Sun, Yifeng 1957-

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SUN, Yifeng 1957-

PERSONAL:

Born 1957, in Chongqing, China; son of Furu (a university professor) and Nairen (a university professor; maiden name, Fan) Sun; married Rong Yang, 1983; children: Stanley Mengjin. Education: Nanjing University, B.A., 1982; Cambridge University, M.Litt., 1993; University of Leiden, Ph.D., 1999.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of Translation, Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong.

CAREER:

Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong, associate professor of translation and head of Chinese Language Education and Assessment Centre. Guest professor at Chongqing University and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies; Sichuan International Studies University, guest professor and guest research fellow at Institute of Translation Studies; Beijing Language and Culture University, guest research fellow at Institute of Comparative Literature and Culture.

MEMBER:

Royal Society of Arts (England; fellow), Translators Association of China, Hong Kong Translation Society (life member).

WRITINGS:

(Translator, with others) Contemporary Chinese Women Writers VI: Four Novellas by Zhang Xin, Panda Books (Beijing, China), 1998.

(Chief translator) King of the Wizards: Selected Works by Lin Xi, Chinese Literature Press (Beijing, China), 1998.

Fragments and Dramatic Moments: Zhang Tianyi and the Narrative Discourse of Upheaval in Modern China, Peter Lang Publishing (New York, NY), 2002.

Translation Terminology, Hong Kong Translation Society (Hong Kong), in press.

Contributor to books, including The Construction of Translation Theory and Cultural Perspectives, Shanghai Foreign Languages Education Press (Shanghai, China), 2000. Contributor of articles and translations to scholarly journals, including Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, Literature and Thoughts, Tamkang Review, Chinese Culture, Classical Studies, and Research in Foreign Languages and Literature. Executive editor, Translation Quarterly; member of editorial board, Chinese Translators Journal, Abstracts of Translation Studies in China, and Journal of Sichuan International Studies University; member of advisory board, World of English.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Perspective, Interpretation, and Utterance: Theory of Literary Translation, for Tsinghua University Press (Beijing, China); Normsand Translation: Toury's Translation Theory, Hennan renmin chubanshe (Zhengzhou, China); chief editor of Translation Studies: Dialogue in the New Century; research for Crossing Barriers to Translation: Transcending Ideologies in China.

SIDELIGHTS:

Yifeng Sun told CA: "I am a translation scholar and literary critic and also a translator, mainly from Chinese into English. In its modern history, China has striven to learn from the West, and for this reason, its translation is principally from the West and dominantly from English. In this respect, Western Sinologists have done a good job, but in proportion to the rich Chinese cultural heritage, what has been made available in English is severely limited. My translation practice is somewhat dilettantish, but its profound connection to cross-cultural outreach is meaningful. My research work in literature is similarly related to the vital necessity to communicate with the West. Millions of Chinese are learning English, but since such enthusiasm is not reciprocated in the English-speaking world, Chinese scholars must write in English if they wish to enter cross-cultural discussions.

"In the Chinese context, whether in translation or literary studies, the term 'ideology' cannot be averted. I am fascinated by 'untranslatability' in both cultural and ideological terms. I am also acutely aware of the presence of ideology in modern Chinese literary history. My book Fragmentation and Dramatic Moments: Zhang Tianyi and the Narrative Discourse of Upheaval in Modern China is an attempt to argue that much modern Chinese writing is anathema to dominant ideologies. For many years, ideologically charged debates threatened to marginalize literature. But all this is changing; there is a great sense of excitement about China in practically all aspects of its development. Western prejudices aside, lack of knowledge and understanding of China contribute to misperceptions that are undoubtedly pernicious and thus need to be corrected or dispelled. My research, therefore, purports to examine how ideology and culture are indelibly intertwined, and to demonstrate that obstacles to cross-cultural communication are not insurmountable as long as a cross-cultural dialogue is promoted.

"My next research project is on ideology and translation in China. But ideological principles are increasingly flexible and to a considerable extent even diminishing. Something positive must be done as an effective antidote to potential cultural, and worse still, ideological 'warfare.' Meanwhile, in my writings in Chinese, I intend to 'translate' Western ideas into Chinese discourse and to play the role of cultural ambassador to both West and East. Through my writing I hope to show that, although culturally insensitive incursions need to be reduced if not altogether avoided, different cultures will benefit one another through exchange and interaction while we appreciate and celebrate cultural diversity. The abandonment of antiquated ways of thinking makes it possible to transcend ideological and cultural barriers."