Zet on kapuscinski.info

"The Emperor" in Chinese

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

A press conference took place at the Polish Embassy in Beijing with the participation of Professor Wu Lan, who translated Ryszard Kapuściński’s “The Emperor” into Chinese. The ceremony was attended by the Polish Ambassador to China, Tadeusz Chomicki, outstanding translators of Polish literature, representatives of Chinese publishing circles, students of the Polish studies department of the Beijing Foreign Studies University, as well as Chinese and Polish media. This is already the second book by Ryszard Kapuściński translated by Professor Wu Lan. In 2009 “Travels with Herodotus” appeared in Chinese bookshops. The translator emphasised that Kapuściński’s objective view of Africa attests to the Poles’ openness to other cultures. Professor Wu Lan now plans to translate another book by the outstanding Polish reporter, “Imperium”. After the press conference Professor Wu Lan signed copies of “The Emperor” for the readers present at the Embassy.

皇帝 (Huángdì) — "The Emperor" in Chinese

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Author: Adam Kajzer, June 2011

The Chinese edition of Ryszard Kapuściński’s The Emperor is one of the most important literary events in the world this year.

This is already the third book by Kapuściński to be translated into Chinese. In recent years, publishers in Taiwan have translated Imperium and Travels with Herodotus. In China itself, the translation of Kapuściński’s works is handled by translator Wu Lan. In addition to The Emperor, just now published, a Beijing publisher released Travels with Herodotus in 2009.

A Treatise on Power, or "The Emperor" by Ryszard Kapuściński

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Author: Artur Domosławski

From Tuesday in the news-stands: “The Emperor” by Ryszard Kapuściński — the next book in our twentieth-century collection. Not only did it launch the international career of the greatest Polish reporter; it also elevated reportage to the status of high literature. The very highest.

To write a note about Kapuściński’s “The Emperor” is like writing about Homer’s “Iliad”.

The American prose writer John Updike considered “The Emperor” a “magical reflection that often transforms itself into poetry and aphorism”. The review by that very writer, published in the American “New Yorker”, launched the international career of “The Emperor”. The year was 1981.

How I Came to the Idea of Translating "The Emperor" into English

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Author: Katarzyna Mroczkowska-Brand. Source: http://alfaomega.webnode.com/products/ryszard-kapu/ Date of publication: 2010-03-09

It was March 1979; the aeroplane was flying over the Atlantic, and above the clouds things were for the time being fairly smooth and calm; it was only before the inland stopover at Gander in the Canadian province of Newfoundland that there were to be scenes of infernal proportions: three attempts at landing — the pilot changed his mind at about half a metre above the ground, pulling the plane up again — as well as terrible turbulence that almost prevented the plane’s wheels from making contact with the landing place, a runway covered in a thick layer of snow. For the moment one could enjoy the reading of a new book. Someone among friends, just before departure, had put into my hands “The Emperor” by Ryszard Kapuściński, saying that this was the book everyone in Warsaw was reading at the moment. He added that in Poland it was then compulsory reading, interpreted as a text with a double meaning. Ostensibly about the court of Emperor Haile Selassie, but really about the red court of the Central Committee (of the Polish United Workers’ Party) or, going lower, of the Provincial Committee or the District Committee. Ostensibly about the mechanisms of servility and toadying in the imperial chambers of Ethiopia, but really about those very mechanisms in the offices and antechambers and corridors of power in the People’s Republic of Poland and about those gathered around power.

The Lawyer Demanded Notarised Documents from Ethiopia

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Author: William R. Brand. Source: http://alfaomega.webnode.com/products/ryszard-kapu/ Date of publication: 2010-03-09

We met Ryszard Kapuściński in Kraków, on a muggy day, in late spring 1981. In the pocket of his beige jacket he had a pack of “Radomskie” cigarettes. He said to me: “With that beard you look like a mujahideen.”

He was not an author frequently published outside Poland, and Kasia and I had never before translated a whole book. After nine months of trying, we still had no publisher and had translated only one third of “The Emperor”. We would probably have given up, if not for one thing he said to us that day.

Theatrical Productions of "The Emperor"

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

“The Emperor” has also been staged many times. Theatrical adaptations (premieres):

• 24.11.1978 Stefan Jaracz Theatre, Łódź, directed by Jerzy Hutek • 04.1979 Small Stage of the Powszechny Theatre, Warsaw, directed by Jerzy Hutek • 15.01.1981 J. Szaniawski Drama Theatre, Wałbrzych, directed by Kazimierz Tałaj • 1981 “Format” Stage, Kraków, directed by J. Kopczewski • 1981 Szaniawski Drama Theatre, Płock • 1983 Adekwatny Theatre, Warsaw, directed by J. Wócik, monodrama by Magda Teresa Wójcik • 27.10.1987 Studio Theatre, Warsaw — Polish version of the London production • 11.03.1987 The Royal Court Theatre, London. Directed by Jonathan Miller and Michael Hastings • 02.02.1981 TVP Television Theatre, Studio of Facts and Sensations, directed by Jerzy Hutek • 14.04.2002 Adekwatny Theatre, Warsaw, directed by Magda Teresa Wójcik, monodrama by Jolanta Olszewska • 1980 Polish Radio Theatre, adaptation by E. Marcinkowska • 1995 opera version, Opera Festival, Palatsi (Finland), performed by Soronlinna • 2002 Drama Theatre in Warsaw. Directed by Magda Teresa Wójcik, performed by Jolanta Olszewska