Junrui Lai

Junrui Lai will investigate the role of translation in constructing Chinese queer identities.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Arts in English Translation, Sichuan International Studies University – Chongqing, China

Master of Arts in Translation Theory and Practice, Sichuan International Studies University – Chongqing, China

Profile

Junrui Lai is a PhD candidate in Literary Translation Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Junrui will investigate the role of translation in constructing Chinese queer identities and explores the queer identities mainly in the Sinophone and English context since 1990s when the wave of queer theory has begun to influence Chinese minds. This study argues that Chinese queer identities can be found in the construction of sexual desires, bodies and performance with an inter-regional and inter-textual translation flow intensified by the internet. By observing and employing the translation flow based on the formation of neologisms for Chinese queer identities, Li Yinhe’s queer discourse translations, and Chinese queer films, Junrui contends that Chinese queer identities are being progressively formed by sexual desires, bodies and performance, albeit with the compromise of not obtaining full social recognition in a heteropatriarchal society. The significance of this study lies in identifying the intricacy of Chinese queer identity formation with heterogeneity and hybridization, validating the power of translation in shaping cognition, culture and subjectivity toward queer identities, and revealing the views about Chinese politics of gender, desire and subjectivity after the introduction to queer theory.

Supervisors

Publications

Lai, Junrui. Translation Competency Training based on Notarized Documents, Modern Business Trade Industry, pp. 165-167, 2019.

Lai, Junrui (trans.). Edward, Wilson. Letters to a Young Scientist. Beijing: Xinhua Publishing House. 2015.

Lai, Junrui. Cultural Image Translation from the Perspective of Interface Study, Weekly Test, 2014.

Lai, Junrui. Reflection on Higher Translation Education from the Perspective of Teaching Translation and Translation Teaching, Journal of Hubei University of Economics (Social Sciences Edition) 10, pp. 117-118, 2013.