Description
Book SynopsisA volume on translation and language in China from the fifteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries. It uses fictional narrative to discuss translators who worked between Chinese and (mostly) non-European languages and studies dictionaries, language primers, grammars, poetry collections, and conversation manuals.
Trade ReviewIllegible Cities is an important work of history, arguing against the temptation in Sinology to reduce pre-twentieth-century China to what occurred in one language alone * Lucas Klein, Modern Chinese Literature and Culture *
This reading exemplifies the most admirable characteristics of Nappi's book: its richness, interdisciplinarity, and postmodern spirit. Translating Early Modern China is not a strictly academic book that only scholars could read and appreciate. * Elisa Frei, Catholic Theology and Church History, Goethe-Universität Frankfurtam Main, Comitatus *
This book highlights the strategic linguistic tactics Chinese rulers continue to employ to control a nation of diverse religions and cultures. Unique but difficult to categorize, this book is a welcome addition to scholarship on not only Chinese history but also the art of linguistics and translation theory. * K. Liu, CHOICE *
Table of ContentsPreface: On History and Its Opposites Introduction: On Cities and Their Opposites Gathering 1: Glossary (1578) 2: Documents (1389/1608) 3: Grammar (1678) 4: Primer (1730) 5: Poems (1848) Dispersal Bibliography
