Author Rebecca Kuang on her novel Babel, or on the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators Revolution

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Rebecca Kuang (who writes under the name R.F. Kuang), the author of the best-selling historical fantasy novel Babel. Set in the 1830s in England, the novel’s Chinese-born protagonist sets out to prevent a war with China over the opium trade. It’s a novel about the industrial revolution, labor activism, revolution, and — surprisingly — language, etymology, and translation. 2:28 – On Rebecca's own connections to China and her anxieties about losing the Chinese language 8:27 – What historical insights Rebecca hoped her readers would take away from Babel 14:37 – Parallels between the U.K. of the early 19th century and the U.S. of the early 21st 20:26 – Refections on revolution and revolutionaries 25:48 – Silver working: the magic system in Babel and its relation to language 30:37 – Issues with translation theory presented in the book 38:04 – How Rebecca’s background in debate influenced her writing style 45:03 – Rebecca's forthcoming novel Yellowface A transcript of this podcast will be available soon at TheChinaProject.com. Recommendations: Rebecca: The film Banshees of Inisherin and other works by its director, Martin McDonagh, including the dark comedy In Bruges (2008). Kaiser: The new novel by Cormac McCarthy The Passenger, and a review of it by James Wood in The New Yorker. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.