We cordially invite you to GAS Lecture on May 20th (Mon), 2024. This event will be held in-person only. To join this event, please fill in the registration form below.  　 

Date and time: May 20 (Mon), 2024, 13:00-15:00 PM (JST)

Venue: Main Conference Room (3F), Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo

Title: Translation and the Right to Speak: The Global Turn in Contemporary Chinese Humanities

Speaker: Prof. Marc Matten, Institute for Languages and Cultures of the Middle East and East Asia, Friedrich Alexander University
　　　　 https://www.sinologie.phil.fau.de/mitarbeiter/professuren/prof-dr-marc-matten/

Moderator: Shigeto Sonoda, Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo

Registration: https://forms.gle/bRpBbL4jMpricaCs7

Language: English

Outline: Following the economic growth and geopolitical rise of China in the past decades we observe ambitions of the Chinese party-state to influence norms and world views across the globe. In recent years, the humanities have become an important playing field where increasing translations of Chinese authors, spanning from historians to philosophers and political scientists intend to shape the discourse outside of China. However, the opaque nature of translations activities—partly financed by the party-state and published by renowned publishers (Brill, Palgrave Macmillan, Routledge, Springer et al.)—makes it difficult to discern the boundary between propaganda and genuine contribution to academic discourse. This talk discusses what role translations play in questioning Eurocentrism in Western academia and what is necessary to properly understand Chinese contributions to global humanities.

Organizer: GAS, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo

Contact: gas[at]ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp