Göran Malmqvist
Encyclopedia
Professor Nils Göran David Malmqvist ' onMouseout='HidePop("23808")' href="/topics/Jönköping">Jönköping
) is a Swedish
linguist
, member of the Swedish Academy
(Chair No.5), literary historian, sinologist and translator.
. Following introductory studies of Chinese
under Sinologist Bernhard Karlgren
at Stockholm University
, Malmqvist studied in China in 1948 - 1950. He then returned to Stockholm, taking a Licentiate of Arts
degree in 1951. His international research career started shortly thereafter with a lectureship in Chinese at the University of London
in 1953 - 1955. He was then appointed Swedish cultural attaché in Peking and worked in China in 1956–1958.
in 1958, where he worked for seven years at the Australian National University
in Canberra
. After some important essays on Chinese language history he was appointed Professor of Chinese at the university in 1961. During his professorship at the Australian National University, Malmqvist published academic articles on both old Chinese and modern Chinese. The articles concerned e.g. phonological
issues and literary dialect
s during the Han dynasty
, the syntax
of bound forms in Sïchuanese
and western Mandarin phonology.
lyrics in the anthology Det förtätade ögonblicket (The compact moment). Malmqvist has since translated 42 volumes of Chinese literature from different epochs. From that point on, Malmqvist was to appear as an all-round expert on China. He combines broad surveys of Chinese history, religion, politics and geography with increasingly multifarious work as a translator. In this capacity he moves freely between different historical periods, different Chinese languages, different literary genres.
In 1971, Malmqvist published several textbooks including Nykinesisk grammatik (Grammar of Modern Chinese) and Nykinesisk fonetik (Phonetics of Modern Chinese), a number of translations, chiefly in the academic journal Orientaliska studier (Oriental studies), and the large section on Chinese literature 500–1779 in the joint Nordic Litteraturens världshistoria (World history of literature). This was followed in 1973 with the section on The literature of China 1780–1890 and Chinese literature 1890–1965. The same year he published the translation of Lao She
’s short stories in Det sorgsna skrattet (The sorrowful laugh). In 1974 Malmqvist published the popular volume Kinesiska är inte svårt (Chinese isn’t difficult).
During the 1970s, he was also working on the translation of the over thousand page picaresque novel Shui Hu zhuan
. The Swedish title is Berättelser från träskmarkerna (Tales from the swamps) and the work appeared in four volumes between 1976 and 1979. The story, which was first written down in the 14th century, is clearly oral in character and gives a rich picture of the end of the Song dynasty
, during the first few decades of the 12th century. Malmqvist’s achievement includes a further, monumental translation of a similar kind, the five volumes of Färden till västern
(The journey to the West). Written down in the 16th century, the story of how in the 17th century the pilgrim Tripitaka
brings the holy writings of Buddhism
from India to China. During the 1970s and 1980s Malmqvist’s research turned chiefly to classical Chinese philology
, syntax and semantics.
on 11 April 1985 and admitted on 20 December 1985. Malmqvist succeeded the literary historian Henry Olsson to Chair number 5. From the time after his election to the Swedish Academy, the over five-hundred page biography on his teacher Bernhard Karlgren
is of particular note: Bernhard Karlgren – ett forskarporträtt in 1995; (Bernhard Karlgren – portrait of a scholar). Malmqvist here follows Karlgren's path through the pioneering era of Sinology from his early dialectological fieldwork in China in 1910–1912, which aimed at reconstructing the sound pattern of ancient Chinese.
of 2009, Göran Malmqvist commented in his interview,'"Grid Characters" (Chinese Characters) are the most developed language in the world. Simplified Chinese Characters used in Mainland China
will eventually be replaced by Traditional Chinese Characters. I am very confident of that.' He also believes in which sacrifices should be made for reintroducing Traditional Characters.
Jönköping
-Notable people:*Lillian Asplund, RMS Titanic survivor*John Bauer, illustrator, painter*Amy Diamond, singer*Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA*Carl Henrik Fredriksson, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Eurozine*Anders Gustafsson, kayaker, Olympian...
) is a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, member of the Swedish Academy
Swedish Academy
The Swedish Academy , founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden.-History:The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III. Modelled after the Académie française, it has 18 members. The motto of the Academy is "Talent and Taste"...
(Chair No.5), literary historian, sinologist and translator.
Biography
Göran Malmqvist was born in 1924 in JönköpingJönköping
-Notable people:*Lillian Asplund, RMS Titanic survivor*John Bauer, illustrator, painter*Amy Diamond, singer*Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA*Carl Henrik Fredriksson, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Eurozine*Anders Gustafsson, kayaker, Olympian...
. Following introductory studies of Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
under Sinologist Bernhard Karlgren
Bernhard Karlgren
Klas Bernhard Johannes Karlgren was a Swedish sinologist and linguist who pioneered the study of Chinese historical phonology using modern comparative methods...
at Stockholm University
Stockholm University
Stockholm University is a state university in Stockholm, Sweden. It has over 28,000 students at four faculties, making it one of the largest universities in Scandinavia. The institution is also frequently regarded as one of the top 100 universities in the world...
, Malmqvist studied in China in 1948 - 1950. He then returned to Stockholm, taking a Licentiate of Arts
Licentiate of Arts
The Licentiate of Arts is a degree roughly equivalent to the completion of half the coursework required for a doctoral dissertation in arts. The academic degree licentiate exists in various European countries. The University of Art and Design Helsinki acknowledges the degree Licentiate of Arts....
degree in 1951. His international research career started shortly thereafter with a lectureship in Chinese at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
in 1953 - 1955. He was then appointed Swedish cultural attaché in Peking and worked in China in 1956–1958.
Academic career
After his years in China he moved to AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1958, where he worked for seven years at the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
. After some important essays on Chinese language history he was appointed Professor of Chinese at the university in 1961. During his professorship at the Australian National University, Malmqvist published academic articles on both old Chinese and modern Chinese. The articles concerned e.g. phonological
Phonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
issues and literary dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s during the Han dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
, the syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
of bound forms in Sïchuanese
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
and western Mandarin phonology.
Writing and translation
In 1965, Malmqvist was called to Stockholm as Professor of Sinology, particularly Modern Chinese, at the newly-established Section of Chinese in the Department of Oriental Languages at Stockholm University. Back in Stockholm, his career as a translator also began, with a series of interpretations of Tang DynastyTang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
lyrics in the anthology Det förtätade ögonblicket (The compact moment). Malmqvist has since translated 42 volumes of Chinese literature from different epochs. From that point on, Malmqvist was to appear as an all-round expert on China. He combines broad surveys of Chinese history, religion, politics and geography with increasingly multifarious work as a translator. In this capacity he moves freely between different historical periods, different Chinese languages, different literary genres.
In 1971, Malmqvist published several textbooks including Nykinesisk grammatik (Grammar of Modern Chinese) and Nykinesisk fonetik (Phonetics of Modern Chinese), a number of translations, chiefly in the academic journal Orientaliska studier (Oriental studies), and the large section on Chinese literature 500–1779 in the joint Nordic Litteraturens världshistoria (World history of literature). This was followed in 1973 with the section on The literature of China 1780–1890 and Chinese literature 1890–1965. The same year he published the translation of Lao She
Lao She
Shu Qingchun , better known by his pen name Lao She was a notable Chinese writer. A novelist and dramatist, he was one of the most significant figures of 20th century Chinese literature, and is perhaps best known for his novel Rickshaw Boy and the play Teahouse . He was of Manchu ethnicity...
’s short stories in Det sorgsna skrattet (The sorrowful laugh). In 1974 Malmqvist published the popular volume Kinesiska är inte svårt (Chinese isn’t difficult).
During the 1970s, he was also working on the translation of the over thousand page picaresque novel Shui Hu zhuan
Water Margin
Water Margin , also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, All Men Are Brothers, Men of the Marshes, or The Marshes of Mount Liang, is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.Attributed to Shi Nai'an and written in vernacular Chinese, the story, set in the Song Dynasty,...
. The Swedish title is Berättelser från träskmarkerna (Tales from the swamps) and the work appeared in four volumes between 1976 and 1979. The story, which was first written down in the 14th century, is clearly oral in character and gives a rich picture of the end of the Song dynasty
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
, during the first few decades of the 12th century. Malmqvist’s achievement includes a further, monumental translation of a similar kind, the five volumes of Färden till västern
Journey to the West
Journey to the West is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It was written by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century. In English-speaking countries, the tale is also often known simply as Monkey. This was one title used for a popular, abridged translation by Arthur Waley...
(The journey to the West). Written down in the 16th century, the story of how in the 17th century the pilgrim Tripitaka
Tripiṭaka
' is a traditional term used by various Buddhist sects to describe their various canons of scriptures. As the name suggests, a traditionally contains three "baskets" of teachings: a , a and an .-The three categories:Tripitaka is the three main categories of texts that make up the...
brings the holy writings of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
from India to China. During the 1970s and 1980s Malmqvist’s research turned chiefly to classical Chinese philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
, syntax and semantics.
Swedish Academy
Göran Malmqvist was elected to the Swedish AcademySwedish Academy
The Swedish Academy , founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden.-History:The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III. Modelled after the Académie française, it has 18 members. The motto of the Academy is "Talent and Taste"...
on 11 April 1985 and admitted on 20 December 1985. Malmqvist succeeded the literary historian Henry Olsson to Chair number 5. From the time after his election to the Swedish Academy, the over five-hundred page biography on his teacher Bernhard Karlgren
Bernhard Karlgren
Klas Bernhard Johannes Karlgren was a Swedish sinologist and linguist who pioneered the study of Chinese historical phonology using modern comparative methods...
is of particular note: Bernhard Karlgren – ett forskarporträtt in 1995; (Bernhard Karlgren – portrait of a scholar). Malmqvist here follows Karlgren's path through the pioneering era of Sinology from his early dialectological fieldwork in China in 1910–1912, which aimed at reconstructing the sound pattern of ancient Chinese.
Views on Chinese Simplification
On 11 March 2009, shortly after the Lianghui MeetingLianghui
Lianghui is a common Mandarin Chinese abbreviation for the annual meetings of the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference...
of 2009, Göran Malmqvist commented in his interview,'"Grid Characters" (Chinese Characters) are the most developed language in the world. Simplified Chinese Characters used in Mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
will eventually be replaced by Traditional Chinese Characters. I am very confident of that.' He also believes in which sacrifices should be made for reintroducing Traditional Characters.
Further reading
- Göran Malmqvist, A selective guide to Chinese literature, 1900-1949. 4 vol. Leiden, 1988-1990.
- Göran Malmqvist, Modern Chinese literature and its social context, Nobel Symposium, 32. Stockholm, 1977.
- Göran Malmqvist, Problems and Methods in Chinese Linguistics, The Australian National University : Canberra, 1962. is a compact introduction to Chinese linguistics. Göran Malmqvist, Bernhard Karlgren : ett forskarporträtt, Stockholm : Norstedt, 1995, ISBN 91-1-955092-8 Göran Malmqvist, Det förtätade ögonblicket (The compacted moment), Stockholm : Forum, 1965 Lao She, Det sorgsna skrattet, Stockholm : Forum, 1972, ISBN 91-37-05185-7 N.G.D. Malmqvist, Kinesiska är inte svårt, Stockholm : Aldus, 1974, ISBN 91-0-039660-5 Henry Olsson : inträdestal i Svenska akademien. Stockholm, 1985.