Lisa Carducci

Particularly since 2002, Lisa Carducci has written an impressive list of works. Born in Montréal, Canada, of Italian origin, fluent in Italian, French, and English, and being one of the exceptionally few honorary recipients of permanent Chinese residency, it is hard to decide whether to classify Carducci as a Canadian, an Italian or a Chinese author.

Lisa Carducci is active as a poet, novelist, journalist and translator. When she established herself in China, in 1991, she already had several publications, poetry and short stories to her name, and had worked as a journalist. Her earliest visists to China dated back to 1985 and 1989. Initially, she taught at a university, but soon switched to working for the Chinese media, particularly the international broadcasts on Chinese radio and TV, and later for the magazine Beijing Information. Her poetry was awarded several literary prices in Canada, Italy and France, while her recent translations from Chinese have also received awards.

Her earliest works consist of novels, short stories and poetry, published by various publishers in Montréal, Canada. In 1985, she published Nouvelles en couleurs ( Éditions de la Marquise) and Les Héliotropes (Editions Elcée). Four years later, in 1989, two volumes of French poetry, La Dernière fois (Écrits des forges) and Cris et palpitations (Humanitas-nouvelle optique) followed by a volume of poetry in Italian, L'Ultima Fede ( Lalli Editore) in 1990. In China, she continued to regularly write and publish poetry in these langauges and started translating, at first from Italian into French. In 1994, she published a first collection of short stories inspired by living in China: À l'encre de Chine - nouvelles. Lisa Carducci is a very productive author with one or two publications every year.

China throughout the 1990s was a very different country from the way most people know China now through the media. On the whole, China was much poorer, and much more foreign. Apart form foreign correspondents and visitors, Lisa Carducci has had the unique perspective of living long term in China throughout this exceptional decade and recording what she experienced and saw. This resulted in La Chine, telle que je la vis published in 1998, and subsequently published in many other languages, and Correspondance de Beijing, 1991-1997, published in 2000.

Carducci's earliest book publications in China to reach a larger audience appear to have started from columns she wrote for the media she worked at. They resulted in Talking about China and Eleven years in China--and counting. These books were published by the Foreign Languages Press.

A selection of such essays and columns, published in the English-language newspaper China Daily between 1993 and 2000, appeared in book form, bi-lingually in English and Chinese, in 2001, under the title Talking about China.

Talking about China contains 29 columns about specific aspects of Chinese culture and customs which may surprise foreign visitors or expats. Carducci's essays show that China has changed considerably over the past two decades, although most of her observations are still valid. Upon the book publication, Chinese translations of all essays were added, to interest Chinese readers in the experiences of foreigners in China.

Eleven years in China--and counting is a monolingual book, which describes all aspects of living in China throughout the 1990s from the of a foreigner. The book is structured around topics and key words, which are arranged into chapters with headings such as "Daily Life", "Festivities and Traditions", "Transportation", "Work and Housing", etc. Although first published 14 years ago, most of the descriptive parts of the text are still very current. China has not changed that much in essence. Eleven years in China--and counting could very well serve as a first guide to survival for any newcomer to China, and much of what Mrs Carducci experienced during her apprenticeship is still current. Of course, the book also records some of the inevitable changed, the disappearance of the system of "Foreign Exchange Certificates" and the rise of the market economy.

It is obvious that Mrs Carducci believes in China. In earlier decades she would be labeled a "fellow-traveller". There are two sides to this quality of the book. First of all, to get anything published in China by a Chinese publisher, the content cannot be too negative. This does not mean that the book should be all flattery. It also depends on the medium. Censorship in massmedia is obviously stronger than in print media, and the degree of censorship is also determined by the intended audience. Talking about China appeared in a bi-lingual, English and Chinese, edition, but the monolingual edition of Eleven years in China--and counting much more suggest an international readership of foreigners, likely in China. Besides, the perceived difficulty of reading such a book in English suggests that Chinese readers who can master reading at that level are likely very well-educated, and hence less vulnerable. By the way, Eleven years in China--and counting does not read as a very uncritical book. Mrs Carducci has her pet peeves and is given room to rant. She is very critical about Chinese education, and critical about a large number of other issues as well. Surely she must have fought for the inclusion of a number of her views, a fight which can only be won if the issues tend to have more the hue of facts rather than mere opinions. After all, Eleven years in China--and counting is largely a book of experience and observations with a personal touch.

The other side is that Lisa Carducci had already established pedigree in China. Known as a respected author and journalist with a long career working in the Chinese state media, she would be more trusted by a Chinese publisher than other authors, and she would be more respected in her defense of her manuscript. A relatively weak point about the book is that the author includes a lot of statistics in a very uncritical way. There is never any source given for these statistics, they are presumably from Chinese newspapers or magazines. Mrs Carducci should know, as most Chinese people would know, that these statistics are likely unreliable. Therefore, particularly in this context they do not lend the book greater reliability.

The chapter about Tibet in a real abberation. This chapter is far too overwrought with emotion, blatant propaganda, and altogether does not fit in this book. The peculiar nature of this chapter is emphasized by the fact that it includes more than a full page (p. 215-216) of suggestions for further reading, consisting of a list of websites and a list of books. Other chapters do not contain such lists.

Talking about China and Eleven years in China--and counting are Mrs Carducci's first two publications with the Foreign Languages Press. Both books can provide a lot of practical information, but they are probably not her best books.… (altro)

When Lisa Carducci came to China she was already in her late forties, and like many foreigners started by teaching at a Chinese university. Before that, she had already published various collections of poetry in French and Italian, which were awarded prices in both Canada and Italy. In China, she found time to write more, and besides poetry, she started writing essays about China, and about the life of foreigners in China.

A selection of such essays and columns, published in the English-language newspaper China Daily between 1993 and 2000, appeared in book form, bi-lingually in English and Chinese, in 2001, under the title Talking about China.

Talking about China contains 29 columns about specific aspects of Chinese culture and customs which may surprise foreign visitors or expats. Carducci's essays show that China has changed considerably over the past two decades, although most of her observations are still valid. Upon the book publication, Chinese translations of all essays were added, to interest Chinese readers in the experiences of foreigners in China.

The tone of the essays is slightly pedantic, as if the author reads both foreigners and Chinese a lesson. Typical of almost all publications in China the essays high-light the positive side of China, and offer no criticism. However, for readers intending to get a snap shot introduction to everyday life in Beijing, this small book (230 pages bilingually) would do a very good job.… (altro)