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Richly Rewarding: the Work of Gao XingjianBibliography of a Nobel prize winner

The award of the 2000 Nobel Prize for Literature to Gao Xingjian, last October 12th, caused a stir in Asia, where the writer’s name was generally associated only with literary debates of the early 1980s and with avant-garde theatre, as in the West where his novels, plays and pictures were known, at least to a number of devotees. Bernard Pivot, the presenter of the arts programme Bouillon de Culture on French television, admitted on air, the day following the award, that he himself knew nothing of Gao Xingjian—this, despite the fact that more than six thousand copies of the French translation of Soul Mountain had already been sold since its publication in 1995, and that his plays had been performed in several French cities including Paris. Furthermore, as early as December 1995, Libération had devoted three pages to Gao, and the critic Jean-Luc Douin had put him on the front page of Le Monde des Livres in March 2000 when One Man’s Bible was translated into French and the French version of Soul Mountain was reissued in paperback.

In China itself, a recent history of contemporary Chinese literature did include Gao Xingjian, and mentioned his novel Soul Mountain; it even published a recent photo of him((1). While it is true that, through force of circumstance, Gao has played no part in the literary life of mainland China since his voluntary departure for the West at the end of 1987, the fact remains that he had already published a great deal there and, later on, in Taiwan, in Hong Kong and in Chinese-language reviews published in the West.

Gao’s plays have frequently been performed, both in mainland China (where after running into controversy they were sometimes banned) and then in the West. Gilbert C. F. Fong, in his book entitled The Other Shore, Plays by Gao Xingjian((2), mentions 32 successive productions between 1982 and 1999 in theatres in China, Yugoslavia, Sweden, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Germany, Taiwan, Austria, France, Australia, Italy, Poland, Japan, the US, Romania and Ivory Coast. He also lists six radio broadcasts of his plays, in Hungary, Great Britain, France and the US.

Gao Xingjian has said in several interviews that he destroyed much of what he wrote during the Cultural Revolution. When he took up work again after 1976 he was highly productive, something that he spoke about to China Perspectives in 1998((3). The interview published there included numerous bibliographical notes.

In February 2001, he visited Hong Kong and was enthusiastically welcomed there—though the authorities kept a low profile; he went on to Taiwan where he was fêted both in the media and at the highest official level. While denying any wish to set himself up as a spokesman, he has devoted several lectures to the role of literature (literature as a raison d’être, which was the theme of his Stockholm address) and to his own work.

Now that his novels are enjoying a rare success in France, in the Anglo-Saxon world, in Taiwan and even, smuggled in and widely circulated, in mainland China (and now too that controversy has arisen over whether he was the right choice for the Nobel Prize), we think it useful to offer the most exhaustive possible bibliography of his work, so that readers may gauge its significance and come to know it more easily.

 Translated from French by Philip Liddell

Bibliography of Gao Xingjian’s works in Chinese, French and English 

Novels and short stories

Hanye de xingchen (Stars in the Frosty Night) (novel), Guangzhou, Huacheng, No. 3, 1979.

You zhi hezi jiao Hongchun (A Pigeon Called Read Beak) (novel), Shanghai, Shouhuo, No. 3, 1981.

Pengyou (Friend) (short story), Henan, Mangyuan, No. 2, 1981.

Yu, xue ji qita (Rain, Snow and Other Things) (short story), Peking, Chou xiaoya, No. 7, 1981.

Lushang (On the Road) (short story), Peking, Renmin wenxue, No. 9, 1982.

Haishang (On the Sea) (short story), Peking, Chou xiaoya, No. 9, 1982.

Ershiwunian hou (Twenty-five Years After) (short story), Shanghai, Wenhui yuekan, No. 11, 1982.

Huahuan (The Flower Wreath) (short story), Shanghai, Wenhui yuekan, No. 5, 1983.

Yuan’ensi (The Temple) (short story), Dalian, Haiyan, No. 8, 1983.

Muqin (Mother) (short story), Peking, Shiyue, No. 4, 1983.

He neibian (On this Side of the River) (short story), Nanjing, Zhongshan, No. 6, 1983.

Xiejiang he tade nü’er (The Cobbler and his Daughter) (short story), Chengdu, Qingnian zuojia, No. 3, 1983.

Huadou (Huadou) (short story), Peking, Renmin wenxue, No. 9, 1984.

Huadou (Huadou) (film scenario), Peking, Chou xiaoya, Nos 1 and 2, 1985.

Wuru (Insults) (short story), Peking, Chou xiaoya, No. 7, 1985.

Gongyuanli (In the Park) (short story), Nanfang wenxue, No. 4, 1985.

Chehuo (The Crash) (short story), Fujian wenxue, No. 5, 1985.

Wuti (Without Title) (short story), Xiaoshuo zhoubao, No. 1, 1985.

Gei wo laoye mai yugan (Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather) (short story), Peking, Renmin wenxue, No. 9, 1986.

Mère (Muqin), trans. in French by Paul Poncet, Brèves, No. 23, 1986.

Dans le parc (Gongyuanli), trans. in French by Paul Poncet, Le Monde, May 18th 1986, also in Une canne à pêche pour mon grand-père (Gei wo laoye mai yugan), trans. in French by Noël Dutrait, La Tour d’Aigues, éditions de l’Aube, 1997.

Gei wo laoye mai yugan (Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather), Taipei, Lianhe chubanshe, 1989. A collection of short stories: Pengyou (Friend), Ni yiding yao huozhe (Craving to live), Yu, xue ji qita (Rain, Snow and Other Things), Lushang (On the Road), Ershiwunian hou (Twenty-five Years After), Huahuan (The Flower Wreath), Haishang (On the Sea), Xiejiang he tade nü’er (The Cobbler and his Daughter), Huadou (Huadou), Yuan’ensi (The Temple), Muqin (Mother), Wuru (Insults), He neibian (On this Side of the River), Gongyuanli (In tne Park), Chehuo (The Crash), Choujin (The Cramp), Gei wo laoye mai yugan (Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather), Ba (Epilogue).

Lingshan (Soul Mountain) (novel), Taipei, Lianjing chubanshe, 1990. Foreword by Ma Sen. Republished in 2000, includes the Nobel prize academy official winning declaration, Gao’s most well known speech on literature, Wenxue de liyou (The Case for Literature), his Nobel prize acceptance speech and a short bio-bibliography.

Shunjian (One Instant) (short story), Taipei, Zhongshi wanbao, special, No. 74, September 1st 1991.

La Montagne de l’Ame (Lingshan) (novel), trans. in French by Noël & Liliane Dutrait, La Tour d’Aigues, Editions de l’Aube, 1995. Republished in paperback in 2000. Foreword by Noël Dutrait.

Une canne à pêche pour mon grand-père (Gei wo laoye mai yugan), trans. in French by Noël Dutrait, La Tour d’Aigues, éditions de l’Aube, 1997. Republished in paperback in 2001. Foreword by Noël Dutrait. Includes: Yuan’ensi (The Temple), Gongyuanli (In the Park), Chehuo (The Crash), Choujin (The Cramp), Gei wo laoye mai yugan (Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather), and Shunjian (One Instant), excerpts from Zhoumo sichongzou (Week-end Quartet), Hong Kong, Xianggang xinshiji chubanshe, 1996.

Yigeren de shengjing (One Man’s Bible) (novel), Taipei, Lianjing chubanshe, 1999, republished in 2000. Foreword by Noël Dutrait, postscript by Liu Zaifu.

Le Livre d’un homme seul (Yigeren de shengjing) (novel), trans. in French by Noël and Liliane Dutrait, La Tour d’Aigues, Editions de l’Aube, 2000.

Soul Mountain (Lingshan), trans. in English by Mabel Lee, Flamingo, Harper Collins Publishers, 2000. Includes an annex with all major publications of Gao Xingjian, a list of his works translated in English and a bibliography of studies dealing with his writings.

Essays and articles

“Falanxi xiandai wenxue de tongku” (Modern French Literature Sufferings) Wuhan, Waiguo wenxue yanjiu, No. 1, 1980.

“Faguo xiandaipai renmin shiren Puliewei’er he tade ‘Geciji’” (The French Modernist-Populist poet Jacques Prévert and the collection of poems “Paroles”), Canton, Huacheng, No. 5, 1980.

“Ba Jin zai Bali” (Ba Jin in Paris), Peking, Dangdai, No. 1, 1980.

Xiandai xiaoshuo jiqiao chutan (A Preliminary Discussion of the Art of Modern Fiction), Guangzhou, Huacheng chubanshe, 1981.

“Yidali suixiangqu” (Italian Capriccio), Guangzhou, Huacheng, No. 3, 1981.

“Tan xiaoshuoguan yu xiaoshuo jiqiao” (On the Perspective Regarding Novel Writings and Techniques), Nanjing, Zhongshan, No. 6, 1982.

“Tan xiandai xiaoshuo yu duzhe de guanxi” (On the Relation between Modern Novels and the Readers), Chengdu, Qingnian zuojia, No. 3, 1983.

“Tan leng shuqing yu fan shuqing” (On Cold Lyricism and Anti-lyricism), Henan, Wenxue zhishi, n ° 3, 1983.

“Zhipu yu chunjing” (Simplicity and Purity), Shanghai, Wenxuebao, May 19th 1983.

“Lun xijuguan” (Discussion on my Conception of Theatre), Shanghai, Xijujie, No. 1, 1983.

“Tan duoshengbu xiju shiyan” (On Multiple Voices Stage Experiments), Peking, Xiju dianyingbao, No. 25, 1983.

“Tan xiandai xiju shouduan” (On Processes in Modern Theatre), series of articles published in issues Nos. 1 to 6 of Suibi, Canton, 1983.

“Wode xiju guan” (My Conception of Theatre), Peking, Xiju luncong, No. 4, 1984.

“Yeren he wo” (A Wild Man and Me), Peking, Xiju dianyingbao, No. 19, 1985.

“Wo yu Bulaixite” (Me and Brecht), Peking, Qingyi, supplément de 1985.

“Yao shenmeyang de xiju” (What Kind of Drama Do We Want), Peking, Wenyi yanjiu, No. 4, 1986. In French translation in L’Imaginaire, No. 1, 1986.

“Ping Geluoduofusiji de ‘maixiang zhipuxiju’” (Commentaries on ‘the theatre of poverty’ of Grotowski), Peking, Xijubao, No. 7, 1986.

“Tan xiqu buyao gaige yu yao gaige” (Is it Necessary or not to Reform Traditional Opera), Peking, Xiqu yanjiu, No. 21, 1986.

“Jinghua yetan” (Evening Talks in Peking), Nanjing, Zhongshan, 1987.

“Dui yizhong xiandai xiju de zhuiqiu” (Studies for a Modern Theatre), Peking, Zhongguo xiju chubanshe, 1988.

“Chidaole de xiandaizhuyi yu dangjin Zhongguo wenxue” (Belated Modernism and Today’s Chinese Literature), Peking, Wenxue pinglun, No. 3, 1988.

“To Revive the Appetite for Language”, in Strindberg, O’Neill and the Modern Theatre, Claes Englund, Gunnel Bergström ed., Norsborg, 1990.

“Wo zhuzhang yizhong leng de wenxue” (I am an Advocate of Cold Literature), Taipei, Zhongshi wanbao, special, August 12th 1990.

“Taowang yu wenxue” (Exile and Literature), Taipei, Zhongshi wanbao, special, October 21st 1990.

“Guanyu ‘Taowang’”, (About Escape), Taipei, Lianhebao, special, June 17th 1991.

“Geri huanghua” (Yesterday’s Flowers), US, Minzhu Zhongguo, No. 8, 1992.

“Wenxue yu xuanxue, guanyu ‘Lingshan’” (Literature and Metaphysics), New York, Jintian, No. 3, 1992.

“Zhongguo liuwang wenxue de kunjing” (The Difficult Situation of Chinese Literature in Exile), Hong Kong, Mingbao yuekan, No. 10, 1992.

“Clés pour mon théâtre”, trans. in French by Annie Curien, in Littératures d’Extrême-Orient au XXe siècle, Arles, Philippe Picquier, 1993.

“Guojia shenhua yu geren diankuang” (The State Myth and Personal Madness), Hong Kong, Mingbao yuekan, No. 8, 1993.

“Without Isms” (Meiyou zhuyi), trans. in English by Winnie Lau, Deborah Sauviat and Martin Williams, The Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia, Nos. 27-28, 1995-1996.

Meiyou zhuyi (Without Isms), Hong Kong, Tiandi tushu youxian gongsi, 1996. A collection of all Gao Xinjian’s essays and theoretical writings after 1997. Republished by Lianjing in 2001 with the Stockholm speech The Case of Literature.

Au plus près du réel, co-author Denis Bourgeois, La Tour d’Aigues, Editions de l’Aube, 1997.

“Le chinois moderne et l’écriture littéraire”, trans. in French by Noël Dutrait, in Littérature chinoise, état des lieux et mode d’emploi (Noël Dutrait ed.), Aix-en-Provence, Publications de l’Université de Provence, 1998.

“L’esprit de liberté, ma France”, Le Monde, August 28th 1998.

“L’écriture en exil”, in Où va la Chine (Jean-Jacques Gandini ed.), Paris, Editions du Félin, 2000.

La Raison d’être de la littérature (The Case of Literature), trans. in French by Noël and Liliane Dutrait, La Tour d’Aigues, Editions de l’Aube, 2000.

Plays

Juedui xinhao (Absolute Signal), Peking, Shiyue, No. 5, 1982.

Chezhan (Bus Station), Peking, Shiyue, No. 3, 1983.

Xiandai zhezixi (Modern Shorts), Nanjing, Zhongshan, No. 4, 1984. Includes: Mofangzhe (The Imitator), Duoyu (Hiding from the Rain), Xinglu nan (Tough Walk), Habala shankou (The Pass at Mount Habala).

Dubai (Soliloquy), Peking, Xin juben, No. 1, 1985.

Yeren (Wilderness Man), Peking, Shiyue, No. 2, 1985.

Gao Xingjian xijuji (Collected Plays of Gao Xingjian), Peking, Qunzhong chubanshe, 1985. Includes: Juedui xinhao (Absolute Signal), Chezhan (Bus Station), Xiandai zhezixi (Modern Shorts), Dubai (Soliloquy), Yeren (Wilderness Man). Foreword by Wu Zuguang, this collection includes “Wode xiju guan” (My Perspective on Theatre).

Bi’an (The Other Shore), Peking, Shiyue, No. 5, 1986.

L’Arrêt d’autobus (Bus Station) (excerpts), trans. Danièle Turc-Crisa, in La Remontée vers le jour, nouvelles de Chine (1978-1988), Aix-en-Provence, Alinéa, 1988.

Wild Man (Yeren), trans. Bruno Roubicek, Asian Theatre Journal, No. 7, 1990.

La Fuite (Exile), trans. in French by Michèle Guyot, edited by Emile Lansman, Carnières (Belgium), Lansman, 1992.

Shanhaijing zhuan (The Story of the Classic of Seas and Mountains), Hong Kong, Tiandi tushu youxian gongsi, 1993.

Duihua yu fanjie (Dialogue and Rebuttal), New York, Jintian, No. 2, 1993.

Au bord de la vie (Shengsi jie), Carnières (Belgium), Lansman, 1993.

Le Somnambule (Yeyoushen), Carnières (Belgium), Lansman, 1995.

Gao Xingjian xiju liuzhong (Six plays by Gao Xingjian), Taipei, Dijiao chubanshe, 1996. Set of seven volumes that includes the following plays: Bi’an (The Other Shore), Mingcheng (Hades), Shanhaijing zhuan (The Story of the Classic of Seas and Mountains), Taowang (Exile), Shengsi jie (Between Life and Death), Duihua yu fanjie (Dialogue and Rebuttal); the seventh volume is a study by Hu Yaoheng on Gao Xingjian’s theatre: “Bainian gengyun de fengshou, wo dui Gao Xingjian xiju de shangxi” (A good harvest after a hundred years of ploughing, my analysis and my view of Gao Xingjian’s theatre); several pictures of stage performances, conferences and lectures, and reprints of newspapers articles.

The Other Side (Bi’an), trans. in English by Jo Riley, in Martha P. Y. Cheung and Jane C. C. Lai, An Oxford Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Drama, Oxford and New York, Hong Kong University Press, 1997.

Bus Stop (Chezhan), trans. in English by Kimberley Besio, in Haiping Yan, Theatre and Society: An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Drama, Armonk, New York and London, M. E. Sharpe, 1998.

The Other Shore, plays by Gao Xingjian, trans. in English by Gilbert C. F. Fong, Hong Kong, The Chinese University Press, 1999. Includes The Other Shore, Between Life and Death, Dialogue and Rebuttal, Nocturnal Wanderer, Weekend Quartet. Also features in its annex a list of Gao’s plays, reprints of critics of these plays published in Chinese, Japanese and other foreign languages, and a list of stage performances or radio broadcastings.

Dialoguer-interloquer (Duihua yu fanjie), trans. in French by Annie Curien (bilingual), Maison des écrivains étrangers et des traducteurs de Saint-Nazaire, 1993.

Fugitives (Taowang), trans. in English by Gregory B. Lee, Chinese Writing and Exile, The University of Chicago, The Center for East Asian Studies, Selected Papers, No. 7, 1993.

Zhoumo sichongzou (Week-end Quartet), Hong Kong, Xianggang xin shiji chubanshe, 1996. Includes Shunjian (One Instant), the poems suite Shengsheng manbianzou, the poem Wo shuo ciwei (I Say Hedgehog). Republished by Lianjing chubanshe in 2001 (only Zhoumo sichongzou).

Quatre quatuors pour un week-end (Zhoumo sichongzou), Carnières (Belgium), Lansman, 1998.

Bayue xue (Snow in August), Taipei, Lianjing chubanshe, 2000.

Poetry

Shengsheng manbianzou (poems suite), in Zhoumo sichongzou (Week-end Quartet), Hong Kong, Xianggang xin shiji chubanshe, 1996.

Wo shuo ciwei (I Say Hedgehog), ibid.

“Je dis hérisson” (Wo shuo ciwei) (contemporary ballad), trans. in French by Annie Curien, Poésie 96, No. 6, 1996. Includes an interview with Gao Xingjian by Pierre Dubrunquez.

Paintings

Ink Paintings by Gao Xingjian, Taipei, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 1995.

Goût de l’encre, Paris, éditions Richard Meir, 1996.

L’Encre et la lumière, Paris, éditions Richard Meir, 1998.

Linyizhong meixue (Another Kind of Aesthetics), Taipei, éditions Lianjing, 2001.

Interviews with Gao Xingjian

We only indicate those of the interviews that were published before Gao was awarded the Nobel prize.

“Entretien avec Gao Xingjian” (in French), interview by Bernard Bretonnière, in Dialoguer-interloquer, Maison des écrivains étrangers et des traducteurs de Saint-Nazaire, 1993.

“Entretien avec Gao Xingjian” (in French), in Au bord de la vie, Carnières (Belgium), éditions Lansman, 1993.

“Gao Xingjian, le peintre de l’âme” (in French), interview by Robert Calvet, in Brèves, No. 56, hiver 1999.

“Entretien avec Gao Xingjian” (in French), interview by Denis Lancry, in Sapriphage, No. 18, July 1993. Also includes chapter 16 of Soul Mountain.

“A Writer in Exile: A Voice to Be Heard—An Interview with Gao Xingjian”, interview by Noël Dutrait, China Perspectives, No. 20, November-December 1998, p. 57.

“Entretien avec Annie Curien”, La Nouvelle Revue Française, No. 556, January 2001. This interview was given to Annie Curien on October 7th 2000, exactly five days before Gao was awarded the Nobel prize.

Studies on Gao Xingjian’s writings

Zhao Yiheng, Jianli yizhongxiandai chanju, Gao Xingjian yu Zhongguo shiyan xiju (Towards a Modern Zen Theatre, Gao Xingjian and Chinese Theatre Experimentalism), Taipei, Erya chubanshe, 1999.

Zhao Henry Y. H., Towards a Modern Zen Theatre, Gao Xingjian and Chinese Theatre Experimentalism, Londres, SOAS, 2000. Includes a list of Gao Xingjian’s plays and the locations of the stage performances, and a selected bibliography of English studies on Gao Xingjian’s writings.

Books on Gao Xingjian

Anonymous, Gao Xingjian, Hong Kong, Mingbao chubanshe, 2000.

Liu Xinwu, Gao Xingjian, Hong Kong, Kaiyi chubanshe, 2000.

Yi Sha, Gao Xingjian pingshuo, Hong Kong, Mingjing chubanshe, 2000.