With or without Stalin – A Story of Bringing Hannah Arendt’s Graphic Biography to China

Censorship? In translation? Is that a thing?
In this lecture, I will talk about my experience with censorship in translating a graphic biography of Hannah Arendt from English into Chinese. I will discuss the role the publisher played in navigating the opaque workings of censorship in the Chinese publishing sector. Drawing on these observations, I will offer reflections on the options for the translator when faced with the realities of censorship, both in practical and ethical terms.