The Literary Translation Research Center of Hefei University of Technology (HFUT) takes the university as its home stage, collaborates with other universities in China and strives to make its presence felt in the world literary arena – this is the starting point of the center. With “borrowlism” proposed by Lu Xun (1881-1936) as its guiding principle, the center is committed to advancing literature and translation, promoting traditional Chinese culture, introducing world literature masterpieces by translation, and serving as a cultural ferry-boat between China and the West.
Functioning as a cultural bridge between China and the world, the center aims to promote translation and literary study cooperation between HFUT and its partners so as to facilitate exchanges and cooperation between the university and its counterparts both at home and abroad. It focuses on the translation of Chinese literature, especially Chinese traditional classics, into other languages, and enhances the translation of foreign literature into Chinese as well. Based on the translations already done, it aims to further the study of translation theories. Specifically, the work of the center includes the following: paying attention to theoretical frontiers and development trends of translation circles at home and abroad, and carrying out extensive cooperation and exchanges with international and domestic translation research institutions; actively organizing and carrying out literary translation activities and promoting Chinese literature to the world; breaking the isolation of translation theory that separates itself from practice and promoting integration between translation theory and practice; organizing and publishing translated works in various versions; and organizing or arranging lectures and symposiums featuring literary translation.
The Literary Translation Research Center of HFUT was established in April 2021. Its first director was Professor Hu Zuoyou from the School of Foreign Studies (SFS) at HFUT. Its current director is Li Hai, with Associate Professor Kang Leiming acting as deputy director. Other members include Professor Zhang Xiaoman, Associate Professor Deng Ying, Associate Professor Jiang Min, Associate Professor Yu Yuanyang, as well as several young and middle-aged backbone teachers including Zhao Weixing, Chen Zhenghua, Zhang Wenhui, and Li Xiang.