关键词: 海外华人写作, 移徙, 可译性, 普遍性和个体性, 新移民和性别

Abstract: In this interview, Professor Ha Jin not only shares his thoughts on such key terms related to overseas Chinese writing as cultural position, language, translation and tradition by looking back on his life experience and writing career, but also unfolds his writing concerns and strategies by examining his early writing on China and later works on immigration. Jin distinguishes exile from immigration, emphasizing the dynamic shifting between the two; he emphasizes the transcendental, inclusive and metaphysical aspects of migration, holding that migration is the universal condition of human life. Jin insists on the translatability of language, thinking that it is very important for migrant writers to make use of their “defect”, i.e. to build their mistaken or flawed English as their style, and being willing to exist in different languages and traditions. Jin believes in the universal aspects of his stories but argues that literature is by no means about type, but about individuality and peculiarity. Jin points out that overseas writers should give more attention to the frustrating experience of the new arrivals and gender issues among them rather than the obsolete theme of the American Dream and racism.

Key words: overseas Chinese writing, migration, translatability, universality and individuality, the new arrivals and gender