Chinese translations of African writing rise to 63 percent – Report

The translation of works by African authors into Chinese has recorded a whopping 63 percent rise since 2018, a report published by an American linguist and Chinese literary translator, Bruce Humes, has said.
According to Humes, there are currently 238 translations of works by African authors into Chinese, showing an increase of 63 percent since early 2018, when there were 146 titles.

An avid reader and language learner, Humes began maintaining a list of African writing in Chinese translation after spending time in Tanzania where he studied Swahili.

Humes noted that Chimamanda Adichie is “by far the hottest African writer among Chinese fans,” with all six of her books translated into Chinese.

Following Adichie is Alain Mabanckou whose three novels have also been rendered in Chinese.

The most recent translations are “My Sister, the Serial Killer” by Oyinkan Braithwaite, Mabanckou’s “Memoirs of a Porcupine”, “The Prison Letters” by Nelson Mandela, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s “Fighting Corruption is Dangerous.”

He noted that eight new titles have been scheduled for publication in Chinese in 2021 by Zhejiang Business University Publishing House.

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