"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Chinese edition of New New Media just published

Pleased to announce that the Chinese translation of my New New Media (Penguin Academics, 2009) has just been published! This is the seventh translation of one of my books in China by the eminent He Daokuan, and the second translation of New New Media (the first was in Polish this past Fall). More about New New Media ... details and statistics on all of my translations.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Dr. Levinson,
Congratulations on the Chinese translation! I was recently introduced to your book New New Media in one of my college courses. I immediately started wondering how much of it applied to non-Western cultures. Considering the censorship in China (which you've mentioned in other blog posts), I was surprised to see that there was a demand for your book there. Do you think the censorship in China impacts the way the book is received there, or is this not an issue with the new new media you discuss in the book?

Paul Levinson said...

Thanks, jadesandbulte, and that's a very good question.

I don't read Chinese, but, as far as I know (based on the readings of some of my Chinese students here at Fordham), He Daokuan has done a faithful translation job. I've discussed censorship in China, Tienamen Square (1989), and related themes in most of my books, in addition to New New Media, and so far, no problem (that I know of). On the other hand, Chinese is a very nuanced language, and I wouldn't be shocked to find that my passages on China were translated to be softer than they are in English. I'd say bottom line, though, is that Chinese education wisely wants to be well informed about new new media, and therefore a little criticism of the Chinese system is tolerated.

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