“Black Lives Matter” and its Chinese translation | 一則示威口號的翻譯

The most common translation of “Black Lives Matter“ in Chinese is ”黑人的命也是命“, which, if translate back into English, means “Black peoples’ lives are also lives“. When saying it, it may even sounds a bit like rapping which I guess, could be a tribute to hip hop music and hence the black culture. However, for this time, it doesn’t sound respectful enough.

There is an idiom in Chinese: ”性命攸關“, which means “vitally important, a matter of life and death“. “Black Lives Matter“ can be translated into “黑命攸關“ by changing the “lives“ “性命“ to “黑命“. Here the “soul“ part of life is now characterised by “black”, and this is how we understand this slogan.

”Black Lives Matter“現在被翻譯為”黑人的命也是命“，多少有點不合時宜。試想一下，若是在示威時，將這句帶點饒舌意味的中文句子當做口號沿路高呼，似乎欠缺一些緬懷逝者的莊重。當然，這個翻譯算不上是不好，有的公眾號甚至將這句口號翻譯成”黑暗生活“，轉譯回來似乎更接近”Thug Life“.

中文有一句成語: ”性命攸關“，形容事關重大，非常緊要，其中”性命“與”生命“相比，是更強調”心“及靈魂與生命相關性的表達。”Black Lives Matter“所呼籲的，正是這種緊要的相關性。所以，將”Black Lives Matter“翻譯成”黑命攸關“，能讓中文使用者，更貼切地表達對這場運動的關心。

Some facts about Li Xiangwei/关于李翔伟的一些事实

1. He was born in Shandong Province(North China) in 1995, and finished art school in Canton Province(South China). 2000 KM apart.

2. He was punished by the art school he attended for his work. Subsequently, he out on a white t-shirt that printed with the punishment notice and walked around the campus.

3. His work focuses on the reality of China's transformation period. You can find present grassroots and daily fragments from his work. He's like a commentator of daily life. He knows how to create a masterpiece on China's social media. He went viral for a while.

4. From 2009, '土味文化Tuwei culture(Vulgar culture)' is widely popular on the internet. This wave of cultural phenomenon generated billions of profit and made popular a huge group of Tuwei content producer. Tiktok and Kuaishou were the major platforms for such content.

5. To some extent, Li Xiangwei's work uplifted Tuwei culture to a more satiric level. But satires are likely to be sensitive content, which means he is chllanging the authority.

6. His SNS account has been deleted twice. His cynical tone is harmful.

7. Now he can't use his name Li Xiangwei to publish his work online, his name is on the SNS censorship radar. But, his imposters use his name to scam money, or to get laid with Li's female fans.

8. He didn't changed our reality, he didn't changed the opinions of the majority. He just fabricated something ironic and funny.

9. The Soviet politburo dosen't like Soviet jokes. Our cencorship doesn’t like Li Xiangwei’s jokes as well.

   Written by Dada Wu

Li Xiangwei’s REAL instagram

https://www.instagram.com/lixiangwei_/

‘“Some people’s life is colorful.“

“les miserables”

“I’m not guilty for loving the country, but guilty for loving you.“

“Right here waiting for you.“

“The last night on planet earth. “

“Wechat“

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1. 他出生于1995年，出生于中国山东省，在广东省读美院，相隔2000公里。

2. 他被学校处分过，然后把处分书印成了T恤穿在身上，并在学校里走来走去。

3. 他的作品基于转型中的中国现实，他在草根的废墟的日常碎片中寻找关注点，用非常中国互联网的思路来为现实加注脚，配「画外音」，并在网上传播——他就这么红了，至少出名了一阵子，在微博和微信上。

4. 2009年至今，是土味文化在中国崛起的年代，与这股潮流相关的网红，创造了十几亿美元的财富，创造了某种特定的网络语体。Tiktok 可以说是一艘承载着土味文化核武器的航空母舰。

5. 李翔伟的创作在某种程度上，升华了土味文化，让它更有讽刺性，更能被新一代年轻人读懂。随之而来的，就是删除和封杀——一旦某种在网络上流行的东西，戳到了某个痛处，它就是敏感而危险的。

6. 李翔伟的微博号被封禁和删除了两次，一次是在武汉封城时期，一次是在武汉封城之后。我们都不知道他具体是哪条惹怒了谁，但总之，那种阴阳怪气的作品，被一些人喜欢，也被一些人讨厌。

7. 李翔伟现在的id已经不叫李翔伟了，一是怕被审查官锁定，二是怕自己被当成骗子。

8. 李翔伟并没有改变现实，他也没有改变人们对现实的看法，他只是虚构出了一些东西而已。

9. 就像苏联当局不喜欢「苏联笑话」一样，我们的审查制度也不喜欢他。