CALL FOR PAPERS – “Culture and Power: Symposium on History of Hong Kong Literary Translation”

Translation serves as a channel “through which foreign influences can penetrate the native culture, challenge it, and even contribute to subverting it” (Lefevere, 1992). Since its opening to foreign dwellers, Hong Kong has been such a porous harbor where languages, cultures, and ideologies were constantly contested for legitimacy. Missionaries, diplomats, colonial governors, and intellectuals from all parts of the world participated in the process of identity assertion, social formation, political negotiation, and cultural contestation. Translation has been a major resort from which all stakeholders seek help in this process, yet the role of which has hitherto been underexplored. In view of this scholarly gap, the Research Centre for Translation (the Centre) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong decided to launch the “Hong Kong Translation History” research project, with the aim of advancing the study of Hong Kong’s translation history in collaboration with scholars from different regions.

The first research seminar was held in July 2025 under the title of “Between Politics and Poetics: Literary Translation in Hong Kong History.” The Centre is planning for a second meeting for scholars whose research interests intersect at the role of literary translation and the history of Hong Kong. We are calling for papers from (but not limited to) the following areas:

▶translation, power, and patronage in the history of Hong Kong literature

▶interactions between translation, ideology, poetics, and genre

▶the role of translation in the making of Hong Kong literature and cultural identity

▶archival approaches to history of Hong Kong literary translation.

Culture and Power: Symposium on History of Hong Kong Literary Translation

Submission: Please send an abstract of your paper (no more than 300 words) and a short biography to translationhistory@cuhk.edu.hk by 15 June 2026. All abstracts will be reviewed by the Conference Committee. Notifications of acceptance will be sent out before 30 June 2026.

▶Date: 13–14 August 2026

▶Venue: The Chinese University of Hong Kong

▶Languages of presentation: Chinese (Putonghua) and English

▶Cost: No registration fees are required. Participants will cover their own travel, food, accommodation, and other costs.

▶Contact person: Dr. LIU Yunrou (translationhistory@cuhk.edu.hk)

「香港文學翻譯史學術研討會」

報名辦法：請於2026年6月15日前，將不超過300字的論文摘要及個人簡歷，以電郵寄至：translationhistory@cuhk.edu.hk。所有摘要將由會議學術委員會審閱，錄取結果將於2026年6月30日前以電郵通知。.

會議日期：2026年8月13—14日

會議地點：香港中文大學

會議語言：普通話與英語

費用說明：本會議不收取報名費。與會者需自理交通、膳食、住宿及其他相關費用。

聯絡人：劉博士（translationhistory@cuhk.edu.hk）