Department of History
Mengjin Xue
Thesis
Thesis
The Influence of Indirect Translation on Chinese Thought: Western Translation through Japanese, 1896-1949
Supervisor: Oleg Benesch
Research
Research
My project uses indirect translation of modern literary works to examine the intellectual exchanges around women’s roles in society in China, Japan and the Western world from the Sino-Japanese War to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. The indirect translation activities of the early twentieth century played a critical role in shaping Chinese modernity, offering a lens to investigate China’s international relations and the cultural flows between Chinese and foreign intellectuals. Tracing the sources of relevant texts, my project compares and analyzes specific content, aiming to explore the influence of Euro-American and Japanese culture on the formation of Chinese discourses on women’s roles and the local characteristics of Chinese modernity via a multi-method approach.
My project is funded by a York-CSC joint scholarship.
