Call for Abstracts
What: Backreading Hong Kong: Translating Hong Kong (2)
When: Monday 6 November 2023 – Tuesday 7 November 2023
Where: The Richard Charles Lee Canada-Hong Kong Library, The University of Toronto
The theme of the 2023 edition of Backreading Hong Kong Symposium will be “Translating Hong Kong,” continuing the discussion on the same topic in 2021, aiming to complement a volume proposal. Co-organised by the Department of Language Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough, the Richard Charles Lee Canada-Hong Kong Library of the University of Toronto, and Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, the symposium will be held in person in Toronto on 6-7 November 2023.
We are interested in the research that considers translation as a metaphor that attempts to freshen the studies of Hong Kong literature and culture. We invite presentations that ask inspiring and contentious questions about translation in and among various forms of cultural expression about Hong Kong. We also welcome discussions of discoveries and new developments in any facets of translation and Hong Kong, both literary and non-literary.
- How does translation, broadly defined, better or limit a transnational understanding of Hong Kong culture?
- Does translating Hong Kong imply an open or closed circulation of her culture?
- Does translating Hong Kong serve to reiterate or decolonise the dominance of English?
- What can we say about the heteroglossic phenomena in Hong Kong literature and culture?
- What is the role that Cantonese plays in the translation of Hong Kong literature and culture?
- How does the Hong Kong diaspora redefine the movement of her people, literature, and culture?
Abstracts of 250 words for 20-minute presentations can be sent to Chris Song (chriszj.song@utoronto.ca) and Tammy Lai-Ming Ho (tammyho@asiancha.com) for consideration before Sunday 20 August 2023. Please also send us a bio of no more than 50 words. Scholars whose papers have been selected will be notified by Thursday 31 August 2023.
The language of the 2023 symposium will be English. We welcome both established and early-career academics to take part.
SELECTION COMMITTEE
Ting Guo
Department of Cultural and Religious Studies
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Tammy Lai-Ming Ho
Cha: An Asian Literary Journal
Chris Song
Department of Language Studies
University of Toronto Scarborough
Mary Shuk-Han Wong
Department of Chinese
Lingnan University
Posted by: Chris Song chriszj.song@utoronto.ca