About the conference
1st Hong Kong Baptist University International Conference on Interpreting
Theme
HISTORY OF INTERPRETING
Dates
9-10 March 2017
Venue
Dr. Wu Yee Sun Lecture Theatre (WLB109)
Shaw Campus
Hong Kong Baptist University
Organizers
Centre for Translation and Translation Programme
Hong Kong Baptist University
With an aim to promote the study of interpreting in Hong Kong and the greater China area, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is launching a biennial conference with the title of "HKBU International Conference on Interpreting".
For the first HKBU International Conference on Interpreting, we have chosen the theme of the "History of Interpreting" not only because it is a logical beginning, but also because the history of interpreting, along with the history of translation, has been one of the most rapidly progressing lines of research in the fields of interpreting studies and translation studies. This trend was clearly manifested in the First International Symposium on the History of Interpreting, held at Rikkyo University in Tokyo in May 2014 and in the publication of New Insights in the History of Interpreting (Takeda & Baigorri-Jalón, 2016), a collection of selected papers, mostly from the Rikkyo Symposium.
The first HKBU Conference, inspired by the successful Rikkyo Symposium, aims to further explore interpreting phenomena in history, and examine the different roles interpreters have played in historical events, focusing in particular on "how the practice of interpreting has evolved to address the needs of different historical contexts, and how understanding interpreting history is relevant to interpreters and interpreting practices in the present" (Takeda & Baigorri-Jalón, 2016, p. VII).
Themes:
- Practices of interpreting in different cultures, historical periods and geographical or geopolitical regions
- Reception of interpreters in different cultures, historical periods and geographical or geopolitical regions
- Evolution of the norms, code of ethics, and social status of interpreters
- Methods and approaches in the research on the history of interpreting
- The relationship between historical research and interpreting practice
About the exhibition
The Interpreter's One Hundred Years of Solitude: Between History and Memory Exhibition
Dates
9-10 March 2017
Venue
Dr. and Mrs. Sze Chi Ching Exhibition Gallery, Level 1,
The Wing Lung Bank Building for Business Studies
Shaw Campus
Hong Kong Baptist University
Organizers
Centre for Translation and Translation Programme
Hong Kong Baptist University
Curators
Professor Jesús BAIGORRI-JALÓN and
Dr. Icíar ALONSO-ARAGUÁS
A photo exhibition under the name of The Interpreter's One Hundred Years of Solitude: Between History and Memory, curated by Professor Jesús BAIGORRI-JALÓN, historian and interpreting scholar, and Dr. Icíar ALONSO-ARAGUÁS, will also be held during the two days of the conference.
Photo above: Arrival of immigrants to Ellis Island, New York, 1908
Ellis Island was the entryway to the United States for more than 12 million people between 1892 and 1954, arriving from Italy, Hungary, Russian, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, and Sweden among others, but also from Asia and Africa. As a result, one of the main problems was dealing with the diversity of languages spoken. The new arrivals had to undergo a medical exam and answer the inspector's questions. Interpreters were essential at all stages: they began by announcing the numbers allocated to different groups of immigrants in different languages and leading them to the registration room. During the medical exam they explained the different exams to the foreigners and finally translated the inspector's questions and the immigrants' answers (see photo). They spoke an average of six languages and knew the most common (French, German, Russian, etc,) as well as the less common languages (Armenian, Lithuanian, Bulgarian, etc.). They worked for the Department of Immigration and could speak, read and write in those languages. If there was no one available to help, the immigrant had to wait until a qualified professional was located. Before beginning their work, the interpreters had to pass a Federal Public Administration test on oral, reading, writing and listening skills in the foreign languages. Many immigrants were able to avoid deportation thanks to the interpreters.
Laura Vizcay
Images from the last 100 years will be shown to connect important historical events with the role of interpreters as linguistic and cultural mediators. The exhibition has travelled to Tokyo (Japan), Graz (Austria), Brussels and Antwerp (Belgium), Forlì (Italy), Hildesheim (Germany), as well as different cities in Spain, and will be brought to the Chinese-speaking world for the first time.
Committees
Organizing Committee Members
- Professor Min-hua LIU (Conference Chair)
Professor, Translation Programme, HKBU - Dr. Ester LEUNG
Associate Professor, Translation Programme, HKBU - Dr. Wayne LIANG
Assistant Professor, Translation Programme, HKBU - Dr. Janice PAN
Assistant Professor, Translation Programme, HKBU
Programme Committee Members
- Professor Jesús BAIGORRI-JALÓN
University of Salamanca, Spain - Professor Min-hua LIU
Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong - Professor Rachel LUNG
Lingnan University, Hong Kong - Professor Kayoko TAKEDA
Rikkyo University, Japan
Call for proposals
We invite papers on topics related to the following themes:
- Practices of interpreting in different cultures, historical periods and geographical or geopolitical regions
- Reception of interpreters in different cultures, historical periods and geographical or geopolitical regions
- Evolution of the norms, code of ethics, and social status of interpreters
- Methods and approaches in the research on the history of interpreting
- The relationship between historical research and interpreting practice
The language of the conference is English.
(In exceptional cases, the organizers may entertain requests for presenting in Putonghua, subject to arrangement of the necessary interpreting provision.)
Length of presentations: 30 minutes (20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for discussion)
Submissions must include the following information:
- name of author(s)
- affiliation
- email address
- abstract of 300-400 words
- 3-5 keywords
- short author biography of 50 to 100 words
All submissions, using Microsoft Word 2010, are to be sent to ctn@hkbu.edu.hk by 30 November 2016. Successful applicants will be notified by email by 15 December 2016.
There is no plan to publish the conference proceedings.
Keynote speakers
Title:
- The History of Interpreting: Topics, Sources, and Methods
Speaker:
- Professor Jesús BAIGORRI-JALÓN
- (Associate Professor (Emeritus), Department of Translation and Interpretation, and Member of the Alfaqueque Interpretation Research Group, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain)
About the Speaker:
- Jesús BAIGORRI-JALÓN is former United Nations staff interpreter, Associate Professor (Emeritus) and member of the Alfaqueque research group (University of Salamanca, Spain). His research has focused on the history of interpreting, interpreters as fiction characters, public service interpreting and the teaching of interpreting. Author of From Paris to Nuremberg: The Birth of Conference Interpreting (2014/2000), United Nations Interpreters: A History (2004), and co-editor of New Insights in the History of Interpreting (2016).
Title:
- Linking the Past to the Present: Why I Study Wartime Interpreters
Speaker:
- Professor Kayoko TAKEDA
- (Professor, College of Intercultural Communication, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan)
About the Speaker:
- Kayoko Takeda is Professor of Translation and Interpreting Studies in the College of Intercultural Communication at Rikkyo University in Tokyo. Her research focuses on the history, pedagogy and sociocultural aspects of interpreting and translation. She is the author of Interpreting the Tokyo War Crimes Trial and co-editor of New Insights in the History of Interpreting.
Programme
Venue: Dr. Wu Yee Sun Lecture Theatre (WLB109), Shaw Campus, Hong Kong Baptist University
9 March (Thursday)
| 09.00-09.30 | Registration | |
| 09.30-09.45 | Welcome Address and Introduction | |
| 09.45-11.00 | KEYNOTE LECTURE The History of Interpreting: Topics, Sources, and Methods Jesús BAIGORRI-JALÓN (University of Salamanca, Spain) |
|
| 11.00-11.30 | Coffee Break | |
| 11.30-12.30 | PANEL 1: Sources and Methods for the Historical
Approach Chair: Kayoko TAKEDA Interpreting the Interpreter's Life: From Biographical Data to Biographie Croisée Klaus KAINDL (University of Vienna, Austria) Rhetorical Patterns in Ancient Chinese Texts on Interpreting Rachel LUNG (Lingnan University, Hong Kong) |
|
| 12.30-13.00 | Guided tour (with slide presentation) of The
Interpreter's One Hundred Years of Solitude: Between
History and Memory Exhibition Curator of the Exhibition: Jesús BAIGORRI-JALÓN |
|
| 13.00-14.30 | Lunch | |
| 14.30-16.00 | PANEL 2: Interpreters as Historical Figures Chair: Rachel LUNG The Humanized Study of a Great Interpreter: Tseng-Tsiang Lou/Dom Pierre-Célestin as Premier/Priest and His Contributions to Interpretation Andy Lung Jan CHAN (Lingnan University, Hong Kong) The Interpreter as Alter Ego of the Statesman - the Recollections of Tito's Interpreter Ivan Ivanji Mira KADRIC (University of Vienna, Austria) Images of Former Chinese Educational Mission Students as Interpreters in the United States (1881- 1943) Aiyun YE (Guangzhou University, China) |
|
| 16.00-16.30 | Coffee Break | |
| 16.30-18.00 | PANEL 3: Emergence of Interpreting in
Historical Events Chair: Janice PAN The First Years of Conference Interpreting in Poland (1944-1956) Małgorzata TRYUK (University of Warsaw, Poland) Revisiting the Interpreting Service of Truth Reconciliation Commission Harold M LESCH (University of Stellenbosch, South Africa) From Engineers to Language Specialists: Some Insights into the Development of the Professional Interpreter in the Balkans Marija TODOROVA (Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong) |
|
| 18.30 | Dinner |
10 March (Friday)
| 09.00-09.30 | Registration | |
| 09.30-10.45 | KEYNOTE LECTURE Linking the Past to the Present: Why I Study Wartime Interpreters Kayoko TAKEDA (Rikkyo University, Japan) |
|
| 10.45-11.00 | Coffee Break | |
| 11.00-12.30 | PANEL 4: Wartime Interpreters Chair: Wayne LIANG Interpreter's Autonomy and Agency in Negotiations during the First Opium War (1840-1842) Zhen YUAN (Lingnan University, Hong Kong) Taiwanese as Military Interpreters in the Second World War Shichi Mike LAN (National Chengchi University, Taiwan) The Shifting Field and Dynamic Habitus of Korean War Interpreters Hyongrae KIM (University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA) |
|
| 12.30-13.45 | Lunch | |
| 13.45-15.45 | PANEL
5: Interpreters in Colonial Contexts Chair: Jesús BAIGORRI-JALÓN Interpreters in Conflict Situations in Colonial Taiwan: From the Seventeenth Century till the Early Twentieth Century Pin-ling CHANG (Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan) The Han-Chinese Interpreters' Role in Making Taiwan a Heterogeneous Colony under Dutch Rule Li-Fen WANG (National Chiayi University, Taiwan) Interpreting Practices in the Dutch East Indies Audrey HEIJNS (Independent Researcher) The Search for a Mende Interpreter for African Slaves in the Amistad Case (1839) Jeanette ZARAGOZA-DE LEÓN (Universitat Jaume I, Spain) |
|
| 15.45-16.15 | Coffee Break | |
| 16.15-18.15 | PANEL
6: Development of the Interpreting Profession Chair: Ester LEUNG The Birth and Evolution of Simultaneous Interpreting in Hong Kong David MAK (City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong) A Historical Review of Court interpreting in Hong Kong Eva NG (University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong) The United Nations Training Course of Interpreters and Translators: The Beginning of Professional Conference Interpreting in China Hong JIANG (Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong) The Evolution of a Culture of Client - Interpreter Partnership at the EU and Europe-based UN bodies Kensuke YOSHIMURA (Chuo University, Japan) |
|
| 18.15-18.30 | Closing Session |
Important dates
- Call for proposals: 4 August 2016
- Deadline for submission of proposals (extended): 30 November 2016
- Notification of acceptance: 15 December 2016
- Registration of presenters: November 2016 - end January 2017
- Deadline for early bird registration: 15 December 2016
- Programme available on-line: early February 2017
Contact us
All enquiries should be made to the Centre for Translation, Hong Kong Baptist University at:
- ctn@hkbu.edu.hk
- +852 3411 5383