The Concept of the Sinophone and Translation Studies Symposium

Dates: March 28–29, 2025

Venue: EAS Lounge, 14th Floor, Robarts Library, University of Toronto

All are welcome. No RSVP is required.

The symposium explores the evolving intersections between Sinophone studies and translation studies, bringing together scholars from diverse disciplines to examine how translation mediates Sinophone cultural production, identity, and reception. This symposium addresses this intersection by examining how translation shapes the circulation of Sinophone texts, influences their reception within global literary systems, and reinforces or subverts linguistic and cultural hierarchies. Through interdisciplinary dialogues, participants will explore how translation functions as both a site of negotiation and a mode of critique within Sinophone discourse. By integrating perspectives from translation studies, the symposium aims to deepen critical understandings of linguistic and cultural belonging, diasporic identities, and the transnational movements of Sinophone literature, fostering new insights into the complexities of cross-linguistic and cross-cultural exchange.

Speakers

Nick Admussen (Cornell University)

Martina Codeluppi (University of Bologna)

Tammy Lai-ming Ho (Saarland University)

Erin Y. Huang (University of Toronto)

Clara Iwasaki (University of Alberta)

Lucas Klein (Arizona State University)

Jennifer Junwa Lau (University of Toronto)

Jessica Tsui-yan Li (York University)

Christopher Payne (University of Toronto)

Chris Song (University of Toronto)

Yifeng Sun (University of Macau)

E.K. Tan (Stony Brook University)

Dorothy Tse (Hong Kong Baptist University)

Elaine Wong (Trinity University)

Ka-ki Wong (Hong Kong Shue Yan University)

Nim-yan Wong (Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Helena Wu (University of British Columbia)

Wayne Yeung (University of Denver)

March 28, 2025 (Friday)  

Panel (10:30 a.m. ~ 12:00 p.m.): “Sinophone Translation”  

Intersecting Sinophone Studies and Translation Studies: Exploring Sinophone Translation  

Chris Song (University of Toronto) – Panel Moderator 

Interlinguistic Invention as Sinophone Translation  

Nick Admussen (Cornell University)  

Polyphonic Perspectives in Sinophone Translation  

Yifeng Sun (University of Macau)  

Panel (2:00 p.m. ~ 3:30 p.m.): Sinophone Cold War   

Décalage, Translation, and the Incommensurability of Sinophon(ic) Difference  

E.K. Tan (Stony Brook University)  

Sinophone and Self-Translation: Eileen Chang’s “A Return to the Frontier” and “Chongfang biancheng”〈重訪邊城〉  

Jessica Tsui-yan Li (York University)  

Translation of a Concept: Settler Colonialism, Indigeneity, and the Sinophone Cold War   

Wayne Yeung (University of Denver) – Panel Moderator 

Panel (3:45 p.m. ~ 5:15 p.m.): “Minor” from Cold War to New Cold War  

Sinophone Geography and the New Cold War: From Taiwan’s Formosa Exchange to American and Australian Military Speculative Fiction  

Erin Y. Huang (University of Toronto) – Panel Moderator 

Sinophone Translation of Third World Literature in Communist Periodicals in the Cold War Hong Kong  

Ka-ki Wong (Hong Kong Shue Yan University)  

Rivers and Lakes, Jianghu, or Gong Wu?: The Role of Translation in the (Trans)formation of Spectatorship  

Helena Wu (University of British Columbia)  

March 29, 2025 (Saturday)  

Panel (10:30 a.m. ~ 12:00 p.m.): Writing, Editorial, and Pedagogical Practices  

Collective Strangers: “Thirdlanguaging” in Hsia Yü’s First Person  

Dorothy Tse (Hong Kong Baptist University)  

Intensifying a Sinophone Literature: The Editorial Mediation of Cha and the Concept of a “Sino-Atmosphere”  
Tammy Lai-Ming Ho (Cha: An Asian Literary Journal) – Panel Moderator 

Translations Required: Pedagogical Approaches to Introducing Sinophone Literature to Chinese International Students at the University of Toronto (Mississauga)  

Jennifer Junwa Lau (University of Toronto)  

Panel (2:00 p.m. ~ 3:30 p.m.): Human and Extrahuman  

One, None, and a Hundred Thousand: The Translational Side of Sinophone Climate Fiction   

Martina Codeluppi (University of Bologna)  

Mycelial Constellations: Transversing the Sinophone and Translation  

Christopher Payne (University of Toronto) – Panel Moderator 

Losing the City in Translation?: Rethinking Sinophone Literature and Translation in the Age of AI  

Nim-yan Wong (Chinese University of Hong Kong)  

Panel (3:45 p.m. ~ 5:15 p.m.): Migration and Diaspora  

Speaking For Her: Representing the Sinophone Sex Worker Transpacifically  

Clara Iwasaki (University of Alberta)  

Becoming Local in L2: Translingual Literary Translators in the Sinophone Context   

Elaine Wong (Trinity University)  

“Why bother to translate?”「又何必譯來對去呢！」Yu Dafu at the Crux of Sinophone and Translation Studies  

Lucas Klein (Arizona State University) – Panel Moderator 

Funded by the UTSC Departmental Research Fund

Organized by the Department of Language Studies, University of Toronto Scarborough

Co-sponsored by

· Department of East Asian Studies, University of Toronto

· Richard Charles Lee Canada-Hong Kong Library, University of Toronto

· Global Taiwan Studies Initiative, Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto

· Dr. David Chu Program in Asia Pacific Studies, Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto