This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Rebecca Kuang (who writes under the name R.F. Kuang), the author of the best-selling historical fantasy novel Babel. Set in the 1830s in England, the novel’s Chinese-born protagonist sets out to prevent a war with China over the opium trade. It’s a novel about the industrial revolution, labor activism, revolution, and — surprisingly — language, etymology, and translation.
2:28 – On Rebecca's own connections to China and her anxieties about losing the Chinese language
8:27 – What historical insights Rebecca hoped her readers would take away from Babel
14:37 – Parallels between the U.K. of the early 19th century and the U.S. of the early 21st
20:26 – Refections on revolution and revolutionaries
25:48 – Silver working: the magic system in Babel and its relation to language
30:37 – Issues with translation theory presented in the book
38:04 – How Rebecca’s background in debate influenced her writing style
45:03 – Rebecca's forthcoming novel Yellowface
A transcript of this podcast will be available soon at TheChinaProject.com.
Recommendations:
Rebecca: The film Banshees of Inisherin and other works by its director, Martin McDonagh, including the dark comedy In Bruges (2008).
Kaiser: The new novel by Cormac McCarthy The Passenger, and a review of it by James Wood in The New Yorker.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
‘Haunted by Chaos: China’s Grand Strategy,’ with Sulmaan Wasif Khan
Howard French on how China's past shapes its present ambitions
Strength in Numbers: USTR veteran Wendy Cutler on managing trade with China
An American Futurist in China: Alvin Toffler and Reform & Opening
Mark Rowswell a.k.a. Dashan Live at the Bookworm Literary Festival
Peter Lorentzen's data-driven analysis of Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign
An update on the Xinjiang crisis with Nury Turkel
Samm Sacks on the U.S.-China tech relationship
China, the U.S., and Kenya
Is there really an epidemic of self-censorship among China scholars
Everything you ever wanted to know about Taiwan but were afraid to ask, Part 2
Everything you ever wanted to know about Taiwan but were afraid to ask, Part 1
Sinica Live with Zha Jianying: Dealing with the troublemakers
Introducing the Middle Earth podcast
China’s ethnic policy in Xinjiang and Tibet: The move toward assimilation
Live from the US-China Business Council: The bilateral trade relationship in 2019
Mexican and Canadian diplomats in a changing, challenging China
The U.S. and China: Cold war, or hot air?
Gene-edited babies, CRISPR, and China’s changing ethical landscape
Huawei and the tech cold war
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free