This study examines the translation and circulation of Portuguese literature in China from 1942 to 2022 using digital methods, integrating Social Network Analysis and Geographic Information Systems to explore patterns in literary exchange. Engaging with debates in comparative literature, it challenges the center-periphery model (Roig-Sanz & Meylaerts, 2018; Roig-Sanz, 2022) by tracing how translation networks have shifted from state-controlled to market-driven structures, from centralized to dispersed publishing hubs, and from collective to individually led initiatives.

Drawing on bibliographic and relational data (Roig-Sanz & Fólica, 2021; Wakabayashi, 2019), this study highlights the mechanisms shaping literary circulation and shows that sustained exchange between peripheral systems depends not only on institutional support but also on the interplay of market forces, educational infrastructure, and translator agency (Heilbron & Sapiro, 2002; Sapiro & Heilbron, 2018). Responding to calls for broader methodological engagement in comparative literature (Wilkens, 2015; Cronin, 2012), it demonstrates how digital approaches can map literary flows beyond dominant cultural centers and reassesses how Portuguese literature has been introduced, disseminated, and adapted in China over the past eight decades.

By examining the evolving structures of literary circulation, this research highlights the role of cultural mediators in shaping translation networks and offers new perspectives on the study of minor literatures across diverse literary systems.

References:

Cronin, Michael. 2012. Translation in the Digital Age. Routledge.

Heilbron, Johan, & Sapiro, Gisèle. 2002. "Outline for a Sociology of Translation: Current Issues and Future Prospects." Literature and Translation: New Perspectives in Literary Studies, 93-107.

Roig-Sanz, Diana. 2022. "The Global Minor: A Transnational Space for Decentering Literary and Translation History." Comparative Literature Studies, 59(4): 631-663.

Roig-Sanz, Diana, & Fólica, Laura. 2021. "Big Translation History: Data Science Applied to Translated Literature in the Spanish-Speaking World, 1898-1945." Translation Spaces, 10(2): 231-259.

Roig-Sanz, Diana, & Meylaerts, Reine (Eds.). 2018. Literary Translation and Cultural Mediators in ‘Peripheral’ Cultures. Palgrave Macmillan.

Sapiro, Gisèle, & Heilbron, Johan. 2018. "Politics of Translation: How States Shape Cultural Transfers." In Diana Roig-Sanz & Reine Meylaerts (Eds.), Literary Translation and Cultural Mediators in ‘Peripheral’ Cultures: Customs Officers or Smugglers? (pp. 183-208). Palgrave Macmillan.

Wakabayashi, Judy. 2019. "Digital Approaches to Translation History." Translation & Interpreting: The International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research, 11(2): 132-145.

Wilkens, Matthew. 2015. "Digital Humanities and Its Application in the Study of Literature and Culture." Comparative Literature, 67(1): 11-20.

This research explores modern Arabic literature through a computational lens, focusing on places—from countries and cities to streets and landmarks—in a corpus of 38 award-winning novels by authors from North Africa, the Gulf, Egypt and Sudan, and the Levant and Iraq published between 1993 and 2017. By employing Named Entity Recognition (NER) to identify these real-world locations and stance detection to assess their portrayal, the study examines how local and global spaces are woven into literary narratives and imbued with diverse cultural meanings.

Our methodology combines quantitative and qualitative approaches. Computational tools (NER and sentiment analysis) reveal patterns in the frequency and distribution of place references, while distant reading strategies offer macro-level insights into how these locations function across the corpus. The findings shed light on the spectrum of attitudes—ranging from nostalgia and cultural pride to critiques of globalization and transnational encounters—and highlight aspects of shared regional heritage as well as unique national contexts.

From a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective, this work underscores how digitization and advanced computational methods expand our understanding of Arabic literary networks, moving beyond traditional close reading to uncover broader thematic resonances. By concentrating on the significance of place, we reveal shifting conceptions of identity, cultural memory, and global interconnectedness in modern Arabic writing. The research also demonstrates how the digital humanities approach can present a clearer picture of the evolving landscape of collective imagination and authorial engagement as it offers fresh insights into the convergences and divergences in the portrayal of “local vs. global” entities in modern Arabic literature.

The proliferation of new internet and communication technologies has given rise to a robust digital Chinese diaspora. My conference paper explores the phenomenon as a novel transnational formation of overseas Chinese communities, operating within an online transnational cultural sphere. These communities, while geographically dispersed beyond Greater China, are unified by shared experiences and concerns, and rely on the Chinese language as their primary medium for communication and public discourse.

Central to this digital diaspora is "self-media," a form of personal media that stands in contrast to official or mainstream media outlets. Self-media has become increasingly influential in the reformation of diasporic Chinese communities and played a pivotal role in reshaping their identity and redefining their relationships with both their countries of residence and their homeland. This shift toward self-media denotes a significant move towards self-representation and community building.

This paper will highlight the preferential use of YouTube and WeChat by the diasporic Chinese, noting the sharp differences in the sociopolitical frameworks and regulatory landscapes of these platforms. The analysis focuses on the diaspora's strategic utilization of these platforms for content production and political activism. This strategy is a testament to their ability to maintain subjective agency within their host nations while concurrently exerting influence on the political discourse of their country of origin.

The strategic use of digital media by the diasporic Chinese signifies a creative and pragmatic approach to navigating the complexities of the digital realm. It is a method that is not only self-serving but also serves the broader interests and objectives of the Chinese diaspora. The paper posits that through such strategic engagement with digital media, the diaspora is carving out a space for political and cultural agency, challenging conventional narratives, and contributing to a reshaped global Chinese identity in the digital age.

Adaptation of fiction carries an aura of its own. Its charisma lies in the artistic reproduction of data communicated through a historical novel. As some critics opine adaptation of literary texts into audio-visual medium may be treated as translation too.In a written work extensive description and dialogue enable a reader imagine a situation and enjoy the beauty of the narrative in print. In film or A.V [Audio-Visual] adaptation with a single shot or collage of images the same is shown, where audience appreciation or reception is immediate and immense. What a bulky printed text carries is communicated through a two hour film casting a spell on the audience. Additions, deletions and interpolations make a film altogether a different mode of creative art. Not all film adaptations are successful. While longevity of a novel is ensured, the appeal of a film is transient and lingers in memory, slowly fading as time passes. Search for fidelity in film adaption of l fiction is an exercise in futility. As in translation, not all details can be carried across the media barriers. But visual depiction is more potent and aesthetically gratifying, depending on the director and the team involved in making a film adaptation. This presentation seeks to throw light on A.V. adaptation of fiction dealing with Indian freedom struggle encompassing works by Indian and British writers.

This study analyses the representation of the ‘stranger’ in literary works by Olha Kobilyanska (1863-1942), a Ukrainian writer at the turn of the 20th century. Kobilyanska was born in the Bukovina region, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day Ukraine), to a minor administration worker and a Polonised German mother. She began her literary career initially in German. The present study focuses on her early German short story ‘Nature’ (1896), which subjects the encounter between different cultures.

The narrative depicts the encounter and subsequent disunion of a young lady from a city and a male Hutsul (an ethnic group inhabiting the Carpathian Mountains). The two primary protagonists personify various dichotomous elements, including gender, urbanity/rurality, and reason/instinct. In this context, both of them appear as 'stranger' to each other, and the story revolves around the encounter and understanding of different cultures.

In this analysis, the concept of the 'stranger' as delineated by Georg Simmel – who made a strict distinction between the 'stranger' and the 'other' – is applied to explore how the protagonists function as mediators between different cultures. Furthermore, this study highlights the ambiguous and unstable nature of Ukrainian identity at the turn of the 20th century, considering the broader socio-political and cultural context of Bukovina under Austro-Hungarian rule.