http://mcgath.blogspot.com/2008/05/online-protests-against-chinese.html
SUNDAY, MAY 04, 2008
Online protests against Chinese repression
An online protest against the Chinese government's repression of its
people has taken the form of an international poem relay in sup****t of
a jailed journalist. As the Olympic Torch has passed from country to
country, **** Tao's poem "June" has been translated into local
languages and posted to the Web in both text and spoken forms.
Today the torch begins its so-called "Journey of Harmony" across the
Chinese mainland, so it's time to turn up the heat further on the
government of China. The Chinese government has been trying to ****tray
the protests as an insult to the Chinese people, rather than the
defense they actually are. Using a bit of Chinese culture as a tool of
protest helps to defeat that lie.
I'm not particularly impressed by the English version of the poem,
which probably just hasn't survived the gap in cultures and languages.
The Chinese language is strong on ambiguity, so there could be any
number of layers of meaning that didn't make it into the English
version. The German version, which I find more expressive, refers to
"the sixth moon" rather than June, suggesting it means the sixth month
of the Chinese calendar. However, June is consistent with the Chinese
rulers' brutal actions surrounding the Tiananmen Square protests.
Other sites for the PEN Poem Relay:
English PEN
PEN American Center
International Pen (UK)
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