Translation Studies and China

“The essays comprising Translation Studies and China are path-breaking in their scope—from film dubbing and back translation, to theatre, exhibition, visual art and children’s books, then to poetry and fiction. And for their dialectical subtlety, which simultaneously focuses on translation as repetition of values, to translation as the domination of one set of values over others, and finally to the free possibilities symmetrical between languages that translation can prompt. The book is exemplary in its focus on the uniqueness of individual translation instances rather than on the application of theory, while in some cases generating theory. In the book’s emphasis on the global situatedness of China within the forest of languages, it is nothing if not cosmopolitan.”

Daniel Herwitz, Fredric Huetwell Professor, Philosophy, Comparative Literature and History of Art, University of Michigan, USA

“Translation studies is the new (inter-)cultural studies, linking texts with contexts, language with linguistics, and intercultural communication with reception. The term translation embraces the whole circuit of meaning making and meaning decoding in relation to transculturality, the recontextualization of diverse cultures across different interpretive communities across the world. In China, like everywhere, the achievement of modernity requires transculturalism. This discursive matrix relies on cultural intermediaries, in this volume described as translators, who negotiate the sense-making process. That Chinese scholars are at the forefront of this discipline is unsurprising as they take on the task of internationalizing China in a global world that is grappling with different and often contesting ontologies, cultures and ideologies. This volume is a leader in that task.”

Keyan G Tomaselli, Distinguished Professor, University of Johannesburg and member, Academy of Science for South Africa

“This compelling volume elevates translation studies to new heights, engaging with interdisciplinary, intercultural, and cosmopolitan perspectives. Distinguished scholars, well-versed in both Chinese and Western traditions, explore the translation, exchange, reappropriation, and reciprocity of texts, ideas, values, and aesthetics between China and the West. The scope of topics is wide-ranging, covering the translation of Confucian classics, Tang poetry, Yuan drama, Lu Xun, and even digital media, alongside Chinese translations of Western figures such as Karl Marx and James Joyce. Rooted in a tradition that appreciates and shares the beauty of others (mei ren zhi mei, meimei yu gong), Chinese thought has long embraced this ethos. This volume is a testament to that enduring transcultural and cosmopolitan spirit.”

Ban Wang, William Haas Professor in Chinese Studies, Stanford University, USA

Haiping Yan is the Tsinghua Academy Professor of the Class of World Literatures and Cultures and the Founding Dean of the Institute for World Literatures and Cultures, Tsinghua University, China, as well as the Director of the Executive Council and Secretary General of the China-UK Alliance for the Humanities in Higher Education (UKCHA). Her research focuses on comparative studies of modern literatures, intellectual history of the 19th and 20th centuries, and transcultural theories with numerous publications in transnational feminism, transcultural modernism, and critical cosmopolitanism.

Haina Jin is a professor of translation, cinematic, and transcultural studies at the Communication University of China. She is an invited member of UKCHA, and the series editor of Routledge Series in Chinese Cinema. Her research interests include film translation, translation history, and film history.

Paul Gladston is the inaugural Judith Neilson Chair Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of New South Wales, Sydney and a distinguished affiliate member of the UKCHA. He has written extensively on contemporary art and culture with respect to the concerns of critical/cultural theory.