‘CHINA IS VERY CHAOTIC AND FAST CHANGING, FULL OF THINGS THAT PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND'
eulture. pnlitieal philnxnph} and lni‘eign pnlie} \\i|| inipaet inereaxingl} nn tix in the \Vext.‘ xa_\x l.ennard. \xlin ix appearing at (ilaxgnu'x :\_\L‘ \Vl'llcl ltiiiik liL‘xllMtl llllx lttl'llllglll. .\\‘L‘ ttll'etttl} \L'L' the L'llL'L'l ill the (IIIIIIL‘\L' interxentinn in dexelnping enuntriex. \xhere ('hina'x huge eennnniie inight liax ennipletel} neutralixed the iiiipaet nl the \Vnrld Hank and \\extern natinnx.‘
Lennard helie\ex that. while \Vextern lihet'al deinneraeiex xueli ax the l'lx' llltl} \iexx ('liina'x niaxxi\e eennnniie grnuth and the enxuing rapid xneial ehange ax an nppnrtunit} tn gentl_\ pei'xuade the l’enple‘x Repuhlie rnund tn the
idea nl deninerae}. an entirel} dil'l'erent kind nl
dehate ix raging at the heart nt (‘hinexe gn\erninent. Indeed. ax ('hina'x )nung pnpulatinn inigratex tn eitiex xiieh ax Shanghai
and Beijing xeeking a xhare in the xpnilx nl'
L‘CUIIUIIIIL' xtlL‘L‘L‘xx. llix itth il\ likel_\ that a ner\nux liierai'eli_\ \xill reaet tn xueh rixing expeetatinnx h} heenining ninre authni‘itarian. ‘I think penple ha\ e underextiinated the l'L‘xlllL‘llL‘L‘ til. IIIL‘ (‘IIIIILWL‘ UllL‘-[Nlt'l_\ xtatef \il)\ Lennard. "l‘he ixxue that ix reall} getting dil'lerent ('hinexe pnlitieal thinkerx ninti\ated at prexent ix hnxt tn make the nne-pai't} xtate xtrnngei‘. 'l‘here hax been talk nl lui'ther
deinnerae} ii'i'I/ii‘ii the ('nniinunixt l’ai‘t} itxell‘
ax a rexpnnxe tn the enuntr} enthraeing eapitalixt \aluex. hut there'x iuxt ax xti'nng a
laetinn arguing that \\ hat inatterx ix the rule nl'
laxx rather than inulti-pai‘t) eleetinnx.'
(‘hinexe lln\elixt .\'ianlu (itin. \xhn ix appearing at the .-\}t‘ \Vritel t'exti\al alnngxide l.ennai‘d. t'eelx that the ntitlnnk l'nr (’hinexe ai‘tixtx ix inextrieahl} linked tn her enunti'yx pilllllcx.
‘I think it‘x dil'l‘ieult tn he a ('hinexe artixt \xithnut heing pnlitieal heeauxe the enuntr} ix \er) ehantie and laxt ehanging. liull nl' thingx that penple dnn't underxtand. l xee that ax a
Main image: Shanghai’s bustling Nanjing Road. Mark Leonard, bottom left, believes the next major export from the People's Republic will be ideas; novelist and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo, below, exemplifies the impact Chinese culture is making in the West
great thing ahnut .i enniplieated enuntr} like ('hina.’ Xianlu exeinphtiex the \xa} in \xhieh ('lnnexe culture ix graduall} making an inipaet in the \Vext.
'l‘he prnlilie \xritei‘ and filmmaker. uhn lixex in l.nndnn. hegan \xriting in her teenx and “em nn tn puhlixh tixe ltn\elx in her natixe (’hina. llei' hext—knnun \xnrk in thix enuntr} ix .-l ('n/ii l\(' ('lii'iir \('-/‘.IIL’/I\/l Hittiniiiin fur [wit/w. \xhieh \xax xhnrtlixted t'nr the ()range l’ri/e. 'l'he nnxel. her tirxt \kritten in linglixh. traeex the eultural lnnelinexx iii a _\nnng ('hinexe \xninan li\ing in l.nndnn. \xhn xetx ntit tn learn langlixh and ix later l'ni'eed tn negntiate the equallx inipenetrahle language nt ln\ e with an unnamed lznglixhnian. .-\n earlier nn\el. 'Iiit'lm litre/innit (it (I It’ut't'iiniix IrtllI/I. hax nnl} iiixt heen tranxlated and puhlixhed in the LR. 'l'he hnnk dealx xeeptieall} \xith the hungr} ruxli tn einhraee \Vextei'n ennxunierixni aninng ('hina'x ui‘han _\ntlng. l‘ent'ang. the prntagnnixt. lnngx lnr 'hi‘ight. xhin} thingx‘ \xhile her hibl‘riend nhxer\ ex that ‘('hina ix hetter at heing .-\ineriean than .-\nieriea'.
Xianlu arguex that. \xhile tranxlatinnx nl \\ttl'l\\ h) ke_\ \\l'lIL‘l‘x in linglixli xueli ax Jl) Salinger and S_\l\ia l’lath inxpii'ed her ax a _\nung \xnnian in ('hina. her health} laxeinatinn \xith l'nreign eultui‘e hax hithertn iint heen reeiprneated. '.'\n.\ eninniunieatinn. e\'en l'ruxtrated enininunieatinn. ix pnxiti\e. ll‘l ehnnxe tn \\ rite in a dil'l'erent language the eentral eni'e ni‘ xenxihilit) nt the language i'eniainx (‘hinexe 'l'lie pi'nhlein ix that there are \et'_\ l'e\\ tranxlatinnx nl (’hinexe literature in the \Vext. l xee that ax a kind nl' ignnranee nr laek nl interext in a eulture that ixn't _\'nur nwnf
Xianlu and Lennard agree that. ax the l’enple'x Repuhlie preparex tn hnxt the Beijing ()l_\nipiex. there will he unprecedented lineux nn ('hina‘x eulture and her penple. It will alxn prn\ide a taxeinating inxiglit intn linw thix inereaxingl} pnuerl'ul natinn xeekx tn engage \\ ith the text nl the maid.
‘(‘hina xeex the ()l_\inpiex ax a great enining nut party l'nr itx xtatux ax a \\'t)l'ltl xupet‘pnwet‘f xa}x Lennard. "l‘he enuntr} ix \'er_\ keen nnt tn he xeen ax it threat tn the \Vnt‘ld. 'I‘hix givex \Vextern enuntriex a eertain aninunt nl‘ leVei‘age \xhen it eninex tn raixing ixxuex like l)arl'ur — ixxuex nn \xhieh we think (‘hina ean ehange pnlie}. But it'x iinpnrtant that “C tixe thix lexerage \x'ixel}. and rexixt ennxtantly herating ('hina nn deinnerae} and thingx that \t'nn‘t ehange nxernight.‘
Mitchell Library, Sun 9 Mar, 6pm.
5‘ ‘e
3t) Fragmen ‘
nl. a Raxennux‘ Y’tigh
AYE WRITE!
x, w
POETRYIN‘ MOTION
Doug Johnstone talks to Alistair Findlay, the footballer-turned- poet behind a new collection of verse On the face of it, football and poetry are not obVious bedfetlows. The Tartan Army enjoy a good Singalong but they're not renowned for their lingUistic prowess or their gentle poetic insights. Likewise, you can't imagine a Poets Xl mastering the 4-5-1 formation.
But one man IS seeking to change all that. Alistair Findlay is a former professional footballer and acclaimed poet. Last year Findlay edited 700 Favourite Scottish Football Poems. an eclectic and intrigumg collection br0ught together for Scottish publisher Luath.
Featuring Hugh MacDiarmid. Norman MacCaig and Edwm Morgan, as well as work by contemporary poets like William Mcllvanney, Ron Butlin and Jackie Kay. it's far from being an obscure niche book. and it brings home the dramatic and emotional potential that's latent in the beautiful game.
‘The poetry is a mixture of stuff about the game itself and work which uses football as a metaphor for politics. warfare and all the rest of it,' says Findlay. ‘For me this clash between the allegedly high cultural form of poetry and the popular cultural form of football is fasonating.’
Findlay IS well placed to examine this interface. having been on Hibs' books in the 603 (he was Bill Shankly's first signing there). and also being an established poet. his 2003 collection even being called Sex, Death and Football. For this event at Aye Write! he has gathered like-minded souls together for an evening's entertainment which should appeal to fans of both camps. That's the plan. anyway.
“Fans of poetry and fans of football shouldn't be as afraid of each other as they have been in the past.’ says Findlay. ‘There are still barriers. and it will be interesting to see if this book moves things along a bit. tn the introduction to the book I explain to poetry fans what football is all about. and likewise to football fans what poetry is ab0ut. Maybe in the future I won't have to do that.‘
I Football Poems hosted by Alistair Findlay, Mitchell Library, Sat 8 Mar, 6.30pm.
28 Feb—1 3 Mar 2008 THE LIST 17