“Kelb tas-Sema”: A Maltese Translation of a 100 year-old Chinese Poem

The following video is a Maltese translation of a poem by Guo Moruo 郭沫若 called “天狗” (Sky Dog) written in 1920. As far as I am aware, it is the first time a modern Chinese author besides Lu Xun has been translated into Maltese.

On January 5, 2021, I held a TikTok Live event where I asked the viewers to translate "Sky Dog" into Maltese. I would read a line in Chinese, showing them the text, and then I would provide an English translation. After that, they would respond with a Maltese translation. The session lasted two hours! We had approximately 100 viewers over the duration of the event; not everyone participated in the translation, but I would estimate that about 1/3 of the viewers threw their hat in the ring at least once. It should be noted that many of the active participants are aged 20 or under (many are still in primary school).

Once it was posted on TikTok, people commented with feedback and suggestions for a few revisions. All in all, this first draft was great fun and I think there will be more like it in the future!