Early yesterday (March 5) morning, Nobel Prize winner Abdelrazak Gurnah flew from the United Kingdom to Shanghai to start his first "China trip" for nine days.
After a night's rest, before starting the official trip, on the morning of March 6, Gurnah was interviewed by a number of Chinese **, including Chao News reporters.
When the reporter came to No. 65 Sinan Mansion, where Gurna was staying, he was already wearing a gray suit and sitting in the middle of the sofa. The 76-year-old Gurnah is in good spirits, with a gray beard and a well-groomed hair, like a character from one of Morgan Freeman's films. Seeing that everything was ready, Gurnah smiled and bowed slightly, motioning for everyone to sit down around him.
We share common experiences and specific differences.
In the 60s of the 20th century, Gurnah moved to the UK as a refugee from his native Tanzania and began his literary journey in the 80s.
Uncompromising and empathetic, he delves into the effects of colonialism and concerns about the fate of refugees caught between cultural and geographical fissures. As stated in the Nobel Prize citation, the living conditions, identity and historical writing of the former colonial people in the post-colonial era are eternal topics in Gurnah's work.
The collision between the impact of colonialism and local traditional culture is much discussed in Gurnah's work. For example, in his masterpiece "Paradise", which tells the twists and turns of Yusuf, a 12-year-old Swahili boy who is sold by his father to Uncle Aziz and forced to take a train to leave his hometown and go to a coastal city, ** in the English narrative, a large amount of Arabic and Swahili are preserved.
Gulna's hometown of Zanzibar, Tanzania, and Shanghai, where he just set foot, both had ancient civilizations and colonial experiences. After the collapse of the colonial system, is the influence of foreign culture still alive and deeply embedded in the cultural life and creation of the local people?
In the face of the question of the Chao News reporter, Gurnah gave his own answer.
Gurnah was interviewed by reporters at No. 65 Sinan Mansion. This article**except for the annotation**is in the tide news client.
Zanzibar and Shanghai) have some common experiences. It is clear that we are talking about European colonialism of the past centuries. I believe that we must bear in mind that there was a very different kind of colonialism around the world. ”
For example, India has experienced colonialism and has been colonized by countries such as Britain, France and Portugal for 400 years, which is of course very different from the experience of a region with only 60 years of colonial history, Gurnah said.
When the British first came to India, they were not as powerful and wealthy as they were in the 19th century, and they took the form of negotiations** and drew up a map of Europe. Then the colonists came and they came and said you belong to Germany, you belong to France, ......
We must understand that later colonialist activities were all military in nature, and that this was not entirely the case with early colonialism. It's the same in China, where you were forced to sign some kind of agreement with Britain and France at the end of the 19th century. These include the right to give up one's own resources, to make one's own decisions and, in some cases, one's own territory. ”
We must remember that we share common experiences, but more importantly, we should also constantly remind ourselves that there are specific cultural and historical differences in these great places. Gurnah said.
Gurnah answers reporters' questions.
In China, the precious "porcelain pieces" of childhood are traced
As a child, Gurnah used to "treasure hunt" on the beach near his residence on the island of Zanzibar, and occasionally found broken porcelain pieces from shipwrecks on China's ancient maritime Silk Road. Later, when Gurnah walked into the museum to learn more about the history of the arrival of the Chinese fleet in eastern Africa, he realized more deeply the preciousness of those porcelain tiles. These memories stayed with Gurnah for the rest of his life.
On the afternoon of March 6th, Gurnah was invited to Shanghai Da Zero Bay Culture and Arts Center to start his first public event in China and give a public speech on the spot.
In his speech, he once again mentioned the Maritime Silk Road that he could not forget:
Gurnah's live speech** from Shanghai Translation Publishing House.
I'm sure many of you know Zheng He's story well, but I want to say a little bit about him. Zheng He (1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese navigator, explorer, diplomat, fleet commander, and eunuch in the early Ming Dynasty, and is often considered ...... greatest seafaring hero in Chinese history
Now I am thinking of a passage that I read in Louise Levathes's When China ruled the seas (1996) in Zheng He's 1431 stele in Changle, Fujian
Traveling across the ocean, the voyage reached more than 100,000 miles. Looking at the ocean, the huge waves are far away from the world, and the high waves are like mountains, looking at those overseas countries, and they are distributed far away in the mist and mist. But our fleet hoisted its sails high above the clouds, and galloped like meteors day and night, crossing the rough waves, as if we were walking through the streets. (Original text: more than 100,000 miles.) Guanfu ocean, the waves are connected to the sky, the huge waves are like mountains, and the Zhuyi domain is separated by the mist and mist. And my clouds sail high, day and night stars, wading through the turbulent waves, if walking on the thoroughfare)".
Now preserved in Changle, Fujian Province, the "Heavenly Concubine Lingying Monument" is Zheng He in the sixth year of Xuande Ming Dynasty (1431) November on the eve of the seventh mission to the Western Ocean, when the fleet anchored in Changle to wait for the monsoon to sail, the inscription recorded in detail the time when Zheng He led the fleet to the Western Ocean seven times and the experience of the countries he visited. Sadly, Zheng He died of illness on the return voyage from this voyage in Guri, on the west coast of India, and never returned to his beloved homeland.
Gulna said he grew up hearing that Zanzibar had frequent contacts with places across the ocean. Walking along the sandy beaches in some parts of the coast, one will pick up celadon fragments, which were produced in China and are historical relics left over from Zheng He's fleet. In some stories, the Chinese did not leave with the fleet and remained on the land forever.
Honestly, stories of such transatlantic connections sound like legends or myths, yet the colourful evidence of human activity I see on my doorstep every year convinces me that they are true. ”
In Gurnah's memory, at some point every year, travelers would come from different parts of the ocean with their goods, stories, and chaotic lives. The port is just a few meters away from Gurnah's home, and he has witnessed the arrival of these people since he was very young, and the stories they bring with him have grown up.
Gurna, who set foot on the land of China for the first time, also said that through this trip to China, he longed to regain his knowledge and understanding of the place he longed for in his childhood, and gained many wonderful experiences here.
In the future, Gurnah will have a dialogue with Chinese writers such as Ge Fei, Sun Ganlu and Mo Yan, and visit Ningbo, Beijing and other places. Chao News reporters will also continue to pay attention to and report. (ENDS).
*: Chao News client.