The Concept of the Sinophone and Translation Studies Symposium

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. 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. 

Event Details 

Dates: March 28–29, 2025 

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

All are welcome. No RSVP is required 

Program Overview:  

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