On one side of the table sat a Portuguese writer in love with Chinese poetry. On the other, a Chinese poet, charmed by Fernando Pessoa. António Graça de Abreu, who translates Chinese classics into Portuguese, and Hu Xudong, who translates Western poems into Chinese, met halfway during one of the many sessions of The Script Road – Macau Literary Festival, which took place in schools and universities last month, this time at a session held at the University of St Joseph.
The authors spoke, among other topics, about the significant impact that Western works have had on contemporary Chinese poets. Hu Xudong, considered one of the top ten Chinese poets today, pointed out that there may be an explanation for this – by fleeing the classics, and by opening themselves up to writers from other parts of the world through translations, young authors can expand their circle of influence, and thereby find their own voice.
However this is often viewed as a negative by some Sinologists.
“They [Sinologists] greatly value the classics and most have a prejudice towards contemporary Chinese poets”, said Hu Xudong, who gave the example of Stephen Owen, an American Sinologist who, 20 years ago, compared contemporary Chinese poetry to a lower quality version of Western poetry.
In conclusion, Hu Xudong said that it’s not possible to dispense with tradition, but, at the same time, one can no longer write like traditional poets. He believes that “it will still take a long time” for new Chinese poetry to be acknowledged.
The poet added that over the last eight years he has never written any works in Beijing, where he lives.
“I have a very strange habit which is writing in hotels, on flights or trains. I think that writing when on a certain path gets closer to the essence, because the poem is a metaphor for travel”.
During the Q&A session, one of the audience members asked the guests about the weight of classical authors, noting that some translators don’t like to admit that they translate Western authors as “a way to escape” traditional poetry, even though that may be the case.
In response, António Graça de Abreu said that the classics are ubiquitous.
“They [poets] want to break with tradition, but the blood is Chinese and we write with our blood, and not with our head”.
