Yaqi Xi
PhD Translation & Transcultural Studies
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About
I am a PhD student in Translation and Transcultural Studies working at the intersection of literary translation, digital humanities, and the creative industries. My practice-based research focuses on English translations of contemporary Chinese literature and uses digital, audio, and multimodal methods to reimagine how stories move across languages and media. Through an audio-literary translation project centred on post-socialist, post-industrial Northeast China, I create sound-rich, field-recorded literary narratives that foreground the voices and experiences of marginalised working-class communities. At the same time, my work champions translators as creative producers, highlighting the intermedial and technological practices that shape contemporary cultural production. My PhD research is supervised by Dr David Orrego-CarmonaLink opens in a new window, Dr Qian LiuLink opens in a new window, and Professor Maureen FreelyLink opens in a new window.
Research
My practice-based PhD research seeks to revitalise debates around translator (in)visibility by interrogating conventional translation norms through a creative-critical approach that merges textual translation with digital audio storytelling. Focusing on four short stories by Shuang Xuetao and Ban Yu鈥攖wo contemporary authors from Shenyang whose works engage deeply with Northeast China鈥檚 industrial past and collective memory鈥擨 explore how their aurally rich narratives enable multimodal translation practices. Employing a two-stage translational process (textual translation followed by audio remediation), my practice foregrounds the translator's multisensory agency while unlocking the text's intermedial potentialities.
At the core of my project is the multifaceted concept of 鈥榲oice鈥� as theorised across translation studies and media arts. I interrogate how 'voice' can be materially reconceptualised and embodied in translation praxis, thereby asserting the translator鈥檚 narrative presence and creative agency. Expanding this inquiry, I analyse the ecological force and function of literary translation as local narratives undergo digital remediation. Through multimodal methodologies 鈥� including original field recordings, performative narration, and experimental sound design 鈥� my practice investigates how these remediated texts generate affective atmospheres while facilitating immersive, situated encounters with local knowledge for transnational audiences.
Research Interests
Literary translation; literary sound studies; digital humanities approaches to literary engagement; audiobook studies; contemporary Chinese literature; post-industrial literature; queer literature.
Conference Papers
'Reading, Translating and Performing Post-industrial Chinese Literature through Body, Text and Audio: the Case of "Chorus" by Ban Yu', , University of Galway, Ireland, 4-6 September 2025.
'The Translator鈥檚 Voice, Embodied and Embedded: Translating and Audio-Performing Contemporary Northeast Chinese Literature',
'Creative Methods: Translating "The New Northeast Chinese Writers Group" from Text to Audio', The International Postgraduate Conference in Translation and Interpreting ().
'Giving Voice to My Translation: Towards a Praxis of the Literary Translator's Vocal Empowerment' (, from 15:10),
'Voicing the (Still) Rusted: Translating Chinese "Rust Belt" Literature amidst a World-Literary System in Crisis', .
Publications
Xi, Y. (forthcoming). 'Audio-Literary Translation As Embodied, Intermedial Practice'. In R. Tanasescu (Ed.), Translation and Intermediality. Routledge.
Ban, Y., 2025. . Translated by Y. Xi. Eunoia Review, 29 March.
Xi, Y., 2025. In: Crisis and Body Politics in Twenty-First Century Cultural Production. 1st ed. London: Routledge, pp. 128-144.
Fellowships
, Visible Communities Residency, National Centre for Writing, March鈥揓une 2026.
'An audio-narratological investigation of recorded literary readings in English (1924-)', AHRC International Fellowship at The Library of Congress (LOC), US, June-September 2024.
Teaching
LN312: Translation and Translators in the Contemporary World, Week 8, Term 2, 2025 鈥� 'Multimodal Translation'.
Public Engagement
The 18th International Postgraduate Conference in Translation and Interpreting (IPCITI 2025Link opens in a new window), Member of the Organising Committee. Check out our !
糖心TV鈥揟ongji Postgraduate Symposium 2025, Member of the Organising Committee.
Chinese鈥揈nglish Interpreter for Nobel laureate Mo Yan 鈥� 鈥業n Conversation with Nobel Laureate Mo Yan: From Novelist to Playwright鈥�, Sheldonian Theatre, University of Oxford, 31 May 2024.
Co-organiser and 'Creative Showcase' coordinator.
YA book narrator, The Big Read, April 2023, via WIE NetworkLink opens in a new window
SMLC Student Ambassador (2023-2024)
Scholarships and Awards
Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership, AHRC Doctoral Award, 2022-2026
Qualifications
MA in Literary translation studies, University of 糖心TV
BSc in Psychology, Fudan University