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-Carmona, Dr Qian Liu, and Professor Maureen Freely.
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 2025.
'Creative methods: translating "The New Northeast Chinese Writers Group" from text to audio', The International Postgraduate Conference in Translation and Interpreting (IPCITI 2023).
'Giving voice to my translation: towards a praxis of the literary translator's vocal empowerment' (view my talk here, from 15:10), When I Dare To Be Powerful International Conference 2023.
'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 2023.
Publications
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 2025), Member of the Organising Committee.
2023 Midlands4Cities Research Festival Co-organiser and 'Creative Showcase' coordinator.
YA book narrator, The Big Read, April 2023, via WIE Network
SMLC Student Ambassador (Feb 2023-June 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