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SESSION 2A
International Relations (II)
CHAIR:
KANDILAROV Evgeniy, Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”
VENUE:
Aula Magnum
2A: Int. Relations
KANDILAROV Evgeniy, Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”
70 years between Ideology and Pragmatism –
Within the “zig-zags” of Bulgaria – China relations
from the Cold War period to the Belt and Road Initiative
This year Bulgaria and China celebrate 70 years since the beginning of their diplomatic relations. Over the years these relations went through different stages of ups and downs. There have been times when the two countries have been ideologically and politically very close followed with periods of getting distant and then back having close and active relations again.
During the first two decades after the end of the Cold War China was not a priority of the Bulgarian foreign policy which was focused mainly on the Euro-Atlantic Integration of the country.
Since the beginning of the Belt and Road Initiative the inertia of the Bulgarian government from these two decades continue without any significant change. With the extension and the deepening of the BRI, Bulgarian government started trying to be driven more by the economic pragmatism as well as by the idea that remaining the only country from the whole CEEC region out of the giant Chinese Initiative will be a kind of a geostrategic catastrophe brought by a political short-sightedness. The paper will put under analyses also the issue how Bulgaria will move forward in the context of BRI being between the described existing restrictions and the economic and geostrategic pragmatism.
RIVA Natalia, Dr., Adjunct professor
Contemporary Asia Research Center
at the University of Milan
China is Speaking, Who is Listening? A Case Study on the BRI, China’s State Media, and Discourse Power
In 2013, the year that marked the debut of the Belt and Road Initiative onto the global stage, Xi Jinping urged the enhancement of international discourse power and international communication capabilities among the methods to increase China’s soft power. The mediatic echo generated around the organization of the first (2017) and second (2019) Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation is a case in point. Taking a selection of related news produced and disseminated by Chinese state-subordinated media outlet Xinhua News Agency for Chinese and foreign audiences as a case study, this paper analyzes the official narrative of the BRI. By identifying similarities and differences between representations of the BRI in Chinese and English discourses, also taking into account Xinhua’s identity, it aims to identify traits of Beijing’s international relations discourse and evaluate its efficiency in articulating and disseminating China’s own worldview.
SARAFIAN Angela
European Institute for Asian Studies
China and Blockchain Technology
in the Context оf the Asia Pacific Development Competition
From government coordinated efforts to private business endeavours and break- through research, China has been at the forefront of blockchain development. While much attention has already been given to blockchain applications and FinTech prospects of cryptocurrencies, the more up-to-date trends have been moving the focus on exploring the technology’s user-centric approach for enabling smart developments in very diverse areas. These innovative advances oftentimes intersect with tangible socio- economic, environmental, security and human development impacts. The paper explores the genesis, nature and development characteristics of the blockchain technology. Then it continues on the tech community unfolding other potential uses of blockchain beyond digital currencies- potential uses that would be of interest to policy-makers and global governance agenda-setters.
2B Language
SESSION 2B
Language (II)
CHAIR:
MORATTO Riccardo, Assoc. Prof. Dr.,
Hunan Normal University, China
VENUE:
Yaitseto Hall
MORATTO Riccardo, Assoc. Prof. Dr
Hunan Normal University, China
A Tentative Overview of Nǚshū in Translation:
Challenges of Translating a Unique Chinese Cultural Heritage
Hunan province is the repository site of a unique Chinese culture heritage: nǚshū (female script). In 1983 these manuscripts were brought to light in the rural county of Jiangyong. However, they were translated into Mandarin Chinese only in 1991.
Our research has shown that Western translations are few and far between and in some cases are indirect translations, either from English or from other Western languages, posing a big problem for the preservation of the intrinsic characteristics of this linguistic cultural heritage. The present study focuses on the issue of translation strategies and analyzes with a descriptive-explanatory approach some practical implications for translators dealing with texts which are socio-linguistically and semantically loaded.
We hope that by shedding light on the importance of translators not only as cultural bridges but rather as cultural ambassadors, more researchers will embrace the challenging yet rewarding task of translating this unique corpus.
KLEIN Lucas, Assoc. Prof. Dr.
University of Hong Kong
Translating Chinese Women: Écriture Feminine
and the Male Translator of Female Chinese Poets
In 1974, Bulgarian-French theorist Julia Kristeva published Des Chinoises, her study of women in Chinese culture and history. Two years earlier, Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Chung published The Orchid Boat, the first collection of Chinese poetry by women to be published in a Western language. Can the considerations of one be used for analysis of the other, in answer to this vein of questioning? Can one be offered as a solution to some of the problems hindering the other? In this presentation, I will look at Rexroth’s translations of Chinese women’s poetry in light of what Kristeva and others have said about écriture féminine. Kristeva’s book has been roundly criticized as essentializing difference where she thought she was deconstructing binaries. In contrast, I will argue that Rexroth’s translations offer an alternative to Kristeva’s unfulfilled deconstruction of essentialized differences of gender and culture.
LOVISETTO Marco, PhD candidate
Soochow University
Translating Yu Hua and Yan Lianke: Examples of Chinese Literature in Italy
Following the collection of data about Chinese modern and contemporary literature that has been translated into Italian since China’s Reforms and Opening-Up, in this paper I argue that translation plays an essential role in catering the translated text to the Italian literary scene and its readership but translators must navigate complex issues such as the cultural mores of the tar-get culture. Popular Chinese authors would not enjoy the same level of regard in Italy that they do today without this intervention, yet translators are not the only ones involved in the process of literary dissemination and their work is often limited by editorial concerns. Focusing on the translation-editorial relationship, I place a particular emphasis on works by Yu Hua and Yan Lianke, discussing translatological issues, publishing standards, and overall impact on the Italian literary scene.
2C Society
SESSION 2C
Society (I)
CHAIR:
RIBU Roxana, Dr.
Transylvania University in Brașov, Romania
VENUE:
Hall 1
RIBU Roxana, Dr.
Transylvania University in Brașov, Romania
Chinese social ideals from past to future
Observing the different stages in the evolution of the Chinese society one cannot ignore the passion some thinkers put in imagining a better world. From the antiquity of Confucius, Mengzi and Xunzi to the modern and contemporary history of Kang Youwei, Mao Zedong and Jiang Qing, bold visions of ideal worlds were taught, written or imposed with different outcomes for the development of the society. Even though they seem, to many, like plain utopias, these projections for a world of respect, equality, welfare and harmony had a rather strong impact on the society, they set, somehow, a very high goal in people’s moral evolution and represented a possible, even strongly advisable way for the near or far future. Our study tries to demonstrate the actual importance of these idealistic visions and the path that the modern Chinese society chose to advance on, with an emphasis on the effect that these ideals produced in the governing platforms or social organization, linking ancient imperial China to today’s world superpower.
HSU Hu, PhD Student
, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Zhang Taiyan’s Dilemma between Particularity and Universality:
A Case Study of Chinese Modernity as Alternative Modernity
The tension between the pursuit for particularity and for universality is one of the central characteristics of Chinese modernity as alternative modernity. Lacking of the belief in the convergence of universal values and their own historical experiences like their Western counterpart, Chinese intellectuals were anxious in confirming the values of Chinese history and culture, and at the same time, keeping their ambition in conceiving of the universal orders for all human beings. The two stages of the intellectual journey of Zhang Taiyan (1869-1936) perfectly exemplified this comprehensive anxiousness among modern Chinese intellectuals. In the first stage, Zhang was trapped in the conflict between anarchism and nationalism; the former distinguished itself as a universal utopia and the latter emphasized the particularity of Chinese nation. In this stage, Buddhism as an intellectual reservoir able to address the paradox between particularity and universality played as a perfect mediator. In the second stage, Zhang dethroned and historicized the ancient classics by sagely kings, which pre-modern Chinese intellectuals considered to be uncontestable and universal doctrines. Nonetheless, his appreciation toward these ancient texts as the accumulated wisdom of human history never ceased. In this sense, the tension between Classical Learning and historiography in the second stage of Zhang’s thought embodied modern Chinese intellectuals’ dilemma between particularity and universality as well. And this predicament is an integral characteristic of Chinese modernity as alternative modernity.
RONCATI Rossella,
MA Graduate in History and Oriental studies
University of Bologna
Strive for Modernity: The Heterogeneous Formation
of the “Nation” Concept in the Early XX Century China
I analyse the genesis of the concept of nation in China by considering the period from the late XIX century to the early XX century, known as the period of “transition to nationalism” (Townsend 1992, 109). I stress the importance of the coeval intelligentsia in this nation-building process which ultimately led the empire to be turned into a republic. In fact, they were hotbeds for the reinterpretation of concepts by means of their translations which resulted to be crucial for the creation of Chinese nationalism. In particular, I consider the work of two emblematic intellectuals, Yan Fu and Liang Qichao, to show the cultural, political and linguistic fervor of the period. Furthermore, I take into account different historiographical perspectives, ultimately stressing how nationalist ideas were not simply ‘copy-pasted’ in the Chinese context, but instead were subjected to substantial changes in combination with the traditional Chinese heritage.
2D Belt & Road
SESSION 2D
Belt & Road (II)
CHAIR:
TSIMONIS Konstantinos Dr.
Lecturer in Chinese Society
VENUE:
Conference Hall
TSIMONIS Konstantinos Dr., Lecturer in Chinese Society
ROGELJA Igor, Teaching Fellow in Chinese Politics
King's College London
A Synergy of Failures:
Environmental Protection and Chinese Investment in Southeast Europe
Chinese investment in Europe is primarily discussed as a security threat with its impact on sustainability remaining a rather marginal issue. This article investigates the repercussions of China’s investment surge in Europe for environmental protection and analyses the reasons behind its poor performance. We examine five key Chinese investments in Southeast Europe, a subregion that includes countries with different forms of association with European institutions and with varying levels of development and state capacity. We find that the negative environmental impact of these investments cannot be attributed to the commonly-held perception of the Chinese as inherently ‘bad’ investors and of host states as ‘weak’ and dependent. Rather, we identify a synergy of failures between investors, host states and regional institutions that results in poor regulation and compliance. This finding calls for the inclusion of sustainability in foreign investment screening mechanisms and the abandonment of contradictory developmental priorities in the region.
CHAN Ying-kit, Dr., Postdoctoral Fellow
International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University
Africa, Zheng He, and the Belt and Road Initiative
In recent years, China has sought to extend its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) from Central Asia and Southeast Asia to Africa. This paper argues that Chinese officials, aided by Chinese maritime archaeologists, journalists and researchers have used discourses of heritage and history as a form of soft padding to justify China’s infrastructure projects in Africa. Zheng He, a Ming-dynasty admiral, who had allegedly visited East Africa in four of his seven famous voyages across the Indian Ocean, is particularly important in China’s narrative of its historical relations with Africa. The details of Zheng He’s engagement with Africa remain contested by historians, especially those in Western academia. The Chinese government thus supports ‘sub-initiatives’ of heritage and history construction, namely maritime archaeology, travel journalism and student fellowships, to substantiate the legacy of Zheng He in Africa. By suggesting that China and Africa also share the legacy of having been exploited, humiliated and victimized by European colonial powers, Chinese intellectuals have fashioned the BRI into an anti-imperialist discourse for acceptance by their African counterparts.
2E Literaure
SESSION 2E
Literature (II)
CHAIR:
RAMPOLLA Giulia, Dr.
University of Naples "L' Orientale";
International University of Rome
VENUE:
Hall 2
CHAN Shelley W., Prof.
Wittenberg University
Uteruses Owned by the State: Mo Yan’s Fiction about the One-Child Policy
Since its implementation in the late 1970s, the One-Child Policy has been widely discussed. Indeed, the policy has effectively controlled the rapid growth of China’s population; yet it has also caused many social problems. Mo Yan, the winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature, wrote about this sensitive topic very early on when he started his writing career in the 1980s. Themes such as abandoned children, unplanned births, and forced abortions from his earlier stories, namely, “Explosions,” “Abandoned Child,” and “Tunnel,” reoccur in Frog, a novel about the family planning policy. This paper discusses how the One-Child policy and later the Two-Child policy have affected Chinese people’s lives. It also suggests that the novel Frog eventually evolves into a political allegory in which some subtle details invite a daring interpretation, relating the aborted babies to the young people who lost their lives in Beijing in the summer of 1989.
NG Ashton, PhD Candidate
University of Cambridge
The feminine Oriental man:
Deconstructing gender roles in M. Butterfly using functional linguistics
In the 1988 Broadway play M. Butterfly, the most feminine character is a Chinese man (Song Liling), closely followed in second place by a Japanese woman (Butterfly). In terms of their femininity, the Oriental duo far surpass three Western women: Helga, Isabelle, and Renee. Through applying Michael Halliday’s theory of systemic functional linguistics, this paper reveals what exactly is meant by “masculinity” and “femininity” in M. Butterfly, arguing that both are constructs that exist only in the male characters’ minds. This paper then explains why the characters Song Liling and Butterfly are perceived by the play’s male characters (Gallimard, Pinkerton, and Marc) to be significantly “more” feminine than the other female characters. A Hallidayan analysis of the play reveals that, in M. Butterfly, “masculine” and “feminine” gender roles cannot exist independently without the other, and are variable “scores” more than they are essential traits assigned at birth.
RAMPOLLA Giulia, Dr
University of Naples "L' Orientale";
International University of Rome
Silent Marginality: Subaltern Women Between the City
and the Countryside in Sun Huifen’s Fiction
This paper aims to investigate the condition of women and gender issues, related to social marginalisation, rural-to-urban migrations and the consequences of modernisation, in the fiction of the female Chinese writer Sun Huifen. She herself comes from the countryside and is particularly interested in subaltern characters and the world surrounding them in a global context. I will focus on the topics of social constraints endured by women upon migration to the city and the resulting psychological implications, and gender inequalities that are particularly deep-rooted in poor rural areas, where women are victims of discrimination and occasionally of domestic violence. These themes will be analysed in selected literary works by Sun Huifen, who always writes in a realist style, such as Baomu, Xie Mashan zhuang de liangge nüren, Nüren Lin Fen yu nüren Xiao Mi and the collection Ten stories between life and death, in which female characters appear to be entangled between tradition and modernity.
CESARINO Loredana, Dr.
XJTLU Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Xu Xiake’s (1597-1641) Former Residence in Jiangyin:
Negotiating Identities in Themed Spaces
Xu Xiake 徐霞客 (1587-1641) is an important traveller and explorer of the Ming 明 dynasty (1368-1644). Born in the outskirt of Jiangyin 江阴, he is the author of the famous Xu Xiake youji 徐霞客游记 (“Xu Xiake’s Travel Diary”).
In contemporary China’s official discourse, Xu Xiake is celebrated as the patron of domestic tourism (yousheng 游圣) and is usually represented as an illustrious man of letters imbued with filial piety and spirit of sacrifice. The Ming traveller plays an important role also at local level, where he has become the symbol of Jiangyin and, as such, has contributed to the construction of the municipality’s cultural identity.
Object of this paper is Xu Xiake’s former residence, transformed into a museum since the mid-1980s. Using the theoretical framework of literary tourism, it will discuss its cultural significance in the local context of Jiangyin. It will attempt to understand how Xu Xiake’s life and travels are constructed, narrated and marketed for the visitor’s consumption in this three-dimensional themed space. It will argue that Xu Xiake’s former residence has been transformed into a literary attraction themed around filial piety and patriotism in order to help local authorities enhance tourism in the area, contribute to its historical branding while, at the same time, promoting the core national values associated with the Ming traveller in the official discourse, thus negotiating the tension between his local commodification and his national sanctification.
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