In his play, Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare famously wrote "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." But what if that "rose" was translated literature by a Nobel Prize-winning author? Would it be as poignant or relevant as the piece in its original language? The answer is yes, as indicated by a recent literature event hosted by the department of Modern Languages & Cultural Studies (MLCS).

Since its creation in 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to numerous international authors. However, many of those works are in foreign languages and are inaccessible to many readers around the world. That's where translation work from scholars at UAlberta can help: having access to translations of foreign literature makes it possible for all readers to enjoy award-winning literature, regardless of its original language.

Every year, the MLCS department organizes a reading and translation event featuring the work of the most recent Nobel Prize-winning author. This year's event consisted of a guest lecture, a round table discussion and a multilingual reading of the works of Mo Yan, the 2012 Nobel Prize winner in literature and the first ever resident of mainland China to receive the prize. The event was presented in collaboration with the department of East Asian Studies and with support from the UAlberta China Institute.

The guest lecture was presented by Shelley Chan, Associate Professor at Wittenberg University in Ohio. She spoke about the political undertones in Mo Yan's works, particularly regarding the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. Interestingly, Mo Yan's name translates into "Don't Speak," a name he chose as a reminder not to speak too freely in mainland China. But as Chan pointed out, "he may not speak much verbally, but he speaks abundantly with his pen."

Then, students and faculty in the departments of MLCS and East Asian Studies did translation readings of four of Mo Yan's most famous works. Over the course of the event, Mo Yan's works were read in 12 different languages such as Romanian, Korean, Slovenian, Polish, Swedish, Spanish and the original Chinese. Each piece was read in Chinese and then read in translation.

Some of the readers noted how difficult it was to find a translation of the work, which emphasizes the important role of translation in increasing the accessibility of world literature. Chan especially praised the event participants for obtaining translations in 12 different languages, noting that she was only able to find translations of Mo Yan's work in eight languages during her research.

Howard Choy, a professor at Wittenberg University, then moderated a round table discussion about the influences and themes (particularly regarding foreignness) in the works of Mo Yan and Gao Xingjian, another Chinese Nobel Peace Prize winner who resides in France.

Nobel Prizes are awarded annually in five categories - physics, physiology or medicine, chemistry, peace and literature - to those who provide the "greatest benefit on mankind." The prize for literature is notable for recognizing the value and importance of literature among fields such as medicine and science. At the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair, Mo Yan stated that literature "can overcome the barriers that separate countries and nations," and the number of the countries that were represented at this UAlberta translation event certainly demonstrated that.