Wolfgang Kubin (; born December 17, 1945 in

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

) is a German poet, essayist, sinologist and translator of literary works. He is the former director of the Institute for Oriental and Asian Studies at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

, Germany. Kubin has frequently been a guest professor at universities in China, for instance at

Beijing Foreign Studies University Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU; ), is a public university in Beijing, China. BFSU boasts the oldest language programs in China offering the largest number of foreign language majors on different educational levels. Located in Haidia ...

, but also in Madison, Wisconsin and in Jerusalem. Since 1989, Kubin has been the editor of the journals ORIENTIERUNGEN: ''Zeitschrift zur Kultur Asiens'' and ''Minima sinica: Zeitschrift zum chinesischen Geist''.

Biography

Having graduated from the ''Gymnasium Dionysianum'' in

Rheine Rheine () is a city in the district of Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base. Geography Rheine is on the river Ems, approx. north of Münster, approx. west of Osnabrück a ...

in 1965 (which provided him with a solid foundation in Classical Latin and Greek), Wolfgang Kubin studied Protestant theology at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (german: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, WWU) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over ...

from 1966 until 1968. In 1968, he studied Japanology and Classical Chinese at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

and from 1969 until 1973, sinology, philosophy, and German literature at the

Ruhr University Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...

, Germany. He also engaged again in Japanese studies during these years. His doctoral dissertation focused on the lyrical works of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

poet

Du Mu Du Mu (; 803–852) was a Chinese calligrapher, poet, and politician who lived during the late Tang dynasty. His courtesy name was Muzhi (), and art name Fanchuan (). He is best known for his lyrical and romantic quatrains. Regarded as a majo ...

(803–852). Kubin lectured at the Institute of

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

n Studies of the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

since 1977. He taught 20th century Chinese literature and art, and completed his postdoctoral thesis on the evolution of the concept of nature in Classical Chinese literature. On October 1, 1985 Kubin became Professor of Chinese (Professor für Chinesisch (C3)) at the Institute for Oriental and Asian Studies at the

; in 1989 he became Professor of Modern Sinology and in August 1995 he succeeded Rolf Trauzettel as Professor of Classical Sinology in Bonn. Wolfgang Kubin became widely known among the general public as a translator of modern Chinese poetry and prose. His best known work is the translation of short stories and essays by

Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. W ...

. His ''History of Chinese Literature in the 20th Century'' (published in German as ''Geschichte der chinesischen Literatur im 20. Jahrhundert'') is considered as indispensable and a Classic.

2006 ''Deutsche Welle'' interview

In November 2006, Wolfgang Kubin made headlines when he commented on fairly recently published Chinese literature during an interview he gave to the German broadcaster ''

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...

''. He denounced several works in harsh terms, referring to

Wei Hui Zhou Wei Hui (; born 4 January 1973), known simply by her Chinese given name Wei Hui, is a Chinese Post 70s Generation writer, living and working in Shanghai and New York City. Her novel ''Shanghai Baby'' () (1999) was banned in the People's Rep ...

's ''

Shanghai Baby ''Shanghai Baby'' is a novel written by Chinese author Wei Hui. It was originally published in China in 1999. The English translation was published in 2001. Synopsis The novel's narrator and main character, supposedly a semi-fictionalised versi ...

'' as "garbage" and

Jiang Rong Lü Jiamin (born 1946 in Jiangsu), better known by his pseudonym Jiang Rong, is a Chinese writer, most famous for his best-selling 2004 novel ''Wolf Totem'', which he wrote under the pseudonym Jiang Rong. He is married to fellow novelist Zhang K ...

's ''

Wolf Totem ''Wolf Totem'' () is a 2004 Chinese semi-autobiographical novel about the experiences of a young student from Beijing who finds himself sent to the countryside of Inner Mongolia in 1967, at the height of China's Cultural Revolution. The author, ...

'' as "fascist". Kubin has expressed his admiration for

, and he has said that no contemporary author could compare to him.

Selected bibliography

Monographs and translations

* . Frankfurt am Main (Suhrkamp) 1985, . * . Bonn (Bouvier Verlag) 1989. – . * . Bonn (Weidle) 2000, . – Poems. * . Bonn (Weidle) 2002, . – Poems. * . Bonn (Weidle) 2004, . – Poems. * . With an epilogue by Heinz Ludwig Arnold. Vienna (Edition Milo Band 4. Lehner) 2006, . – Prose fiction. * . Bonn (Weidle) 2009, . – Poems. * . Bonn (Weidle) 2009, . – Poems. * Wolfgang Kubin (ed.): (History of Chinese Literature) ** Vol. 1: Wolfgang Kubin: . Munich (Saur) 2002, . ** Vol. 2: Thomas Zimmer: . Munich (Saur) 2002, . ** Vol. 3:

Monika Motsch Monika Motsch (; born 1942) is a German sinologist who works as a professor at the University of Bonn and University of Erlangen–Nuremberg. Biography Monika Motsch was born in Germany in 1942. In 1971, she earned her doctor's degree in Sinology ...

: . Munich (Saur) 2003, . ** Vol. 4:

Marion Eggert Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

, Wolfgang Kubin,

Rolf Trauzettel Rolf is a male given name and a surname. It originates in the Germanic name ''Hrolf'', itself a contraction of ''Hrodwulf'' ( Rudolf), a conjunction of the stem words ''hrod'' ("renown") + ''wulf'' ("wolf"). The Old Norse cognate is ''Hrólfr''. A ...

, Thomas Zimmer: . Munich (Saur) 2003, . ** Vol. 5: Karl-Heinz Pohl: . Munich (Saur) 2006, . ** Vol. 6: Wolfgang Kubin: . Munich (Saur) 2009, . ** Vol. 7: Wolfgang Kubin: . Munich (Saur) 2005, . ** Band 8:

Lutz Bieg Lutz is a surname and given name, occasionally a short form of Ludwig. People with the name include: Surname *Adolfo Lutz (1855–1940), Brazilian physician *Aleda E. Lutz (1915–1944), American Army flight nurse * Alois Lutz, Austrian figure ...

: . Munich (De Gruyter Saur) 2012, . ** Band 9:

Marc Hermann Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

, Weiping Huang,

Henriette Pleiger Henriette may refer to: * Princess Henriette of France * Henriette of Cleves * Henriette Willemina Crommelin (1870-1957), Dutch labor leader and temperance reformer * Henriette Dibon (1902–1989), French poet and short story writer. * Henriette H ...

, Thomas Zimmer: . Munich (De Gruyter Saur) 2010, . ** Band 10:

Nicola Dischert Nicola may refer to: People * Nicola (name), including a list of people with the given name or, less commonly, the surname **Nicola (artist) or Nicoleta Alexandru, singer who represented Romania at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest * Nicola people, ...

: ''Register''. Munich (De Gruyter Saur) 2012, . *

Bei Dao Bei Dao (, born August 2, 1949) is the pen name of the Chinese-American writer Zhao Zhenkai (S: 赵振开, T: 趙振開, P: ''Zhào Zhènkāi''). Among the most acclaimed Chinese-language poets of his generation, he is often regarded as a candida ...

: translated and with a postscript by W. Kubin. Munich (Carl Hanser Verlag) 2009, . * Marc Hermann, Wolfgang Kubin, Thomas Zimmer, Zhang Jie, Lena Henningsen, Shelley W. Chan, Anne Xu-Cobb: Munich (edition global) 2009, .

Articles and interviews

* Wolfgang Kubin: “To Translate is to Ferry Across: Wu Li's 吳歷 (1632–1718) COLLECTION FROM SAO PAOLO,” in: Michael Lackner and Natascha Vittinghoff (ed.) Mapping Meanings: The Field of New Learning in Late Qing China. Leiden (Brill) 2004, pp. 579 ff. – . * Wolfgang Kubin, “Living with the Holocaust” in: At Home in Many Worlds: Reading, Writing and Translating from Chinese and Jewish Cultures. Essays in Honour of Irene Eber. (Veröffentlichungen des Ostasien-Instituts der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 56), edited by Raoul David Findeisen, Gad C. Isay, Amira Katz-Goehr, Yuri Pines and Lihi Yariv-Laor. Wiesbaden (Harrassowitz Verlag) 2009, pp. 19–27. – . * Wolfgang Kubin, “The Myriad Things: Random Thoughts on Nature in China and the West,” in: Hans Ulrich Vogel and Günter Dux (eds.), Concepts of Nature: A Chinese-European Cross-Cultural Perspective. With an overview and introduction by Mark Elvin. Leiden (Brill) 2010, pp. 516–525. – .
Der Übersetzer „in Klammern“
''Deutsch-Chinesisches Kulturnetz'', September 2009.
Reflecting on Chinese literature.

CCTV-9 CCTV-9 is a television channel operated by Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), broadcasting documentaries in Mandarin Chinese. It shared the name with CCTV's English language documentary channel until 31 December 2016, when ...

, 7. November 2010. * Píng Xīn 平心 (Interview)
德国汉学权威另一只眼看现当代中国文学 Déguó Hànxué Quánwēi Lìngyīzhī Yǎn Kàn Xiàn-Dāngdài Zhōngguó Wénxué

, 26. November 2006.

Honors

Kubin received Friendship Award (China) in 2016. He also received the Pamir International Poetry Prize (帕米尔国际诗歌奖 Pàmǐěr Guójì Shīgē Jiǎng) which is taken to be the top literary prize awarded in the Chinese-speaking world. In 2013, the ''

Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung The Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (in English German Academy for Language and Literature) was founded on 28 August 1949, on the 200th birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in the Paulskirche in Frankfurt. It is seated in Darmstadt, ...

'' (German Academy for Language and Literature) awarded him the

Johann Heinrich Voß Prize in Translation Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

in recognition of his achievement as a literary translator.See the press release of the academy: .

References

External links

*
Verband deutscher Schriftsteller (German writers'union)
* Mark Siemons

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

, 4. Dezember 2010. * Interview with Wolfgang Kubin: '
Fall Ai Weiwei: "Das Schwarz-Weiß-Denken muss ein Ende haben"
'' zeit.online, 26. April 2011

in:

NRW Literatur im Netz NRW Literatur im Netz is a German internet database with short biographies of persons who have lived or worked in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Westphälische Literaturbüro (Westphalian office for literature) in Unna operates the biggest database ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kubin, Wolfgang German sinologists People from Celle 1945 births Living people Chinese–German translators German male non-fiction writers German translators University of Münster alumni University of Vienna alumni Ruhr University Bochum alumni Academic staff of the Free University of Berlin Academic staff of the University of Bonn