The symposium “The Affordances of Sinophone Literary Translation in the Age of AI” was jointly organized by the Department of Translation at Lingnan University and the Hong Kong Translation Society, taking place at M+ of West Kowloon on December 13-14, 2024. This hybrid event brought together literary writers, translators, and scholars to examine contemporary resources available to Sinophone literary translators, building upon J. J. Gibson’s concept of affordances as a framework for translation studies. The symposium’s scope encompassed multiple dimensions of literary translation, including linguistic and literary innovations, intermedial approaches, collaborative practices, technological tools (particularly AI), and cultural adaptation strategies.

The symposium’s theoretical and practical perspectives were anchored by two keynote speeches. Professor Douglas Robinson (with Sun Xiaorui) from CUHK Shenzhen presented “Möbius Interepistemic Pseudotranslation: Affording Experimental Sinoanglophone Translation.” Chaired by Professor Leo Chan (Lingnan University), this speech explored experimental translation possibilities through the metaphor of the Möbius strip, demonstrating how pushing translation boundaries can expand the field’s affordances. Professor Michael Berry (UCLA) delivered “Three Years in the Sick Ward: AI Nightmares, Textual Variants, Shifting Points of View, the Doomsday Countdown and Other Strange Tales of Translation from Han Song’s Hospital Trilogy,” chaired by Professor Darryl Sterk (Lingnan University). Professor Berry shared his experience translating Han Song’s HospitalTrilogy, discussing specific challenges in translation, such as character names and medical terminology, while highlighting the importance of author-translator communication and collaboration.

The symposium featured three masterclasses exploring different dimensions of literary translation. In the first masterclass, practitioner Nicky Harman and scholar Professor Bai Liping engaged in a dialogue examining the resources and “habitat” of Chinese-to-English literary translators through Harman’s translation of Jia Pingwa’s novel. The second masterclass focused on the collaborative translation process between Dr Jennifer Feeley and Eva Wong Yi in translating Wong Yi’s works, with an emphasis on the Cantonese chamber opera libretto “Women Like Us,” adapted from Xi Xi’s short stories. The third masterclass presented two approaches to translation challenges. Professor Christopher Rea’s translation of The Crossing of the Boars 野豬渡河 required expertise across multiple fields and languages to capture the novel’s bestiary-rich narrative. Dr Anna Gustafsson Chen’s work on Lenin’s Kisses 受活 showcased an innovative solution to dialect translation, using a 1914 Swedish dictionary of antiquated words to create corresponding dialectical expressions in the target language. Collectively, the three masterclasses illustrated the diverse challenges and approaches in contemporary literary translation, ranging from collaborative processes to specialized knowledge requirements and creative linguistic solutions.

The symposium included five thematic panels delving into different aspects of literary translation. The Multimedia Translation Panel offered diverse perspectives, including Professor Patricia Sauthoff’s “embodied philology” in translating yoga descriptions into human postures, Professor Luis Damián Moreno García’s study of Large Language Models and Large Multimodal Models in game localization, and Professor Kimho Ip and Dr Heidi Huang’s analysis of multisensory and transcultural trajectory in Chinese musical translation.

The Translation as Adaptation Panel featured Dr Li-min Lin’s examination of AI limitations in theatrical translation and Professor Maialen Marin-Lacarta’s application of Chinese philosophical concepts, particularly the “co-action paradigm,” to translation studies. The Translating Taiwan Panel presented two perspectives: Professor Szu-Wen Kung’s exploration of “languaging” in literary translation using Wu Ming-yi’s The Stolen Bicycle, translated by Professor Darryl Sterk, as a case study, and Dr. Aoife Cantrill’s analysis of Yang Shuangzi’s “Taiwan Travelogue” as a “fake translation” examining colonial relationships. The Translating Lu Xun Panel included Professor Xiaolu Ma’s analysis of Lu Xun’s Russian literature translations through intermediary languages, Dr Audrey Heijns’ study of Dutch retranslations using the “affordances” concept, and Dr Robert Tsaturyan’s discussion of translating Wild Grass into Armenian.

The Translating Jin Yong Panel showcased three approaches: Luyao Yan’s phenomenological analysis of wuxia translation, Dr Andrea Musumeci’s examination of translators’ professional self-presentation through epitextual materials, and Gigi Chang’s practical insights into translating Legends of the Condor Heroes using theatrical principles. The symposium effectively demonstrated the intersection of traditional translation practices with emerging technologies while maintaining a focus on cultural and philosophical dimensions of cross-linguistic communication.

「人工智能時代華語文學翻譯的可供性」研討會於2024年12月13日至14日在西九龍M+舉行。此次研討會由嶺南大學翻譯系與香港翻譯學會聯合主辦，開放線上線下混合會場，匯聚衆多文學作者、譯者和翻譯研究學者，以J. J. Gibson的「可供性」概念為框架，探討當代華語文學翻譯的資源運用。會議討論涵蓋語言和文學創新、跨媒介翻譯、協作實踐模式、技術工具應用（尤其是人工智能）以及文化改編等多個維度。

研討會邀請知名翻譯學者和文學譯者進行主題演講，為與會者提供了深刻的理論與實踐洞見。在嶺南大學陳德鴻（Leo Chan）教授主持的首場演講中，香港中文大學（深圳）的Douglas Robinson教授與Sun Xiaorui合作發表了題為「莫比烏斯認知際偽翻譯：開拓實驗性中英互譯的可能性」的主旨演講，通過莫比烏斯環的隱喻探索實驗性翻譯的可能性，為翻譯研究擴展邊界，提供新的可供性。第二場主旨演講由嶺南大學石岱崙（Darryl Sterk）教授主持，加州大學洛杉磯分校的白睿文（Michael Berry）教授發表了題為「病房三年：AI噩夢、文本變體、人稱轉變、末日倒計時以及其他翻譯韓松《醫院三部曲》的故事」的主旨演講。白睿文教授詳述了他翻譯韓松《醫院三部曲》的經歷，探討了翻譯中的具體挑戰，如人物名稱和醫學術語的處理，同時強調了作者與譯者之間溝通與協作的重要性。

研討會舉辦了三場翻譯大師班，探討文學翻譯實踐的多元面向。資深譯者Nicky Harman與嶺南大學白立平教授進行學術對話，以賈平凹作品翻譯爲例，探討了文學譯者的可用資源及身份定位。Jennifer Feeley與黃怡（Eva Wong Yi）分享了將西西短篇小說改編為粵劇《像我們這樣的女子》的合作經驗。雷勤風（Christopher Rea）教授和陳安娜（Anna Gustafsson Chen）博士分別展示了應對翻譯挑戰的不同方法。雷勤風教授在翻譯《野豬渡河》時運用跨領域和多語言的專業知識來把握小說豐富的動物寓言敘事。陳博士在翻譯《受活》時使用1914年的瑞典古語詞典創造對應的方言表達。三場大師班集中展示了當代文學翻譯中的多樣化方法和挑戰，包括作者與譯者的協作、專業知識要求、創造性的語言解決方案等。

研討會設立五個專題討論組，匯聚國際學者深入探討文學翻譯的不同可能。多媒體翻譯主題討論中，司徒雛菊（Patricia Sauthoff）教授從「具身語文學」（embodied philology）的視角出發，展示了瑜伽動作如何從文字描述轉爲身體動作，Luis Damián Moreno García教授分享了大語言模型和大多模態模型在遊戲本地化中的應用前景，葉劍豪教授和黃峪博士則聚焦中文音樂翻譯中的多感官體驗與跨文化特徵，討論了跨媒介音樂翻譯中的問題。

翻譯即改編主題討論包括林立敏博士對戲劇翻譯中人工智能局限性的研究，以及Maialen Marin-Lacarta教授將「共行範式」（co-action paradigm）等中國古代哲學概念應用於翻譯研究的嘗試。台灣翻譯主題討論中，孔思文教授以石岱崙教授翻譯的吳明益《單車失竊記》為例，探討文學翻譯中的「語言化」（languaging）。Aoife Cantrill博士透過對楊雙子《台灣漫遊錄》的「假翻譯」視角，剖析其中蘊含的殖民關係。

魯迅翻譯主題討論包括馬筱璐教授對魯迅通過中介語言翻譯俄羅斯文學的分析，Audrey Heijns博士運用「可供性」概念研究荷蘭的重譯現象，以及Robert Tsaturyan博士將《野草》翻譯成亞美尼亞語的經驗分享。金庸翻譯主題討論包括閆璐瑶對武俠翻譯的現象學解讀，Andrea Musumeci博士對譯者藉助外副文本進行身份構建的研究，以及張菁（Gigi Chang）分享翻譯《射鵰英雄傳》的實踐見解，建議譯者像影視劇中的演員和導演一樣重現敘事節奏。研討會上深入的學術討論和實踐經驗分享展示了傳統翻譯實踐與新興技術的交匯，彰顯了翻譯研究在跨語言文化傳播中的深刻文化內涵與哲學思考。