Yaqi Xi
About
I am a PhD student in Translation and Transcultural Studies. My research focuses on English translations of contemporary Chinese literature, with particular attention to digital humanities methods. My current PhD project involves translating and audio-remediating contemporary writing from China’s post-socialist, post-industrial northeast. Through this work, I seek to give voice to marginalised communities living amid the industrial ruins, and to those rendered surplus by the extractive logic of post-socialist state capitalism. At the same time, I aim to empower literary translators working in cultural industries by foregrounding creative practices of translation and transmediation. 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—two contemporary authors from Shenyang whose works engage deeply with Northeast China’s industrial past and collective memory—I 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 ‘voice’ 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’s 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 — including original field recordings, performative narration, and experimental sound design — 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
'The Translator’s Voice, Embodied and Embedded: Translating and Audio-Performing Northeast Chinese Literature through body, text, and audio', 11th EST Congress: Leeds 2025Link opens in a new window.
'Creative methods: translating "The New Northeast Chinese Writers Group" from text to audio', The International Postgraduate Conference in Translation and Interpreting (IPCITI 2023Link opens in a new window).
'Giving voice to my translation: towards a praxis of the literary translator's vocal empowerment' (view my talk hereLink opens in a new window, from 15:10), When I Dare To Be Powerful International Conference 2023.Link opens in a new window
'Giving voice to the (still) rusted: translating Chinese "Rust Belt" literature amidst a world-literary system in crisis', School of Modern Languages and Cultures PGR Symposium 2023Link opens in a new window.
Publications
Xi, Y. (forthcoming). 'Audio-Literary Translation As Embodied, Intermedial Practice'. In R. Tanasescu (Ed.), Translation and Intermediality. Routledge.
Ban, Y., 2025. ChorusLink opens in a new window. Translated by Y. Xi. Eunoia Review, 29 March.
Xi, Y., 2025. Territories of Transition: Navigating Trans Embodiment, Identity and Activism in Neoliberal Landscapes.Link opens in a new window In: Crisis and Body Politics in Twenty-First Century Cultural Production. 1st ed. London: Routledge, pp. 128-144.
Fellowships
'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 – '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.
Warwick–Tongji Postgraduate Symposium 2025, Member of the Organising Committee.
Chinese–English Interpreter for Nobel laureate Mo Yan – ‘In Conversation with Nobel Laureate Mo Yan: From Novelist to Playwright’, Sheldonian Theatre, University of Oxford, 31 May 2024.
2023 Midlands4Cities Research Festival Link opens in a new window 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 Warwick
BSc in Psychology, Fudan University