Episode Details

Julia Lovell, author of Maoism: A Global History and The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China, discusses translating Journey to the West (https://www.amazon.com/Monkey-King-Journey-Classics-Hardcover/dp/0143107186), for English audiences.

Joined by translator Brendan O'Kane as co-host, on this episode we discuss:

• The origins of Journey to the West and the exploits of its primate protagonist Sun Wukong.
• Mao's relationship to the novel and how he saw himself in the Monkey King.
• Why performances of the story in the Mao era cut out more than 90% of the story

Outtro music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvA78U8sWn0 Great Sage Equal to Heaven by Hua Chenyu

Want to meet up in the bay Oct 5-10th? Hit me up on twitter or at jorschneider @ gmail

Outtro music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvA78U8sWn0 Great Sage Equal to Heaven by Hua Chenyu

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