Macao, Macaoness, Macanese: Literary Translation and Cultural Identity in Contemporary Macao (1980-2018)

A former Portuguese colony, Macao possesses a rich cultural repertoire that has informed its distinctive, hybridized cultural identity, a fundamental, defining characteristics of Macaoness. The Macanese ethnic group, a result of hybridization, is the perfect embodiment of the notion of Macaoness. Prevailing public discourses and narratives on Macao and the Macanese have been deeply concerned with the issue of cultural identity, which is perhaps best reflected in the literature of contemporary Macao, where the cultural identity in question is in constant (re)construction through the contesting power dynamics and relations between the self and the other. Literary translation as a form of cultural production is therefore used as a strategy for mediating and (re)constructing such discourses and narratives about Macao, Macaoness and Macanese. The present research is a descriptive study of the relationship between literary translation and cultural identity. Situating the production of literary translation within the specific context of contemporary Macao between 1980 and 2018, the present research draws on interdisciplinary approaches to conceptualize literary translation as a socio-culturally situated practice from product-, process- and participant-oriented perspectives. Through mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative analyses, combined with bibliographic, case study and ethnographic methods, the present research presents a comprehensive, systematic study with a diachronic survey of the field of literary translation and three synchronic, illustrative case studies where mediation, negotiation and (re)construction of Macao and Macanese cultural identities can be seen evident through the different translation strategies and solutions by the translators in textual mediation. Such decision-making behaviours are governed by the norms and the habitus of the agents of literary translation. It is hoped that the present research could shed light on the important role of literary translation as cultural production in the socio-cultural dynamics and contribute to the cross-cultural understanding of Macao.