In my intro of my blog, I talk about the utilisation of Les Misérables for the purpose of giving political statements being available to search on my account. (Usually via the hashtag 'protests')
I'm just going to create a separate list (this one) compiling of information that I found which talk of certain events in countries across Asia. (as the list I have now in my intro largely limits itself to adaptations/translations only) If anybody has anything else to add, please tell me!
The following will have different levels of research be put into it. I've put a link to the post which has the most relevant information regarding to the matter for a quick link to the research, however it necessarily won't be the only informative post about it.
It's definitely a work in progress! Think of it as a blog update.
Otherwise, here's the list thus far:
1868 Armenia -> Pro-literacy movement via translation and how Les Misérables was used for political criticism and national consciousness
#1868 translation
1903 China -> Criticism of the Qing Dynasty & International relations (Western countries and influence on China)
#Su Manshu
1926 Vietnam -> Combatting the post-colonial state from the French Empire and Criticism of the Nguyễn Dynasty
#Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh and #Hồ Biểu Chánh and #Ngọn Cỏ Gió Đùa
1938 Japan -> Anti-war messaging.
#kyojinndenn
1945-9 Indonesia -> (Real world comparison to:) War of Independence / Indonesian National Revolution and the Dutch colonisation and Japanese occupation
#Indonesia independence
1955 India -> Criticism of the British colonisation and the representation of the Quit India Movement (Heavily incomplete- I need to do much more research regards to the historical background and setting)
#Kundan
1957 Malaysia -> (Real life comparison to:) Declaration of Independence (Merdeka) and ethnic & patriotic unity and the British colonisation
#Malaysia
2019 Japan -> Contemporary Japanese identity; protests and earthquakes (still largely incomplete)
#owarinaki tabiji
2019-20 Hong Kong -> Independence Protest ('dyhtps')
#Hong Kong protests
2020 Thailand -> Critiques systems of inequality, selective morality, (youth and women's) incarceration, women's rehabilitation centers. (Heavily incomplete- I haven't read the book yet nor have I researched Thailand's modern political climate regarding these themes.)
#A wish in the dark
Honourable mentions: Yang Kui (Taiwan: 1895-1945); Gezi Park Protests (Türkiye: 2013); Candlelight protest for the Impeachment of the President Park Geun-hye (S. Korea: 2016-7); Aragalaya protest (Sri Lanka: 2022).
Non-Asian shoutout: Fabrika's protest against President Mohamed Morsi's government and suppression on artistic expression (Egypt: 2013). [Context: It was in the midst of Calls for Resignation for the President.]
[These are put into 'honourable mentions' because Les Misérables was more of a mention in the protests or rebellion, rather than it being a consistent and a major factor for a cause or political belief.]
Maybes:
1996 S. Korea -> 70s-80s South Korea (Most likely a criticism of the political climate, but I haven't watched enough episodes to comment.)
#1996 Korean tv series
Post Seine
Star
They're recruiting
The Dreamers
Enjolras était un jeune homme charmant, capable d’être terrible.
Talking to people outside your fandom about your media of choice is always so interesting because after a while in fandom, you get used to the same old discourse but in real life you will be hit with some completely orginal and insane takes. I was taking about Les Misérables to some family friends over Christmas and they tried to argue that Javert was a completely unnecessary part of the plot. Like he didn’t need to be there at all. Truly a level of discourse that some of you on tumblr could only dream of coming up with
Been in a crisis about his design eurgh
Su Manshu was a revolutionary poet who wrote a translation of Book One of Les Misérables into traditional Chinese.
Copy and pasted from a comment I made in Dec 2024:
Su Manshu wrote a self-insert (Nande) who was a mouthpiece for the favour of the revolution of China (which was ruled by the Qing Dynasty at the time).
However, since there wasn't much of a freedom in press in regards to the criticism of it, the main character (the self insert) dies.
During the translation (which was only book 1), there is a running comparison of Chinese and French history, and also anti-Christian sentiments due to Su's fear of the 'Western influence' of China.
The translation is so different, there is some unintended comedic elements to it in retrospect, but I'm sure during the time when it was written, it was truly a piece of revolution. It's just funny if you take the political context out of it.
There is also mistranslations, such as the Bishop asking how many coins Jean Valjean has, and telling him that his place is not a hostel and therefore he doesn't need to pay -> to then become the Bishop asking Jean Valjean how much coins he has, and telling him that it is indeed like a hostel, and thus needs to pay him with all the coins that he has (rather than JvJ keeping them).
There is an academic argument apparently on whether or not mistranslations such as these were intentional, or if Su wasn't as proficient in English as we believed he was to be (since he translated from Wilbour's trans.)
It also is a running theme throughout the translation that JvJ is a bad guy.
The paper I read doesn't talk about other characters, so I don't know how other characters are presented unfortunately. Probably because it overly focuses on the OC lmao
Idk how many non theater nerds will understand how huge this is but holy fuck
Have you noticed that JMB is one letter away from IBM ? Because I sure did, and that's what you got.
That was fun to draw.
The computer is 100% my Divoom speaker with a few more buttons. I love it.
That one was for @jbm-week ! Spread the JBM love !
nel || 19 || they/them || aroace || every once in a while I scream about something other than Les Miserables || if you know me irl no you don’t
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