Shi,thebook'stranslatorandanassociateprofessoratNanjingUniversity'sFrenchlanguagedepartment,saysthatCesaire'sparticularstylewastheresultofcross-culturalexperiencesthatintegratedaspectsofFrenchSurrealism,AfricanliterarytraditionsandCaribbeanfolkculture.
HecoinednewwordsinFrenchbytransformingthewayawordwasusedorbycombiningtwowordstocreateanewone.Inhertranslation,Shiworkedinasimilarfashion.
"Ididn'treproduceCesaire'sbookliterallybutusedmytranslationtohighlighthiscreativeprocess.IhopethatforChinesereadersitwillofferanimaginativereadingexperience,"Shisays.
"Throughhiswork,readerscanfeeltherichnessofFrenchliterature,whichisimbuednotonlywiththecultureofmetropolitanFrance,butwithexperiencesfromothercontinents,"shecontinues,addingthatCesaire'swritingpresentshowdifferentpartsoftheworldenteredmodernityandconnectedwithotherpartsbyfollowingtheirownpath.
TheYoungShootsawardwasbestowedonatranslationofabookpublishedin1515byanauthorwhowroteinMiddleFrench.
Seyssel'sinfluentialbookonpoliticalthoughtexplorestheevolutionoftheFrenchmonarchicalsystemandaddressesspecificproblemsfacingitspractice.
Dong'sclear,well-annotatedtranslation,anddetailedandrigorouspreface,demonstratesthedepthoftheyounghistorian'sknowledgeofthesubjectaswellashisprofessionalism,accordingtothejurystatement.
Duringhisspeechattheawardceremony,LortholaryaddressedChina'srecentrisetobecomingthelargestinternationalpartnerforFrenchpublishersincopyrighttradingforFrenchbooks.
Headdedthattheworkofthetranslatorsgoesfarbeyondthatofasimpletranscriptionfromonelanguagetoanother."Theyaremessengersofculture,"hesaid.