THE NOBEL PRIZE CODE

Translation bridges intercultural communications. Gao Xingjian’s Lingshan, translated by Mabel Lee as Soul Mountain in 1999, is the first and the only Chinese novel to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (in 2000). The Swedish Academy claimed that it was the cultural specific plots they found so absorbing. The translation of Lingshan was so successful that it paved the way for it to be awarded the Nobel Prize. This was largely due to skilfully maintaining its authentic alien charms while at the same time capturing the imaginations of Western readers. How is Lee able to transport the authenticity of a certain Chinese experience embodied in Chinese literature? This book attempts to unravel the reasons.