Classic French literature sets the scene

Forum examines genre's influence and deep ties with China, Fang Aiqing reports.

French literature's profound influence on Chinese writers, translators and scholars was fully recognized at a forum featuring the literary ties between the two countries.

The forum, held in Beijing on July 2, celebrated the release of a hardcover series of classic French literature works by the Writers Publishing House.

The first batch of 20 titles contain Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Romain Rolland's Jean-Christophe, Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus, Andre Gide's Strait Is the Gate, and Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince.

Works of French literature translation gurus, including those of Fu Lei (1908-66), Zheng Kelu (1939-2020) and Luo Xinzhang (1936-2022), can be found in this selected series.

"To our generation born in the 1950s and '60s, classic French literature works are collective memories," says writer Xu Kun, also editor-in-chief of literary magazine Selected Stories.

She says that her college years in the 1980s coincided with a time when a lot of French literature works were introduced to China.