Book Launch: Finnegans Wake in Mandarin

We are pleased to present a new translation of Joyce's Finnegans Wake into Mandarin, the first complete translation of its kind. This new translation gives an Eastern perspective to Joyce's seemingly unsystematic ideological system. It imitates techniques that Joyce uses in English to produce similar effects in Mandarin. It comes complete with interlinear notes, employs the pictorial characteristics of Chinese characters to add layers to Joyce's word games, makes use of homophony to reproduce his black humour, and draws on a wide range of Asian languages, including Hakka, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese to echo Joyce's own writing style in English.

During this launch event, we will hear about the journey of realising this translation, and its unusual translation strategy. We will also hear readings of some carefully selected passages.

Attendance is available either in-person or online

Sun-chieh Liang earned his PhD in English from SUNY Buffalo, USA, and is currently a Joint Professor at the Graduate Institute of European Cultures and Tourism, and the Department of English at National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan. His areas of specialization include James Joyce, Modern Irish Literature, Derridean Deconstruction, Ethics, and Animality Studies. He has served as the president of the Irish Studies Association of Taiwan and the president of the Comparative Literature Association of Taiwan. His recent publication is the Chinese translation of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, published in 2024.