does a day go by you don't have a to-do list...:) You see things that I certainly miss in your organized analysis of each story. Thanks for sharing your thought provoking insight.
I agree that Conrad's work could have gone overlooked if written in Polish. It could have been translated, of course, but would there have been enough interest from Polish readers to inspire him to do so? The timing and the English audience he chose were too perfect.
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