导读:我们经常可以读到外国的经典名著，你知道外国人对我们文化的了解有多少么？他们又对哪一部分文化尤其感兴趣呢？
"We know Canadian contemporary literature much better than they know ours," says Bai Ye, director of the China Contemporary Literature Study Association, at a recent forum in Beijing on cultural translation and studies.
中国当代文学研究会主任白烨最近在北京举办的一场关于文化翻译和研究的论坛上说：“我们对加拿大当代文学的了解远超过他们对我们文学的了解。”
Bai had a dialogue with a famous Canadian critic at the event. As they discussed Canadian literature, Bai gave examples of several authors that he liked. The Canadian critic, on the other hand, could not think of any Chinese writer that she read.
白烨在会议上与一位著名的加拿大评论家展开了交谈。当他们谈到加拿大文学的时候，白烨举了他喜欢的几个作家。然而，加拿大的评论家想不到她读过的中国作家。
"She told me to wait and she would think of one that she really loved. She didn’t think of the name until we dined together later. It was Li Bai, "he says.
他说：“她告诉我稍等一下，她要好好想一想她喜欢的作家。直到我们去吃饭她才告诉我，她喜欢李白”。
That almost hit Bai like a blow, because the poet Li lived in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
这让白烨大失所望，因为诗仙李白是唐朝人（618-907）。
"I study only Chinese literature, but I read a lot of foreign literary works. Obviously, foreign readers know nothing about Chinese literature. And I think it’s time for us to change that situation, "Bai says.
白烨说：“我只学中国文学，但是我阅读了很多外国文学作品。显而易见的是外国扶着并不了解中国文学。并且我认为是时候让我们来改变这一情形了”。
The major purpose of the recent forum, hosted at Beijing Language and Culture University by China Culture Translation and Studies Support, a platform for cultural cooperation, was to discuss how to translate and introduce excellent contemporary Chinese literary works to overseas readers.
最近这场论坛在由中国文化翻译研究支持--文化合作平台主办，地点在北京语言大学。本次论坛的主要目的是讨论如何将中国当代杰出文学作品翻译给海外读者。
In China, more than 7,000 writers have registered with the China Writers Association, creating more than 3,000 novels each year. But only some 200-plus Chinese writers have been introduced overseas.
在中国，中国作家协会有超过7000名作家，每年创作小说3000多部。但仅仅只有两百多位中国作家被介绍到了海外。
Mai Jia, author of Decoded and In the Dark, is the only contemporary Chinese writer whose works have been translated into 27 languages, says another participant at the forum, Xu Baofeng. Xu is executive director of the Chinese Culture Communication and Translation Center.Xu says there should have been more Chinese writers read by overseas readers, since "they create really great works".
另一位参加论坛的徐宝峰说，《解码与黑暗》的作家麦家是当代中国作家中唯一一个作品被翻译成27种语言的。徐宝峰目前是中国文化传播与翻译中心执行董事。徐宝峰说应该有更多的中国作家被海外的读者所熟知，因为”他们创作了很多伟大的作品”
Bai says foreign readers now tend to read stories about modern urban life in China rather than tales set in rural areas in old times, such as Mo Yan’s Red Sorghum.
白烨说外国读者现在倾向于阅读有关中国现代都市生活的故事，而不是旧时候的乡村故事，比如莫言的红高粱。
Abrahamsen is the founder of Paper Republic, a company devoted to translating Chinese literature and introducing it to the West.
亚伯拉罕森是Paper Republic公司的创始人，该公司致力于将中国文学作品进行翻译并传播到西方。
Bai says that writers now being introduced to readers abroad are mainly from generations born before 1970.
白烨说现在被介绍到国外的作家，主要都是1970年之前出生的。
"We promote overseas what we think are excellent works, but many foreign readers want to read the historical progress in the last 40 years since the reform and opening-up started. What kind of sea change has taken place in China, how it happened, and how it has influenced people from different walks of life, materially and psychologically," Bai says. "However, we don’t have such novels. So I think we should first create some excellent works on such topics as migrant workers and make a collection."
“我们向海外推广我们认为优秀的作品，但是许多外国读者想要阅读改革开放近40年来的历史进程。中国发生了多么大的变化、为什么会发生这样的变化以及它在物质和心理上如何影响到不同阶层的人们，”白烨说到“然而，我们现在没有这样的小说。所以我认为我们首先要在流动工人这样的话题上创作一些优秀的作品，然后进行一系列的整理”。
Lu Min, 44, vice-chairman of the writers association in Jiangsu province, dismisses such writings."I once met representatives of a German copyright-trading company. They told me they wanted to read about urban Chinese life rather than rural life," she says.
江苏省作家协会副主席卢敏驳回了这样的作品，她说：“我曾经会见过一个德国版权贸易公司的代表，他们告诉我，他们想看看中国的城市生活，而不是农村生活。”
But can literature be custom-made like other products? she asked.
但是文学能像其他的作品一样被定制吗？她反问到。
"They want to learn about Chinese society through literature, which should be the function of the media," she says.
她说：“他们想通过文学了解中国社会，这种功能应该是媒体的。”
"But they should expect less ideological content from our literature. In literature, we write down our consideration about life and death, love, desire, our plight and our pursuit of the beautiful life, which are the eternal themes of literature."
“但是，他们应该降低对我们文学作品中意识形态的期待，在文学方面，我们写下了我们对生死，爱情，欲望的思考，我们的困境，以及我们对美好生活的追求，这些是文学的永恒主题”。
