On the evening of December 3rd, at the invitation of School of Northeast Asia Studies, Professor Lin Shaohua, a well-known scholar of translation and cultural studies from School of Foreign Languages, Ocean University of China, gave an academic lecture at Room 104, Wentian Building. The lecture was hosted by Wu Peng, director of the Japanese Department, and attended by teachers and students from multiple Schools, “Xin-Da-Ya of Literary Translation: Is It Possible to Translate Haruki Murakami 100%?”
Professor Lin shared his life journey from being a student to being a teacher. He believed that in order to do a good job of translation, we must have a solid foundation of our mother tongue. He advocated reading reputable literary works and feel the beauty of Chinese language. At the same time, he gave a detailed interpretation of Haruki Murakami's works. He believed that no translator can translate Murakami 100%, for translation is the result of a compromise between the author and the translator. At the end of the lecture, Professor Lin answered questions raised by the audience, and held a small book signing.
This lecture is the 19th “Northeast Asia Academic Forum”, a platform that periodically invites Chinese and foreign scholars to give lectures at Shandong University at Weihai, aiming to provide students as well as teachers with opportunities to communicate face-to-face with well-known scholars.
Lin Shaohua: famous literary translator, scholar, writer, and professor at Ocean University of China; “Chutian Scholar” at Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Vice President of the Japanese Literature Association in China; Author of 落花之美[Beauty of Falling Flowers], 为了灵魂的自由[For the Freedom of the Soul], 乡愁与良知[Homesickness and Conscience], 高墙与鸡蛋[High Wall and Eggs], 夜雨灯[Night Rain Lights], 异乡人[Outlander], 小孤独[Little Loneliness], 林少华看村上：村上文学35年[Lin Shaohua on Murakami: 35 Years of Murakami’s Work]; translator of Haruki Murakami’s works such as Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Killing Commendatore and 80 other classic Japanese works such as Rashomon, Snow Country, and Socrates in Love. His translations have been widely distributed and have far-reaching influence. He won the 2018 “Foreign Minister Commendation” for his outstanding translation performance and contribution to Sino-Japanese cultural exchange.
