The Frankfurt Book Fair will be held on the 7th, and Yang Shuangzi's "Wandering in Taiwan" will also start promoting the German version in Germany from this month. Unexpectedly, at the first meeting in Munich on the 1st, it was reported that the "interpreter" failed to faithfully convey the content of the conversation, and even deliberately avoided words such as "Republic of China" and "China." In response, Spring Mountain Publishing has determined that the subsequent German interpreters will be replaced by Lin Yuli, a writer living in Germany, and Lin Yuli will be the interpreter for many events starting today (4) German time until the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Chunshan Publishing House stated on Facebook that Julie, the marketing manager of German publishing house DuMont, said that the German version of "Taiwan Travels" was read again as soon as it was released, and the German media actively invited interviews, which is a rare situation.
Yang Shuangzi told in Munich why she wanted to write a story from a hundred years ago. She believes food and travel are things that remain unchanged and attract people's hearts through time and space. "She also conveyed the importance of Taiwan's main narrative. After winning the award, she has been thinking about how to convey the complexity of Taiwan on international occasions."
Spring Mountain Publishing House pointed out that German readers like to listen to readings aloud, and the discussion of issues and readings are alternately interspersed. The German translator Karin Betz read it particularly beautifully and felt that the phonology was great. The host, Kai Strittmatter, is also a reporter for Suddeutsche Zeitung who understands Chinese. He helped with the interview and "from time to time helped fill in the parts that the interpreter could not translate." Ma Kai also has a Chinese book in Taiwan, which is "Harmonious Society: China, a Brave New World under Big Data Surveillance" translated by Lin Yuli.
According to the "Central News Agency" report, Zhuang Ruilin, editor-in-chief of Spring Mountain Publishing, pointed out that when Yang Shuangzi talked about China's threat to Taiwan, the on-site interpreter was unable to fully translate, did not convey the conversation between the host and the translator in German to the speaker, and did not translate the words "China" and "Republic of China", which triggered people at the scene to leave messages online saying that the interpretation was "unprofessional." Afterwards, it was also reported that the Chinese Consulate in Munich had contacted the Literary Museum and hoped to cancel the event, but the museum refused.
Spring Mountain Publishing stated, "The interpretation of this event was not good, which disappointed on-site and online readers. We deeply regret it, and have once again realized the importance of interpretation. If any readers who participated saw this post, we have expressed strongly to the organizer and the German publishing house. The organizer has also apologized for this result. Subsequent German interpretation will be performed by Lin Yuli, designated by Spring Mountain Publishing, in person. I believe the event will go more smoothly."
