Speaker Series welcomes Clara Iwasaki

On Friday, November 8, 2019, the LRC welcomed Dr. Clara Iwasaki, Assistant Professor of modern Chinese literature from the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Alberta.

Dr. Iwasaki’s talk examined two translations of the Chinese writer Lao She after he returned from three-years spent living in the United States from 1946-1949. The talk highlighted the differences in translation and the rupture between Lao She’s English-language corpus and his corpus in Chinese. Through a deft close-reading and comparison of She’s two primary translators—English translator Helena Kuo, and Chinese translator Ma Xiaomi—Dr. Iwasaki elucidated how both translations made their own edits and alterations to the core text, subtly introducing gendered characterizations that not only recast the novel, but the very intention and legacy author himself.

The LRC and Division of Chinese and Japanese Studies wish to thank Dr. Iwasaki for her visit and stimulating talk.