Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9782360571086
Collection: Taiwan Fiction
14 x 18 cm
Weight: 187 gr
Pages: 168
First publication: 16/05/2018
Last printing: 05/2018
A constellation of bursts of life and humor.
The Paths of Dreams, 160 micro-fictions that are less than a page, and often only a few lines, within eight sections: Literature (20); Organizations (20); Things (24); Social chronicles (21); Aborigines (21); Feelings (20); Dreams (24); The world of Jianghu (20). Taiwanese author Walis Nokan offers here a rich succession of mini-adventure stories or mini-dramas drawn from his readings, his intimate experiences, his observation of things and people, and tradition, especially with regard to the world of martial arts. His humor and his poetic imagination work wonders in these brief evocations where the real and the imaginary intermingle. This is a discovery that follows on from the Taiwan Fiction collection, and more particularly in the tradition of Wu Mingyi with his Magicien sur la passerelle, published in 2017 at the Asian Library. The book benefits from an elegant translation by Coraline Jortay, the translator of the culinary chronicles that punctuate the work Taipei, Histoires au coin de la rue, published in 2017 by the Asian Library in the same collection.
Walis Nokan, born in 1961 in the village of Mihu, on the island of Taiwan, is a writer from the Atayal indigenous population group. He was a primary school teacher and leads many writing workshops. In the 1990s, his literary production increasingly affirmed its roots in Atayal culture. His creativity, both in his prose works and in his poems, has earned him numerous awards and distinctions. He is the author of one of the short stories of the Taipei, histoires au coin de la rue, published in 2017 by l'Asiathèque.
Coraline Jortay holds a doctorate in Chinese literature at the Université libre de Bruxelles, where she defended a thesis on gender representations and identity construction among Chinese-speaking authors of the twentieth century. Also a literary translator, she won the 2nd and 3rd prizes of the 2013 China International Translation Competition with the short stories “Up”, by Wang Xiangfu, and “The Letter”, by Liu Qingbang, published in the collection Tranchant de moon and other contemporary news from China (Ming Books, 2016). She has also translated Walis Nokan's collection Les paths des rêve et autres microfictions (L’Asiathèque, 2018).
Gwennaël Gaffric (born 1987) is a lecturer in Chinese studies at the Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, where he teaches Chinese language and culture. He is the author of several articles in French, English and Chinese on Chinese-language literature (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan). His recent research focuses on contemporary science fiction in Chinese. He is also one of the leading translators from Chinese of general literature, science fiction, fantasy and the humanities (literary studies, philosophy). His translations include the best-selling volumes of Liu Cixin's Three-Body Problem trilogy. He regularly translates for L'Asiathèque, where he heads the "Taiwan Fiction" collection. He has also published at L'asiathèque: La littérature à l'ère de l'anthropocène (2019).
Préface : Les microcosmes de Walis Nokan (Preface : The microcosms of Walis Nokan)
Littérature (Literature)
1. Un lecteur dans la nuit (1. A reader in the night)
2. Les séances de dédicaces (2. The book signing sessions)
3. Ni vu ni connu (3. Neither seen nor known)
4. Combustion (4.Combustion)
5. Ce que l’on perd (5. What we lose)
6. Les vrais noms, une espèce en voie de disparition (6. Real names, an endangered species)
7. Pyromane (Pyromaniac)
8. Parole d’écrivain (8. A writer's word)
9. La cote de rangement (9. La cote de rangement)
10. Rencontre avec Borges (10. Meeting with Borges)
11. En voyage (11. On a trip)
12. Un visiteur importun (12. An unwelcome visitor)
13. Confessions intimes (13. Intimate confessions)
14. Mon Kafka (14. My Kafka)
15. Pas de lézard (15. No lizard)
16. Deux rêves sur la mémoire (16. Two dreams about memory)
17. Powys, tel que je le connais (17. Powys, as I know him)
18. Mission (18. Mission)
19. Dans les mailles du filet (19. In the net)
20. Talk-show (20. Talk-show)
Organismes (Organisations)
1. Le joueur de flûte (1. The Pied Piper)
2. Kidnapping (2. Kidnapping)
3. De briques et de blocs (3. Of bricks and blocks)
4. Les larmes du boeuf (4. The tears of the ox)
5. Le singe (5. The monkey)
6. Je vais vous en donner, de la « bête sauvage » (6. I'll give you some, from the "wild beast".)
7. Discours politique (7. Political speech)
8. Intarissable désir (8. Unquenchable desire)
9. Parfaites représailles (9. Perfect retaliation)
10. Piqué au vif (10. Stung to the core)
11. L’historiographe (11. The historiographer)
12. Récits d’errance (12. Stories of wandering)
13. Postmoderne (13. Postmodern)
14. Le ma’au (14. The ma'au)
15. L’écriture (15. Writing)
16. Réaction en chaîne (16. Chain reaction)
17. Il y a cent ans (17. One hundred years ago)
18. Une seule couleur (18. One color only)
19. Les dents (19. The teeth)
20. La mouche (20. The fly)
Le monde du Jianghu (The world of Jianghu)
1. Lame brisée (1. Broken blade)
2. Des chevaux au village (2. Horses in the village)
3. Face à l’ennemi (3. Facing the enemy)
4. Manuel sacré des secrets d’art martiaux (4. Sacred manual of martial art secrets)
5. La solitude du maître (5. The solitude of the master)
6. Le vengeur (6. The Avenger)
7. La pratique (7. The practice)
8. Un Wulin plus grand encore (8. An even bigger Wulin)
9. La plus fine flèche sous le ciel (9. The finest arrow under the sky)
10. Un ancien tombeau (10. An ancient tomb)
11. Si vaste est le Jianghu (11. So vast is the Jianghu)
12. L’ennemi — du pipeau ! (12. Enemy - the pipe!)
13. Le trône du Maître des alliances (13. The throne of the Master of alliances)
14. Une histoire apocryphe du Jianghu (14. An apocryphal history of Jianghu)
15. Un homme comblé (14. An apocryphal history of Jianghu)
16. En boucle (16. On a loop)
17. Le maître (17. The master)
18. Chroniques secrètes du Jianghu (18. Secret chronicles of Jianghu)
19. Congédiés (19. Dismissed)
20. Les masques tombent (20. The masks fall)
Choses (Things)
1. Dépôt de bol interdit (1. Bowl deposit prohibited)
2. Magie (2. Magic)
3. Curiosité (3. Curiosity)
4. Douce contemplation (4. Gentle contemplation)
5. La nuit, pas de regards baissés (5. At night, no lowered gaze)
6. Le fauteuil à bascule de Chiutou (6. The rocking chair of Chiutou)
7. De bons présages (7. Good omens)
8. Le voleur (8. The thief)
9. Magie (9. Magic)
10. Nage libre (10. Free swimming)
11. Le comte Dracula (11. Count Dracula)
12. Les flûtes (12. The flutes)
13. Les trous noirs (13. The black holes)
14. Le temps d’une douche (14. The time of a shower)
15. Celui qui en avait trop vu (15. The one who had seen too much)
16. Résistance (16. Resistance)
17. La boîte aux lettres (17. The mailbox)
18. Comblé (18. Filled)
19. Les cérémonies (19. The ceremonies)
20. Le téléphone portable (20. The cell phone)
21. L’ascenseur (21. The elevator)
22. Longueur de couette (22. Length of comforter)
23. Un pantalon au soleil (23. Pants in the sun)
24. Le miroir (24. The mirror)
Chroniques sociales (Social chronicles)
1. Les habits neufs du roi (1. The king's new clothes)
2. Le crocodile se lève (2. The crocodile rises)
3. Le sculpteur (3. The sculptor)
4. Rage de dents (4. Rage of teeth)
5. Le premier avril (5. The first of April)
6. La journée de l’Enfance (6. The day of the Childhood)
7. Le vrai du faux (7. The real from the fake)
8. Plus jamais séparés (8. Never Again Separated)
9. Le village des yōkai (9. The village of the yōkai)
10. Vivant (10. Living)
11. Imposture (11. Imposture)
12. Une parabole (12. A parable)
13. Cultiver les fruits de notre jardin (13. Cultivating the fruits of our garden)
14. La barbe (14. The beard)
15. Émulation (15. Emulation)
16. Un fantôme à l’école (16. A ghost at school)
17. Chronique d’une mort annoncée (17. Chronicle of a death foretold)
18. La chose (18. The Thing)
19. Pénurie de sang (19. Blood shortage)
20. Et l’on n’y peut rien (20. And there is nothing we can do about it)
21. Symposium (21. Symposium)
Aborigènes (Aborigines)
1. Le jeu du plus fin (1. The game of the finest)
2. Pilin va à l’école (2. Pilin goes to school)
3. Le déchiffreur de rêves (3. The dream decipherer)
4. Surtout, ne pas chasser seul l’écureuil volant (4. Do not chase the flying squirrel alone)
5. Terrifiant (5. Terrifying)
6. Drôle de bête (6. Funny beast)
7. Égarés (7. Lost)
8. La lueur des abeilles (8. The glow of the bees)
9. Le mangeur de papier (9. The paper eater)
10. Enquête de terrain (10. Investigation in the field)
11. Issue malheureuse (11. Unfortunate outcome)
12. Au fil de l’eau (12. As the water flows)
13. Illumination (13. Illumination)
14. La pêche à la ligne (14. Angling)
15. Sobre soûlard (15. Sober drunk)
16. La carte (16. The map)
17. Les oreilles (17. The ears)
18. Tout n’est pas écrit (18. All is not written)
19. Bihao, m’entends-tu ? (19. Bihao, can you hear me?)
20. Un après-midi d’été (20. A summer afternoon)
21. Un mot (21. A word)
Sentiments (Feelings)
1. Ensemble toujours (1. Together always)
2. Belles plantes (2. Beautiful plants)
3. Le voleur (3. The thief)
4. Grandir (4. Grow up)
5. Ah-shu (5. Ah-shu)
6. Le sous-marin (6. The submarine)
7. Essayage (7. Fitting)
8. Relations intimes (8. Intimate relations)
9. Blanche-Neige (9. Snow White)
10. Un nouveau Roméo et Juliette (10. A new Romeo and Juliet)
11. Le jeu de la vie et de la mort (11. The game of life and death)
12. Mission de reconnaissance (12. Mission of recognition)
13. Champ d’amour, chant de ruines (13. Field of love, song of ruins)
14. Le secret de la Lune (14. The secret of the Moon)
15. À propos d’un romancier (15. About a novelist)
16. Changement de programme (16. Change of program)
17. Un poème (17. A poem)
18. Toute une vie (18. A whole life)
19. Déshonneurs (19. Disgraceful)
20. Un amour de toujours
Rêves (20. A love for life)
1. Hsiao-ssu (1. Hsiao-ssu)
2. La mort est mon métier (2. Death is my job)
3. La maison princière des Kitashirakawa (3. The princely house of Kitashirakawa)
4. Souvenirs d’un ancien (4. Memories of an elder)
5. Le premier tour du Classique mondi de baseball, édition 2013 (5. The first round of the World Baseball Classic, 2013 edition)
6. Fatalité (6. Fatality)
7. Tissu de songes (7. Fabric of dreams)
8. Le bouc (8. The goat)
9. L’oiseau (9. The bird)
10. Les dévoreurs de jours (10. The day eaters)
11. Derrière la fenêtre (11. Behind the window)
12. Le goût du temps (12. The taste of time)
13. Deux hommes (13. Two men)
14. La disparition (14. The disappearance)
15. La métamorphose (15. The metamorphosis)
16. Mémos (16. Memos)
17. Un amour de meurtrier (17. A murderer's love)
18. Le vieil homme et le chercheur (18. The old man and the researcher)
19. Formatage (19. Formatting)
20. Les oreilles (20. The ears)
21. Les pruniers (21. The plum trees)
22. Les sentiers des rêves (22. The paths of dreams)
23. Le soldat devant la fenêtre (23. The soldier in front of the window)
24. Châtiment (24. Punishment)