China's seal of approval for French novelist
French author Jean-Baptiste Andrea was awarded the Choix Goncourt de la Chine 2023 on Wednesday for his near-600-page novel "Veiller Sur Elle" ("Watching Over Her") set in 20th-century Italy.
The result was announced at the 103-year-old Villa Basset in Shanghai by Florent Aydalot, cultural counsellor at the French Embassy in China.
The announcement was followed by an afternoon of livestreamed roundtable discussions on Thursday, opened by John Valadou, French consul general in Shanghai.
"Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region play key roles in our cultural exchanges between France and China," the diplomat said in the opening speech, in fluent Chinese.
"Many writers and translators in this area help greatly in promoting such exchanges, which also reflects our common passion for literature."
China's choice of the 2023 Goncourt Prize was announced at Villa Basset in Shanghai on Wednesday.
China's choice of the 2023 Goncourt Prize was selected by second-year graduate students and PhD students from the French departments of 19 Chinese universities all around the country. The students spent months reading the eight short-listed works for the year's prize before voting for their favorite titles.
The result concurs with the prestigious Goncourt Prize that was announced in November 2023.
Andrea, who was both selected by the Goncourt Academy members and Chinese students, joined the roundtable discussions via video.
"I'm very excited and happy to be awarded," Andrea, a writer, director and screenwriter, told the Chinese readers.
"This is my first book to be translated into Chinese, so I'm really looking forward to it."
The author answered questions from the novel's Chinese translator Huang Yaqin and from readers at Sinan Mansions. The Chinese translation will be launched soon.
Jean-Baptiste Andrea joins the livestreamed discussion via video.
Huang Hong, translator and French literature professor at Nanjing University, isn't surprised that "Watching Over Her" was the choice of young Chinese students, as she recalls the author once said he wanted to write a novel that he would have loved reading when he was young.
Established in 1903, Le Prix Goncourt is France's highest literary honor recognizing "the best and most imaginative prose of the year." The laureate receives a symbolic reward of 10 euros (US$10.79), as well as considerable recognition and often a sharp rise in book sales.
Notable winners include Marcel Proust, Simone de Beauvoir and Marguerite Duras.
Chinese publishers, writers and translators of French literature share their insights.
The Choix Goncourt China was set up in 2018 by the French Embassy in China, making China the first country in Asia and the 12th in the world where the French literary prize is selected.
"French literature was translated to Chinese from very early on, and Chinese readers are increasingly getting to know French literature even more," said Yuan Xiaoyi, translator and French literature professor at East China Normal University.
"This award is selected by Chinese students of the French department, who read together for months. In China, there is a tradition of learning the language from literature. Today, there are many more ways to learn a language, and the award shows that learning from literature is still a major method."
The novel's Chinese translation will be launched soon.
