Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: David Hayes and Dongxuan Zhao

About the event

Performing the Catholic Church—Roman Missal Translations as Sites of Institutional Negotiation

by David Hayes

Despite the fact that churches and religious organisations such as the American Bible Society have long been recognized as translating institutions (Mossop, 1988), research on institutional translation in the discipline of Translation Studies has concentrated on (inter)-governmental bodies such as the European Commission and the Canadian government’s translation bureau. Anne O’Connor’s PIETRA project (2022–26) on institutional translation in the Catholic Church is moving beyond these confines, although its focus on the Church’s multilingual global communications—from nineteenth-century religious texts to the Vatican’s news websites and X account—excludes liturgical translations.

In this presentation, I argue that the Catholic Church’s (re-)translations of the Roman Missal—its central liturgical text—are part of the liturgy as the Church’s performance of itself. Seen from this perspective, Roman Missal (re-)translations are less a means of disseminating institutional messages than performative acts by which the institution itself is forged. To develop this claim, I use examples from English and French Roman Missal translations and their paratextual framing to show that the Catholic Church’s institutional voice is less uniform and static than might be supposed.

Far from viewing these variations as problematic, I argue that they point to Roman Missal (re-)translations as sites of institutional negotiation in which the Catholic Church performs its spiritual identity. This develops TS-based discussions of Christian sacred-text (re-)translations, first by linking them to conceptual frameworks on translation as performance and, second, by highlighting the paradox of identity, a one-word oxymoron referring both to what is ‘identical to’ and ‘distinct from’.

On this theoretical basis, sacred text translations can be seen not as aiming to preserve meanings intact despite translation but rather to explore their full implications thanks to translation.

Transcultural, Transmedial Re-interpretation of ‘Strategy’ in Modern Contexts: Sunzi Bingfa 孙子兵法 (The Art of War) from Chinese Classic to Graphic Novels

by Dongxuan Zhao

Despite the growing popularity and complexity of comic adaptations of literary texts, academic attention to this field remains limited (Borodo, 2015). These adaptations uniquely combine textual and visual elements, offering opportunities for multimodal communication that influence both creative processes and the translator’s role (Fernández, 2023).

While existing scholarship often focuses on subtitling and visual phraseologisms, the unique challenges of translating comics and graphic novels—where meaning is co-constructed through text and imagery—present distinct challenges and shape reader engagement (Nayar, 2018; Fraser, 2019). My project explores the transcultural and transmedial journey of Sunzi Bingfa (The Art of War), tracing its transformation from Chinese to English and from didactic literature to comics, contributing to current debates on comics translation.

This presentation explores the enduring significance of Sunzi Bingfa (The Art of War) as a foundational text on military strategy and philosophy, examining its historical importance and the role it has played in shaping Chinese strategic culture. With five English graphic novel adaptations, each reflecting distinct interpretations, this seminar will address key issues such as how themes of military strategy, traditional Chinese philosophy, and leadership are visually reimagined, and how the interplay of text and imagery reshapes the ancient didactic elements of The Art of War within modern contexts, which my PhD project will investigate.

About the speakers

David Hayes

David Hayes is a fourth-year, part-time PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, as well as a freelance translator working between French and English. His research focuses on liturgical translation in the Latin-rite Catholic Church, looking in particular at French and English (re-)translations of the Roman Missal. As well as degrees in botany/microbiology and theology, he holds an MA in translation from the Open University (UK). This project is partly funded by the St Matthias Trust (UK).

Dongxuan Zhao

Dongxuan Zhao is a first-year PhD student in Translation Studies, primarily interested in innovative interpreting of Chinese classical texts through the interplay of text and visuals. She served as a Principal Investigator in a Graduate Innovation Program and participated in multiple National Social Science Foundation projects in China. Supervised by Dr Hephzibah Israel, Dongxuan is investigating graphic novel translation, combining her expertise in multimodality with a passion for cross-cultural communication.

How to attend

This event is open to all, and free to attend. No registration is required for attendance in person; you can email Translation Studies colleagues for online joining details.

About the seminar series

Each semester, we welcome a fantastic range of guest speakers and colleagues to present a seminar on their work in translation.

Our seminar series is run collaboratively by staff and postgraduate students, enabling our early career researchers to build networks and experience.

Entry is free and no booking is required. Everyone is welcome.

Are you interested in Translation Studies at Edinburgh?

Providing excellent teaching and supervision, our postgraduate MSc and PhD programmes are among the UK's most comprehensive and flexible. Our expertise covers a wide range of research areas and many languages, of which you can choose to work with two.