A younger generation of translators has entered the limelight this year at the Fu Lei Translation and Publishing Award.

The three winners of the 16th edition of the prize, which is sponsored by the French embassy in China, were announced in Beijing on Nov 30. French Ambassador to China Bertrand Lortholary said that the event can also be viewed as part of the wider celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of China-France diplomatic relations.

Since 2009, the Fu Lei award has been given each year to outstanding translations from French to Chinese, recognizing the efforts of translators, as well as the influence of the translations on Chinese readers. Fu Lei (1908-66), for whom the prize is named, produced Chinese translations of French literary classics by the likes of Balzac, Voltaire, Romain Rolland and Prosper Merimee.

This year, Cao Danhong won the Essay category for her translation of Fact and Fiction: In Defense of a Border by Francoise Lavocat; Shi Xueying won the Literature category for her translation of Aime Cesaire's Notebook of a Return to the Native Land; and the Young Shoots prize was awarded to Dong Ziyun for his translation of The Monarchy of France by Claude de Seyssel.

Yu Zhongxian, a researcher at the Institute of Foreign Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and president of the jury this year, said during the award ceremony that while female translators make up the majority of those nominated, the younger generation — born in the 1980s and '90s — also constitute a majority.

He says that the Essay category was devoted to classics of social sciences, sometimes so voluminous that they required collaboration between multiple translators, whereas the literature works nominated focus more on contemporary French social realities and pop culture with innovative themes and a variety of writing styles.

In Fact and Fiction: In Defense of a Border, Lavocat, a professor of comparative literature at the Universite Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3, reviews the historical controversy around fiction.

Her book clearly deals with a key concern in literature — how to distinguish fiction from fact — by demonstrating that a border exists between the two, as well as exploring the diversity, complexity and fragility of the links between the real and the imagined world, which demands a passionate defense of both fiction and reality. Lavocat takes reference from various literary traditions including Chinese.

Cao, translator of the book and a professor in the French language department of Nanjing University in Jiangsu province, says that during translation, she maintained contact with Lavocat.

The Chinese edition includes updated content the author added in response to the sweeping changes brought by new technology, such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality, since the book was first published in 2016.

Cao says that since she began translating in 2003, she has noticed an increasing number of direct translations of French books into Chinese, rather than being translated from English versions, which is resulting in increased accuracy and fidelity.

Meanwhile, a growing number of diverse books have been introduced to China.

She adds that the originality of the translator, especially in flashes of linguistic inspiration surrounding the most accurate translation of a particular word or phrase, cannot be replaced by AI.

Born in the French overseas territorial collectivity of Martinique in the Caribbean, poet and playwright Cesaire was one of the co-founders of Negritude, a literary movement to restore the cultural identity of black people that began in the 1930s among French-speaking African and Caribbean writers in Paris.

He was among the first to reveal that beyond political domination, colonization had a significant impact on ways of thinking that extended far beyond colonialism itself, according to a jury statement.

Cesaire is still a little-known author in China and the translation of his Notebook of a Return to the Native Land is the first of his books published on the Chinese mainland. The translation provides readers with access to more diverse French literature, the statement adds.

Shi, the book's translator and an associate professor at Nanjing University's French language department, says that Cesaire's particular style was the result of cross-cultural experiences that integrated aspects of French Surrealism, African literary traditions and Caribbean folk culture.

He coined new words in French by transforming the way a word was used or by combining two words to create a new one. In her translation, Shi worked in a similar fashion.

"I didn't reproduce Cesaire's book literally but used my translation to highlight his creative process. I hope that for Chinese readers it will offer an imaginative reading experience," Shi says.

"Through his work, readers can feel the richness of French literature, which is imbued not only with the culture of metropolitan France, but with experiences from other continents," she continues, adding that Cesaire's writing presents how different parts of the world entered modernity and connected with other parts by following their own path.

The Young Shoots award was bestowed on a translation of a book published in 1515 by an author who wrote in Middle French.

Seyssel's influential book on political thought explores the evolution of the French monarchical system and addresses specific problems facing its practice.

Dong's clear, well-annotated translation, and detailed and rigorous preface, demonstrates the depth of the young historian's knowledge of the subject as well as his professionalism, according to the jury statement.

During his speech at the award ceremony, Lortholary addressed China's recent rise to becoming the largest international partner for French publishers in copyright trading for French books.

He added that the work of the translators goes far beyond that of a simple transcription from one language to another. "They are messengers of culture," he said.