Border-Crossing Australian and Japanese Literature Symposium

Literary exchange enables readers to immerse themselves in unfamiliar worlds, providing an opportunity to engage with thematic dialogues across different cultures and the translation of literary works. Translation, as highlighted by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (2000), is both necessary and challenging, yet it plays a pivotal role in facilitating literary exchange. Through translation, readers gain access to ideas and traditions from cultures beyond their own. This project underscores the significance of literary exchange, including the translation process, in fostering cultural diplomacy and forging connections between specific locations.

To explore the bonds formed through literary exchange and the underlying mechanisms, this project focuses on the growing interest in contemporary Australia-Japan literary exchange as a form of literary border crossing. Specifically, we examine three forms of border-crossing: Japanese literary works with Australia-related themes, Australian literary works with Japan-related themes, and Australian literary works translated into Japanese. Notable examples include Iwaki Kei's Sayōnara, orenji (Farewell, My Orange, 2013), written by a resident Australia-Japanese author, Cory Taylor's My Beautiful Enemy (2013), and the Masterpieces of Australian Contemporary Literature Series. Launched in 2012 with support from the AJF, this series aims to translate Australian literature into Japanese.

The project will bring together general readers, translation industry professionals and literary academics/students from various countries, with an emphasis on Australia and Japan, in a hybrid (face-to-face and online) two-day symposium hosted by the University of Queensland. A small exhibition will accompany the symposium. Presenters and attendees will be invited from across Australia and Japan, with three keynote speakers featured. These are the award-winning author Iwaki Kei; Japanese literary scholar and translator Meredith McKinney, who translated Iwaki’s Sayōnara, orenji as Farewell, My Orange (2018); and Australian studies scholar Yasue Arimitsu, who is the driving force behind the Masterpieces of Australian Contemporary Literature Series. The symposium aims to facilitate dialogue between participants and develop a deeper understanding of the cultural relationships between Australia and Japan.

Please click here to view the exhibition that was held in the Library Foyer during the symposium.