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FeedUsing the space between two languages … Ha Jin ventures to Buffalo
The second installment of Just Buffalo Literary Center’s 2009–10 Babel series featured American-Chinese author Ha Jin. Interestingly, he writes in his second language—English—which he didn't learn until college. He has both adopted it, and America as his home. Today, he is in semi-exile from China, where his books have been banned due to their subject matter. His homeland treats him as a non-native author. Still, until his newest work, A Free Life, all of his previous novels took place there.
His Babel lecture focused mainly on A Free Life, his feelings about language, and the concept of the immigrant in a foreign land. He also spoke about the novel Waiting, taking the audience through its progression. Some of the question-and-answer period delved deeper into that story, since it was the most-read choice by audience members in preparation for the talk. But I was more interested in his writing process, and his outlook on non-native tongue writers.
A Free Life tells the tale of an immigrant, and how he copes with a new culture and lifestyle. He added that the book is not necessarily autobiographical, but he does admit to sprinkling in life experiences to keep the story real and true. As his first work not set in China, the writing process was a challenge. Speaking about America meant he had to make sure his facts were straight. This also made the process of translating a difficult one, since some characters speak slang or bad English, or words that have no equal in Chinese. The idea of even attempting the conversion scared him a bit, so he hired a professional. After seeing how the essence of the story still remained—despite losing some nuances of the English language—he discovered how a good translator could enhance a tale by retaining its human spirit. “A good book,” he says, “should be translatable.” He has since decided to convert his works himself.
Through the entire talk, the topic of language stayed at the forefront. He was very influenced by authors, like him, who came to America and decided to write in English rather than their native tongue, like Vladimir Nabokov. Ha Jin loved Nabokov's confidence in using puns and wordplay to add humor to the work. By taking archaic words and resurrecting them, or even creating words of his own, Nabokov allowed his work to show the struggle his characters faced in learning a new language. A foreign writer doesn’t need to know all the intricacies of another language to joke; he can speak of his own experiences, and share them with wit and style.
My favorite line of the evening was towards the end as Ha Jin spoke about his novels living on after his death. He believes one should not be afraid to stay fresh and new, or speak about things that may be controversial—like his view on Tiananmen Square. One “needs to preserve truth in books, or else who will want to read them?”
Babel continues at Kleinhans with Azar Nafisi on 3/5/10 and Salman Rushdie on 4/16/10. Tickets on sale now.
