Beijing - Work in China on the first direct translation from
the German of the complete works of Karl Marx has hit a hurdle as the
world marks the 125th anniversary of the death of the 'father of
communism.'
The 60 volumes of the second Chinese-language edition of 'The
Complete Works of Marx and Engels' won't be completed in the
foreseeable future because of shortages of staff and young personnel,
said Jiang Renxiang, a department head in the Communist Party's
translation office in Beijing.
'Progress is slow,' Jiang said 125 years after Marx died on March
14, 1883, after writing such political and economic works as Das
Kapital and The Communist Manifesto, which he penned with fellow
German Friedrich Engels.
So far, the first 20 volumes have been completed and the work on
those alone took 18 years, Jiang said.
The main reason behind the delay is the lack of new qualified
translators, he said, adding that it takes eight to 10 years to train
competent talent.
In addition, 18 of the department's 35 qualified translators are
now working on the compilation of the 10 volumes of Marx's selected
works. Those 10 books were to be published last year, but their
release has been delayed until winter 2008 or early 2009.
Today, there is no direct translation of Marx's complete works
into Chinese. The first edition was based on a translation of his
writings into Russian from the 1950s.
Jiang said that initial work is incomplete and does not meet
academic muster. The new edition contains additional explanations and
material, he said.
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