THE year 2013 has seen quite a number of big events in literature and publication in China. Publication has stepped beyond its traditional boundaries since people’s reading habits have been greatly affected by the Internet. Here are some highlights.   

    1

    Nobel Prize-winning Munro rekindles short story reading

    Short fiction has had a low market performance for a very long time in the publishing history in China, but the situation changed with Alice Munro after she won the Nobel Prize in Literature in October. Her short stories, with lengths approaching that of a novelette, were very popular with publishers and readers alike.

    Chinese publishers published a series of short classics adapted from works of renowned contemporary global writers in 2012. At the end of 2013, a series of collections was published in China to include a rich list of foreign novelettes. The first series included 14 different types of stories.

    2

    Literature masters release new works

    The year 2013 was a prolific year for novels. Many masters in literature released newly created works, such as “Dai Deng” by Jia Pingwa, “Riye Shu” (“Book of Day and Night”) by Han Shaogong, and “Huangque Ji” (“Story of Goldfinch”) by Su Tong.

    “Dai Deng” is a realistic depiction of a grass-roots government official’s work and life in the rural countryside. “Zalie Zhi” (“Explosion”) expresses with magical realism how a place with a population of about 100 was transformed from a rural village into a big urban city.

    Shanghai writer Jing Yucheng’s “Fanhua” (“Blossoms”) surprised the literature world by using Shanghai dialect to reveal the chaotic urban life in Shanghai, as well as the voices of ordinary citizens who are unable to face the chaotic city.

    Yu Hua’s “The Seventh Day” received more controversy than praise after publication, being criticized as a medley of media reports and microblog postings. But the author said the book endeavors to portray real life.

    3

    Writers protest for rights

    Writer Chi Zijian wrote on her microblog in December that a manuscript of her 1995 prose “Nature Under the Lamp Shadow” was auctioned online without her permission. The manuscript was sold online by second-hand book trading platform Kongfuzi at 1,200 yuan (US$198). Chi expressed her anger over the unauthorized auction that severely infringed her rights.

    In May, the Beijing-based auction company Sungari scrapped the auction of more than 100 private letters and manuscripts by the late Chinese writer Qian Zhongshu, his widow Yang Jiang and their late daughter after strong protests from Yang alleging privacy infringement.

    In November, China Written Works Copyright Society announced that it would file a lawsuit against Apple with the claim that Apple provided downloads of unauthorized Chinese literature works on its app store.

    4

    Poetry publications

    Poetry rose in popularity on publication lists and received unprecedented attention with its circulation on multiple media. The first in a series of poetry anthologies published by the China Writers Publishing House included poems by Yu Jian, Wang Jiaxin, Duoduo, Xichuan, Ouyang Jianghe and others.

    Translated poetry became the focus of concern with the publication of a collection of translated foreign poetry by Shanghai Century Publishing Group. An anthology containing seven volumes of translated foreign poetry and six volumes of Chinese poetry published in 2013 was well-received for its selection of poems.

    5

    The history of average

    individuals

    It became more popular for ordinary citizens to write their own history in 2013.

    Writer Yang Xiadan said it’s a breakthrough that individuals began to write their own experiences of history, since thousands of years’ Chinese history details different emperors’ family history but not ordinary people’s.

    Jiang Shumei, who learned to read in her 60s and started to write in her 70s, wrote a book about the impoverished life she had gone through during the chaotic years of the Republican period, the period of Japanese occupation and the period after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.

    An album containing pictures about the 60 years’ of family life of an ordinary couple became a best-seller shortly after its publication. The album, hand-drawn by husband Rao Pingru in memory of his late wife, was an epitome of the historical changes of Chinese families over the past century.

    Shen Bo’ai wrote a book about a peasant’s life at the time of land reform in the 1950s. The book is a supplement of writings on peasants’ lives in the transitional era when most people identified themselves as peasants.

    6

    Campaign against cheating in translation

    A slew of scandals marred literature translation circles in 2013.

    The translator of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa’s “The Collected Poems of Alberto Caeiro” was accused of plagiarism, raising debate over cheating in translation of works.

    A Chinese translation of a poetry anthology from the English translation of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova’s poems raised doubts over the work from the public, since it is a reinterpretation of an English translation.

    In July 2013, Ma Ailong, one of the translators of “Harry Potter,” lodged a lawsuit against China Women Publishing House and a translator named Zhou Li for plagiarizing her translated work of “Anne of Green Gables.” Ma also accused New World Press of misusing her name as the translator of a children’s book. The infringement of Ma’s rights was widely criticized and 100 translators signed a joint letter of protest of translation cheating to support Ma.

    7

    Microblogs turned into publications

    More popular microblogs got published. Books with microblog content by Internet celebrities took increasingly larger market share.

    The microblogs of Cheng Hao, who miraculously lived 20 years after doctors diagnosed that his life span was no more than five years, became viral after Cheng’s death, and within two months, Cheng’s book was posthumously published.

    Microbloger Zhang Jiajia, famous for his bedside story microblogs, extended his popularity from online to the real world with the publication of his stories.

    Taiwanese photographer Ruan Yi-chong’s record of his daily life’s interesting moments was also compiled into a book with wide readership.

    8

    Digital publications

    Digitalization became the central concern of the publication industry, undergoing drastic reform in 2013.

    Several publishers, including Citic Press and Motie Publications, issued digital versions simultaneous to the publication of physical books, or even prior to the publication of physical books.

    Online reading platform Douban endeavored to provide a greater reading experience with quality productions. Individuals could publish their writings after acquiring the website’s authorship certification, and sell their works on the wesite to readers. The website has hundreds of certified writers.

    Online literature won an increasing readership with the involvement of Internet giants such as Tencent, Baidu and Alibaba.

    (Zhao Jie)