LEWI Lectures 2005 - The In's
and Out's of East-West
Translation and
Adaptation
(14 October and 18
November)
Since March 2005, LEWI has
invited internationally and locally renowned
scholars from various disciplines in translation,
literature and cultural studies to deliver
lectures at our institute. Till November 2005, a
total of seven lectures were organized. Hundreds
of academics and students from within and outside
Hong Kong Baptist University have participated in
the lectures. Some of the lectures also attracted
Hong Kong's general public.
"Translation and
Adaptation of Western Drama in Hong Kong: A
Socio-cultural Study of Hong Kong Repertory
Theatre's Production" (14
October)
The last two lectures of the
series were held in October and November
respectively. On October 14, Professor Thomas
Luk from The Chinese University of Hong Kong
gave the sixth talk at our lecture series.
Professor Luk is a specialist in modern,
contemporary and comparative drama. He is also
known for his numerous research projects on both
Western drama and Cantonese Opera in Hong Kong.
In his lecture, "Translation
and Adaptation of Western Drama in Hong Kong: A
Socio-cultural Study of Hong Kong Repertory
Theatre's Production", Professor Luk introduced
the Hong Kong Repertory Company's past
productions of translated plays and discussed
how these works on the stage have helped forge
contemporary Hong Kong theatre, and constructed
its hybrid identity integral to Hong Kong.
Professor Thomas
Luk
He addressed some important
issues in the theatre, concerning adaptation and
translation. For example, the dynamics of
transferring a play from one culture to another;
the purpose of choice and aim of putting on a
play in translation for a local audience; and
how meaning is conveyed or adapted to a new
cultural environment.
In addition to academics and
students, representatives from the Hong Kong
Repertory Theatre attended the lecture and
shared with the audience their views during the
question and answer session.
"Thick Translation or
Translation that is Simply Thick? Some Thoughts
on Translation as Cultural Representation"
(18 November)
On November 18, Professor
Martha Cheung, an acclaimed scholar in
translation, gave the last lecture in the
series. Professor Cheung is the Director of the
Centre of Translation at Hong Kong Baptist
University who also teaches at the Department of
English Language and Literature.
Speaking on "Thick Translation
or Translation that is Simply Thick? Some
Thoughts on Translation as Cultural
Representation", Professor Cheung claimed that
concepts are deeply rooted in culture and the
translation of concepts brings out the politics
and problematics of the
representation/self-representation of culture.
She explored the issues relating to this topic
by focusing on an anthology, in English
translation, of Chinese discourse on
translation, from ancient times to the
Revolution of 1911. Specifically, Professor
Cheung discussed the use and usefulness of what
Kwame Anthony Appiah calls "thick translation"
in the rendering of Chinese translation concepts
into English. She also investigated how useful
'thick translation' as a strategy is in bringing
out the unique otherness of these translation
concepts, and how one practises 'thick
translation' in real terms.
Professor Martha Cheung
All the papers presented in the
lecture series will soon be published in the
LEWI Working Paper Series.
"The Village", a
seminar by Professor Paul Hockings (27
October)
Professor Paul Hockings,
Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the
University of Illinois-Chicago, and
editor for Visual Anthropology, was a visiting
scholar at the Department of Sociology and LEWI
from September to December 2005.
In late October, Professor
Hockings gave a seminar called "The Village",
co-organized by LEWI and Sociology Department. The
title of the seminar refers to a documentary film
he made in 1967.
The Village is an
intimate study of the slow-paced diurnal round of
activity in Dunquin, County Kerry, Ireland, the
westernmost village in Europe and one of the last
remaining Gaelic speaking communities. At the time
of filming, 1967, the village has a population of
180 people, most elderly and poor. This portrait
of a peasant society was filmed at a time when
acculturation by urban tourists was beginning. The
language, customs and subsistence techniques of
the past are presented in the film without
commentary or narration. Isolated from the rest of
the country, depleted by emigration and devastated
by a harsh climate, the society, traditions, and
lives of Dunquin carry on, until suddenly Ireland
enters the Common Market and its peasant society
comes to an end.
Professor Paul Hockings
Professor Hockings's
seminar was well attended by Baptist faculty and
students of different disciplines. At the end of
the seminar, a lot of interesting questions were
raised by the audience. Professor Hockings shared
with the audience his experience of filming in the
village.
The Village (Paul
Hockings and Mark McCarty. 1968; black and white
film, 70 minutes; distributed on DVD by DER,
Watertown, Mass.)
Distinguished Lecture Series on
Communication and Culture Studies, 21
November (Co-organized with Centre for Media
and Communication Research) Speaker: Professor
Vincent Mosco
LEWI joined hands with Centre for
Media and Communication Research (CMCR) in
organizing two lectures in the inaugurating CMCR
distinguished lecture series on communication and
culture studies in late November. Professor
Vincent Mosco, Canada Research Chair in
Communication and Society, Queen's University,
Canada, delivered two talks at Hong Kong Baptist
University on 21 November. Professor Mosco was
given the Dallas Smythe Award, the annual prize of
the Union for Democratic Communication for
outstanding achievement in communication research
in 2004.
Professor Vincent Mosco
In the first lecture, Professor
Mosco spoke on "How to Think about Communication:
Political Economy and Cultural Studies
Perspectives". He started the presentation by
defining communication as a social process of
exchange whose outcome is the measure or mark of a
social relationship. He then described two major
ways of thinking about communication beginning
with the political economy approach and how a
cultural studies perspective places in the
foreground subjectivity, human agency and a
multiplicity of social determinations. Drawing on
his new book, The Digital Sublime: Myth, Power
and Cyberspace (2004), Professor Mosco
offered specific guidance on how to build a bridge
from political economy to cultural studies, and
concluded that the richest understanding of
communication is one that envisions communication
as mutually constituted out of political economy
and culture.
Professor Mosco gave the second
lecture, "Who is to Govern the Internet?
Globalization and Challenges for Asia", in the
evening of 21 November. He began the talk by
describing the contribution of the internet to
globalization. He then explained the role of the
International Telecommunication Union, Intelsat
and other international bodies in communication
regulation. Professor Mosco argued that the
internet also required governance and explained
why many countries were calling for more
international governance. He pointed out that
Asian nations like India and China, as major
participants in the global network society, had
important roles to play in the governance of the
Internet.
RGS Seminar by Liang Chen, Ren
Junying and Zhao Li
Liang Chen, Ren Junying
and Zhao Li, three of our RGS students conducting
research at our University in Fall 2005, jointly
delivered a seminar on their thesis on 13 December
2005.
Ren Junying, Fudan
University. Field supervisor
at HKBU: Professor Huang Yu, Department of
Journalism.
Ren Junying, Ph.D. candidate from
Fudan University, is completing her thesis
entitled "Discourse Analysis of Typical Reporting
in Mainland China: From Foucault's Perspective".
Typical reporting is an attribute in contemporary
journalism of China. Recent studies reveal that
the understandings and interpretations of typical
reporting are far from perfection. Foucault's
discourse analysis is an influential method widely
adopted in social sciences, but it has not been
introduced to journalism. Ren Junying attempts to
study typical reporting in mainland China from
Foucault's perspective, a fresh and instructive
approach.
In the seminar, Ren Junying
illustrated the feasibility and strength of
Foucault's discourse analysis in the study of
typical reporting. She reported that her thesis is
structured on three perspectives: criticism,
hybridity and localization of Foucault's discourse
theories. Ren Junying also presented the
characteristics of typical reporting in different
phases and explained how typical reporting is
constructed so as to reveal the mechanism of news
discourse.
Left: Professor Huang Yu (Field
Supervisor) Right: Ren Junying
Ren Junying's presentation on
Discourse Analysis of Typical Reporting in
Mainland China
Liang Chen, Tsinghua
University. Field supervisor at HKBU:
Professor Wong Man Kong, Department of
History.
Liang Chen is a Ph.D. candidate
from Tsinghua University. The title of his
dissertation is "From Peking to Hong Kong: A
Discussion on the Living Conditions of Peking
Intellectuals in the Thirties and Forties of the
Twentieth Century". The living standards of
Chinese cities during the time of the Republic of
China, i.e., the 1930s and the 1940s, has long
been the research focus of academics, and the core
to their studies is the living conditions of
Chinese intellectuals. Indeed, intellectuals have
been an important part of Chinese cities,
especially Beijing (Peking), Shanghai and Hong
Kong. Peking, in particular, was once regarded as
the 'City of Universities'.
Liang Chen's presentation on the Living
Conditions of Peking Intellectuals in the Thirties
and Forties
Liang Chen reported that before
and after the War against Japanese, many
intellectuals left Peking for Hong Kong, Chen
Yinke and Hsu Ti-shan among them. He discussed how
the lives of Chen and Hsu had changed and the
significance of these changes, as well as the
living standard of Chinese intellectuals in Peking
and Hong Kong in general, during the time of the
Republic of China.
Zhao Li, Tsinghua
University. Field supervisor at HKBU:
Professor Pfister, Lauren F., Department of
Religion and Philosophy.
Zhao Li, Ph.D. candidate from
Tsinghua University, is completing her
dissertation on the philosophy on education,
"Confucius and John Dewey: A Comparative Study of
Their Philosophy on Education and General Ideas of
Education". Confucius (Master Kong) and John Dewey
are two of the most important figures in Chinese
and Western histories of philosophy on education.
Their influences on contemporary discussion of
education, whether at national or international
level, are major and multiform.
In the seminar, Zhao Li presented
their general ideas about education from four
aspects found in the Analects and Dewey's
Democracy and Education: the essence of education,
end of education, contents of education and the
method of education. She also discussed the
similarities and differences of perspectives about
education which emerge from two different cultural
backgrounds and political contents, with an
attempt to promote mutual understanding and to
serve as future references for Eastern and Western
philosophy on education, educational ideas and
practical models.
Left: Professor Pfister (Field
Supervisor) Right: Zhao Li
Zhao Li's presentation
LEWI
Fellows
LEWI is pleased to announce the launch of a
new initiative, the LEWI Fellow programme. The
aim of the programme is to create an academic
community of like-minded scholars inside and
outside of Hong Kong Baptist University. It is
hoped that through exchange of ideas and
collaborative research that crosses academic
borders, LEWI's mission of promoting
inter-disciplinary and inter-cultural studies,
especially in areas such as hybridisation,
globalisation, translation, and
inter-culturalisation, could be further
promoted.
Forty HKBU faculty and twenty scholars
outside of HKBU have been invited to join the
LEWI Fellow programme. The term of appointment
of the Fellow is three years and is renewable
based on mutual agreement.
East-West Talks
The Europe-China Programme
(organized by LEWI and the Department of
Government and International Studies) will join
hands with six departments of the Faculty of
Social Sciences (History, Geography, Sociology,
Education, Social Work and Physical Education) in
organizing the 2006 East-West Talks series. A
total of eight talks have been planned and will
run through the entire year of 2006. Dr. David
Palmer of the French School for Far Eastern
Studies will give the inaugural talk on 26 January
2006. The topic of his talk is 'Religion, Social
Movements and Power in Post-Mao China'.
Other speakers of the series
include Prof. Zhang Longxi, Chair Professor,
Department of Chinese, Translation and
Linguistics, City University of Hong Kong, and
Prof. Cartier Carolyn, Fulbright scholar and
visiting scholar, Department of Geography, Hong
Kong Baptist University. A full schedule of the
Talks will be available in due course.
Call for
papers
International Conference
2006-Migrations between East and West:
Normalising the
Periphery
Co-organized by LEWI, Wing Lung
Bank International Institute for Business
Development (IIBD), Xiamen University and the
University of Amsterdam, an international
conference on 'Migrations between East and West:
Normalising the Periphery', will be held on 3 - 7
April 2006. The five-day conference will be
divided into two parts. The first part, which is
an academic workshop, will take place at Xiamen
University on 3 - 5 April 2006. It will deal with
theoretical as well as empirical issues on
migration. The second part of the conference, an
open forum, will take place at Hong Kong Baptist
University on 6 - 7 April 2006.
A call-for-paper announcement,
available at our website, http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~lewi/callforpapers.pdf,
was sent to LEWI and IIBD as well as scholars on
migration around the world in early October. The
conference organizing committee is now reviewing
abstracts, and results will be announced soon.
For those who are interested in
participating in the conference, please contact
Hidy Ng at mailto:%20hidyng@hkbu.edu.hk
for information regarding registration on or
before 2 January 2006.
Recent Visits by
Member
Institutions
Visit by Lund
University (31 October)
Dr. Kjell Nilsson,
Associate Professor of the Department of
Sociology, Lund Unversity, visited LEWI
on 31 October. He met with Professor
Chan Kwok-bun, Director, Dr. Emilie Yeh,
Associate Director, LEWI, Dr. Vivienne Luk,
Director and Dr. Jane Moy,
Associate Director, IIBD to discuss the
planning for the upcoming 2006 workshop,
tentatively entitled "Higher Education East and
West: Cooperation and Competition". This
workshop will focus on the integration of higher
education structures and their impact on
education systems around the world. At the
meeting, they reached agreements on the topics
of the panels and the rundown of the
programme.
Visit by University of
Leeds (7 November)
Professor Michael
Arthur, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stephen
Scott, Pro-Vice Chancellor and
Ms Ottolie Evers, International Liaison
Officer, University of Leeds, visited
Hong Kong Baptist University on 7 November.
During their half-day visit, they met with
Professor Fan Yiu Kwan, Vice-President
(Development), HKBU and had a meeting
with Professor Chan Kwok-bun,
Director and Hidy Ng, Executive
Officer, LEWI, Dr. Vivienne Luk,
Director and Dr. Jane Moy,
Associate Director, IIBD. They
discussed how to enhance academic exchange
between the two universities. Graduate students
and faculty members from University of Leeds are
encouraged to apply for LEWI's Resident Graduate
Scholarship (RGS) Programme and Visitorship
Programme. They also discussed ways for closer
academic collaborations such as co-organizing a
conference on food in the near future.
From Left to Right: Dr.Moy (Associate
Director, IIBD); Dr. Luk (Director, IIBD); Prof.
Arthur (Vice-Chancellor, University of Leeds);
Prof. Chan (Director, LEWI) and Prof. Scott
(Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of
Leeds)
Visit by University of
Strathclyde (17 November)
Dr. Alf Hatton, Deputy
Director of the Graduate School of Business of
the University of Strathclyde, has been
the LEWI representative at Strathclyde since
January 2005. He visited LEWI during his trip to
Hong Kong in mid November. Our programme
officers greeted him and introduced him to
LEWI's various programmes and publications. He
then discussed with our staff how to make better
use of the Strathclyde office. Dr. Hatton also
met with Professor Chan Kwok-bun,
Director, Dr. Emilie Yeh, Associate Director,
LEWI, Dr. Vivienne Luk, Director, Dr. Jane Moy,
Associate Director, IIBD, Professor Allan Chan,
Associate Dean, School of Business and
Professor Gordon Tang, Department of
Finance and Decision Sciences. They
explored possibilities for future collaboration
and academic exchange.
From Left to Right: Elizabeth (Programme
Officer, LEWI); Dr. Hatton (Deputy Director of
the Graduate School of Business of the
University of Strathclyde); Hidy (Executive
Officer, LEWI) and Erica (Programme Officer,
LEWI)
LEWI
Publications
Working Paper Series
The LEWI Working Paper Series is
an endeavour of LEWI to foster dialogues among
institutions and scholars in the field of
East-West studies. It was launched in April 2002
and serves as a forum for the speedy and informal
exchange of ideas as scholars and academic
institutions attempt to grapple with issues of an
inter-cultural and global nature. Forty-five
papers have been published so far and we welcome
papers in any academic field related to East-West
studies and from authors within and outside of our
LEWI consortium. For further information, please
contact Miss Erica Poon at erica@hkbu.edu.hk
or visit http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~lewi/publications.html#4
for details about ordering and submitting a
manuscript.
Recent Publications in the Series
(abstracts are available on our website):
41. CHAN Kwok-bun and Odalia M.H. WONG
(Hong Kong Baptist University)Private and Public: Gender, Generation and
Family Life in Flux, English/21pages, August
2005.
42. LEUNG Hon Chu (Hong Kong Baptist
University) Globalization, Modernity,
and Careers at Work: Life Politics of Woman
Workers in Hongkong-Shenzhen,
English/14pages, August 2005.
43. CHAN Kwok-bun (Hong Kong Baptist
University)Cosmopolitan, Translated
Man, or Stranger? Experimenting with Sociological
Autobiography, English/33pages, September
2005.
44. CHUNG Po Ying (Hong Kong Baptist
University)Moguls of the Chinese
Cinema-the Story of the Shaw Brothers in Shanghai,
Hong Kong and Singapore, 1924-2002,
English/18 pages, October 2005.
45. Vivian C. SHEER and CHEN Ling (Hong
Kong Baptist Univerisity)The
Construction of Fear Appeals in Chinese Print OTC
Ads: Extending the Four-Component Message
Structure, English/29 pages, November 2005.
