From a Book List to My Altay

After gaining a little experience in publishing, we had the opportunity to discuss a translation and publishing collaboration with Huacheng Publishing House. The publisher sent us a list of its literary titles and invited us to choose whichever books interested us.

At first, we looked at works of fiction. But given our own reading experience and preferences, we did not find anything on the list that we particularly wanted to translate. Then we noticed several books by Li Juan.

Life in the mountains and the culture of nomadic herding have a natural appeal for us. The publisher's introduction to Li Juan's work also aroused our interest. When we received sample chapters, we were quickly drawn to her writing: plain and unadorned, yet full of genuine feeling. Li Juan had no formal literary training, and her writing has an entirely natural quality. We found this kind of unforced, unpretentious expression particularly rare. Her essays are also relatively short and easy to read, and the details of everyday life can more readily cross cultural boundaries and resonate with readers from different backgrounds.

This was the one.

My Altay records the rural life of the Altay region of Xinjiang, the seasonal migrations of herders, and the relationship between people and nature, all in Li Juan's plain yet delicate prose. She writes about the small details of everyday life, as well as the feelings of home and belonging that emerge from a life in constant movement. The Altay she portrays is not merely a landscape of vast natural beauty, but a real and tangible world inhabited by people living their lives.

We chose the book at the end of 2023. In 2024, Li Juan attracted much wider attention among readers in China, and the broadcast of the television adaptation of the same name brought her work to an even larger audience. Set in Xinjiang's Altay region, the series tells the story of Li Wenxiu, a Han Chinese young woman living there, and also depicts the local landscape and nomadic culture. Watching all this unfold, we allowed ourselves a small moment of satisfaction at having recognised the appeal of her work before it became so widely popular.

Some of our friends in publishing had different views of Li Juan's writing. One said that her prose was excellent; another wondered how writing about such ordinary things could become so popular. My own feeling is that it may be precisely the truthfulness and sincerity in these everyday details that give her writing its appeal. In a society where so many people are anxious, her work offers a rare kind of comfort.

A friend at a publishing house also told us about a German-language translator who had read Li Juan's work and remarked that similar stories could be found in the Alps. It was a reminder that although Li Juan writes about life in a particular place, the feelings she describes do not belong to that place alone.

Li Juan's way of life is also distinctive. She rarely gives media interviews, and her life has not changed dramatically with her growing fame. She has never travelled abroad, partly because she finds the paperwork too much trouble and partly because she worries about leaving her cat behind. All her books are published by Huacheng Publishing House, and her long-standing relationship with the publisher means she can rely on a familiar working arrangement. Rather than taking part in the activities that often accompany fame, she seems more inclined to remain within her own life, observing and writing.

The Czech translation of My Altay was translated by Petra Martincová. During the process, she not only revised and refined the language repeatedly, but also consulted an expert in Kazakh to check place names and related terminology, in an effort to convey the distinctive character of the region as accurately as possible.

We hope this book will introduce Czech readers to Li Juan's writing and offer them a glimpse into her life and observations in Altay.

Li Ťüan (*1979) se narodila v čínské provincii Sin-ťiang, její rodinné kořeny však sahají do provincie S'-čchuan na západě Číny. Patří k současným čínským prozaičkám. Nějakou dobu žila s matkou v pasteveckých oblastech Altaje, kde se živily šitím a provozováním malého obchodu. Později pracovala také u výrobní linky v továrně.

Ve své tvorbě vychází především z vlastních zkušeností a z toho, co sama kolem sebe pozoruje. Píše o své rodině, lidech, s nimiž se setkává, o zvířatech i o zdánlivě všedních událostech každodenního života. Její texty jsou pevně spjaté s krajinou Altaje a životem místních obyvatel, zároveň však zůstávají osobními příběhy, které mohou oslovit i čtenáře z jiného prostředí. Její psaní se vyznačuje přirozeností, prostotou a absencí příkras. Dokáže si všímat detailů, které snadno uniknou pozornosti, a zachycovat, co každodenní zkušenosti zanechávají v člověku.

K jejím nejznámějším knihám patří Můj Altaj (我的阿勒泰, 2010), Vzdálené slunečnicové pole (遥远的向日葵地, 2017) a Zimní pastvina (冬牧场, 2023). Za svou tvorbu získala řadu literárních ocenění.

从书单到《我的阿勒泰》

有了一点出版经验之后，我们开始有机会与花城出版社探讨翻译出版方面的合作。出版社向我们提供了文学图书书单，让我们从中选择感兴趣的作品。

起初，我们把目光投向了虚构类文学作品。不过，按照我们自己的阅读经验和偏好，书单中暂时没有找到特别想要翻译的作品。后来，我们留意到了李娟的几本书。

山区生活和游牧文化对我们有一种天然的吸引力。出版社对李娟作品的介绍也引起了我们的兴趣。拿到样章之后，我们很快被她的文字吸引了：朴素，不加修饰，却有真实的情感。李娟没有经过传统的文学训练，她的写作带着纯天然的风格。这种自然、质朴的表达，在我们看来十分难得。另一方面，她的散文篇幅不长，读起来轻松，而日常生活中的细节，也更容易跨越文化差异，引起不同读者的共鸣。

就是它了。

《我的阿勒泰》以质朴、细腻的文字，记录新疆阿勒泰地区的乡村生活、牧民的迁徙，以及人与自然之间的关系。作品写日常生活中的细节，也写人在流动的生活中对家园和归属的感受。它所呈现的阿勒泰，不只是壮阔的自然风景，也是生活于其中的人们真实而具体的世界。

我们决定选择这本书，是在2023年底。到了2024年，李娟在中国读者中获得了更广泛的关注，同名电视剧的播出也让这部作品走进了更多人的视野。电视剧以新疆阿勒泰为背景，讲述汉族女孩李文秀在当地生活的经历，也呈现了当地的自然环境与游牧文化。看到这些变化，我们也不免为自己当初的选择有了一点小小的得意。

我们认识的一些编辑朋友，对李娟的作品有着不同的看法。有人说，她的文字极好；也有人觉得，她写的都是平常小事，不明白为什么会这么受欢迎。我倒觉得，或许恰恰是这些平常小事里的真实和真诚，让她的写作在一个人人焦虑的社会里，带给读者某种难得的安慰。

还有一位出版社的朋友告诉我们，一位读过李娟作品的德语译者曾说，阿尔卑斯山也有着与阿勒泰相似的故事。这让我们想到，李娟写的虽然是一个具体地方的生活，但其中的感受并不只属于那里。

李娟的生活方式也很特别。她很少接受媒体访问，生活并没有因为名气大增而发生太大变化。她没有出过国，因为嫌办理手续麻烦，也因为放心不下家里的猫。她的全部作品都由花城出版社出版，长期合作也让她不必为出版事务耗费太多心力。比起围绕名气展开的种种活动，她似乎更愿意留在自己的生活里，继续观察和写作。

Naše generace

《我们这一代》

李浩《跌落在我们村庄的神仙》（译者：Petra Martincová）

戈舟《随园》（译者：Zuzana Li）

张楚《中年妇女恋爱史》（译者：Denis Molčanov）

马小淘《失重》（译者：Hana Do）

郑小驴《赞美诗》（译者：Zuzana Li）

大头马《谋杀电视机》（译者：Denis Molčanov）

王苏辛《白夜照相馆》（译者：Zuzana Li）

A Reader's Response

Following the publication of On the Street in Czech in January 2022, another collection from the Fengmang series, Our Generation, appeared in early February 2023.

After reading On the Street, one of our printing partners shared his impressions with us. He said that he had never encountered anyone of Chinese descent in his own social circle. Yet reading stories by Chinese writers made him feel how much people have in common. In the stories, he found many feelings and reflections that were also his own.

For us, this response gave a more tangible meaning to the work of translating and publishing these books. We do not believe that literature needs to serve a particular function. But when someone with no direct experience of Chinese writers or Chinese life can find something of their own experience in these stories, we feel that the reading itself is worthwhile.

《在街上》

万玛才旦《气球》（译者：Denis Molčanov）

鲁敏《球与枪》（译者：Zuzana Li）

付秀莹《春暮》（译者：Zuzana Li）

任晓雯《朱三小姐的一生》（译者：Zuzana Li）

马拉《鲨鱼》（译者：Denis Molčanov）

周嘉宁《你是浪子，别泊岸》（译者：Denis Molčanov）

卢德坤《逛超市学》（译者：Denis Molčanov）

山东文艺出版社"锋芒文丛"，2020年3月出版，主编马兵在丛书序言中写道，"呈现当下中青年小说家的创作实绩"，"介绍中国当下小说的多元与活力"。

很多读者会跟随心仪的作家，追光自己不曾抵达的世界，出版社、评论家、其他专业人士的采撷、择选，更会让我们发现可能未曾留意的风景。

海外选译中国作家作品，已经有了相当深厚的积淀，我们仍然感到些许迫切，希望我们年轻的创作者、当下的故事和体验，随意地、平平常常地，成为各地文学读者信手拈来的选择，而不是那种刻意的阅读中国。

"锋芒文丛"的编选原则，基于虚构与想象的激情，叙事的智性和生长性，以及"属己"与"属世"的平衡。马兵认为，好的小说家，"可以凭借不凡的体验、洞察、叙事和想象力，呈现中国本土文学的叙事智慧"；好的故事，更在于"为开放性的阐释，提供足够的发展空间和无限可能"；而"在地"的叙事，"此岸"的遭遇，"往往指向恒久的人和我们共在的情境"，与他乡、彼岸同在，又保持距离。

丛书在2020年出版，恰恰是疫情带来诸多改变的年份，两年来，我们不断挪移审视社会和阅读文学的视角，重新思考共处、同在与距离。

作为山东文艺出版社的合作机构，我们捷中文化交流协会也在这二年间，致力于"锋芒文丛"选辑的捷克语翻译和出版。

最先选取《在街上》和《我们这一代》，也荣幸地请到捷克著名翻译家李素和爱理来做这二本译作。

《在街上》捷克语版，2022年1月，中国新年即将到来之际，正式出版，《我们这一代》预计年中与捷克读者见面。

Bringing Contemporary Chinese Fiction to Czech Readers

Published in March 2020 by Shandong Publishing House of Literature and Art, the Fengmang series was edited by Ma Bing. In his introduction, Ma wrote that the series aimed to present the work of contemporary fiction writers from the middle and younger generations, and to show the diversity and vitality of Chinese fiction today.

Readers often follow writers they admire, discovering worlds they have never encountered before. The choices made by publishers, critics and other literary professionals can also lead us to works we might otherwise have overlooked.

There has already been substantial work translating Chinese literature for readers abroad. Yet we still feel a sense of urgency about bringing the writing of younger Chinese authors, and the stories and experiences of the present day, into the ordinary reading choices of literary readers elsewhere—not as a deliberate exercise in "reading China", but as literature people simply want to read.

The selection principles behind the Fengmang series emphasise the energy of fiction and imagination, the intelligence and development of narrative, and a balance between personal experience and the wider world. As Ma Bing observes, a good fiction writer can draw on distinctive experiences, insight, narrative skill and imagination to reveal the narrative intelligence of Chinese literature. A good story also leaves room for open interpretation and multiple possibilities. Stories rooted in a particular place and its lived experience can speak to enduring human circumstances shared across different places, while retaining the distance and differences between them.

The series appeared in 2020, the year the pandemic began to transform so many aspects of our lives. Over the following two years, we too found ourselves reconsidering how we viewed society and read literature, and thinking anew about what it means to live together, to share experiences, and to remain apart.

During this period, the Czech-China Cultural Association worked with Shandong Publishing House of Literature and Art to translate and publish selected titles from the Fengmang series in Czech. We began with Na ulici (On the Street) and Naše generace (Our Generation), and were fortunate to work with the distinguished Czech translators Zuzana Li and Denis Molčanov on these two books.

The Czech edition of On the Street was published in January 2022, shortly before the Chinese New Year. Our Generation was expected to follow later that year.