She decided to call Eva: The adventure of a Chinese Peronist, writer and feminist – 26/01/2019

Lu Xia could be Lucia, but no. Luisa, but no. He arrived in Argentina in 2011 to take a language course and has just published the first Spanish novel written by a young Chinese immigrant to Argentina. She decided to call Eva and not just Eva Duarte de Perón. She is Chinese, writer, feminist, Peronist. He translated into Mandarin President, biography of Cristina Kirchner that Sandra Russo wrote and did not want to translate M, Macri's book signed by journalist Laura Di Marco. Personal problems with our president?

-Eva, are there any Chinese living in Argentina who devote themselves to other areas than restaurants and supermarkets?

-Only 10% In Argentina, there are about 150,000 Chinese and 90% are dedicated to supermarkets, restaurants and dry cleaners. The other ten do business of another type or work in offices. I write, but I earn my living by exporting wines.

-You arrived in 2011 to study and you stayed. Do you like this country so much?

-J & # 39; love. I was coming for a year of language study and a postgraduate degree in international relations. I attended language clbades in four months, very quickly, and then I chose to stay.

– "Ida", the novel, is quite autobiographical, is not it? You write that the character lives in Las Cañitas and that we are currently interviewing Las Cañitas. You also write that the character has two little friends …

-Well … Ehhh … Hahahaha (he laughs with all his face). I experienced it as a good experience to know how it feels, but it's not good, it does not last and that's all that's important for the novel …

– Did you use it as "material" to write?

"Of course, equal very little. This is not funny at all. This is not necessary. I believe that love can grow. This is a convincing technique. It's a very mental job, my love. I do not believe in love at first sight. You can fall in love, if you want, with anyone. It is a task that only requires effort.

– This is the first Chinese woman to have published a novel in Spanish in our country, but you have also ordered to translate the biography of Cristina Kirchner …

-Cristina is an interesting character in China. For the average Chinese, the most famous Argentine names are Evita, Maradona, Messi, Che Guevara and, later, Cristina.

-Why Cristina?

-Because she was a very beautiful president. The Chinese have recognized it for its beauty. For us, her name is very long, but she is the beautiful president. Also because very few women become country presidents. Although there are other cases, Cristina's case is more striking for the Chinese because of her feminine personality characteristics.

-Why did you leave to stay?

-For the freedom I find in this country. Freedom includes many factors. Here, nobody cares about the age of his children. It's very important to me. I am interested in studying and I do not think of being a mother. In China, at my age and without being a mother, I would feel discriminated against.

-How old are you?

-34.

-Joven

In Argentina, yes; in China, they think that at my age, you have already eaten.

-By moments, the novel is close to the feminist manifesto. You write things like, "Why is the other home?", "I'm going to do what I want with my future", "I'm not someone who has the coast", " I am complete "or" My role in life is not the mother The mother loses her job when she does not have children. "

– These are voices that are in me for many years and in Argentina, and in another language, I could find the words to be able to express myself. The Argentinian society allows you to think more and this leads you to question some things. Since I'm in this country, all the time I say And why not, and why not In this question, I find my inner degree of freedom.

-You have a style of short and energetic sentences. A literary breath somewhat asthmatic.

-C & # 39; is the way i can think in spanish: with short sentences. Narrow ideas, ideas that do not complicate me grammatically This happens to me as a foreigner. The Chinese version of Ida It would be different

– And in Macri as they see it in your country? Is he a good president?

-Yes, it's very Argentinian. In 2019, if Cristina is presented, it will be a cute competition. People will vote like that.

-Jachaha …!

-The Argentines are important physically. I do not compare them to the French, but in America, Argentina makes the difference. That's why Scioli did not win. Unfortunately, Scioli does not have a pretty face.

– You call Eva …

-I call Eva, yes. My real name is Lu Xia, who would be close to Lucia or Luisa, but Lucía means sensual woman and that does not identify me at all. And Luisa means shy, housewife. I took it out of a dictionary of Chinese names. I decided to call me Eva. Eva White Eva, in addition to Evita, means the origin of life, independence, work. J & # 39; love.

-What is the best restaurant in our Chinatown?

-Mmmm, Lai-Lai. It's very good.

– The one with the clean toilets?

-Yes, and it's very important. It's important what you say. He also has very good dishes of chickens and pigs. But I tell you that the best Chinese restaurant in Buenos Aires is not located in Chinatown but in Palermo Soho and calls Beijing. There you have to ask duck. They make it very rich.

– What is the problem of being a woman in your country?

-A cultural problem. I am currently in graduate school and I am being asked why I should continue to study at my age.

-In the novel, you talk about it.

– Speaking Spanish gives me security, among other things because I know that the Chinese will not read me.

– Would it be a questionable novel out there?

-There are interested publishers who tell me that some parts should be deleted. The bad part, the erotic mbadage and the part where the narrator smokes marijuana.

– Is it wrong to smoke marijuana in Chinese literature?

-You can smoke, but with another tone. It can not be that someone smokes and is happy. Whoever smokes marijuana must be a criminal, he must be a narco. There, yes, there is no problem. Otherwise, there is censorship. The publishers who saw it tell me that the ideology of the novel is not correct, that it should change it.

– But China does not stand out by its famous millennial wisdom?

-There is wisdom and there is also a lot of stupidity. Being old is not synonymous with being wise. My grandfather would not understand anything about me. The wisdom of the Chinese does not apply to other countries.

– Do you want to translate a biography of Macri?

-I have all the books on Argentine politicians, but I choose. I do not like anything about Macri's biography that's so sold. I'm talking about M, written by Laura Di Marco. I do not like the tone, it has no literary value. This is not deep. The book does not seem sincere to me. He is a very merchant. Sandra Russo's on Cristina, on the other hand, is very good. No, I will not translate Macri's book.