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simply because they are of interest in themselves but also because they provide counterevidence against the assumptions in Eurocentric translation studies that were described earlier.
The intended readership for this book is primarily translation studies researchers, most of whom would not have specialized knowledge of modern Chinese literature. I have therefore added some explanations of events in modern Chinese history as well as biographical information about modern Chinese writers.1 Readers who are familiar with modern Chinese literature may be interested in aspects of literary translation in contemporary China that have not been described in detail before.
The structure of the book is based on the idea of translation zones—places where translators carry out their tasks either in direct contact with writers or in an institution that mediates this contact. Part 1 is set in the institutional zone and provides an account of the Foreign Languages Press that is familiar to me as a student, teacher, and employee. Starting with the concept of authoritarian command, I record as much as I can recall or discover about the impact of this translation mode on its staff and its readers. Part 2, set in the direct contact zone, takes up the other theme: translation as gift exchange, where translation transactions have a personal and sometimes amateur character. Part 3 investigates power structures that are openly or tacitly involved in formal and informal translation zones and explores ways in which their successes or failures can be compared between the zones.
The perspective in the book is Sinocentric; that is, Chinese people and their languages, cultures, and institutions are regarded as native, and non-Chinese people, including myself, are invariably seen as foreigners. In terms of personal prejudices, mine have been picked up from several different cultures and countries but probably may be attributed most to my upbringing and education in Australia. As a foreigner in China, I saw only little and misunderstood a lot.
To protect the privacy of those people who are still living, I have made anonymous many of the Chinese and foreign players (at times including myself) whose activities and attitudes are described in the following chapters. This book is neither an autobiography nor a memoir about the writers