Twenty-first century Sino-African cultural cooperation

Batchelor, Kathryn

doi:10.4324/9781315229096-5

Cited by 2 publications

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“…It is described as a reciprocal arrangement whereby '"African Cultures in Focus" events will be held in even number[ed] years in China and "Chinese Culture in Focus" in odd number[ed] years in Africa'. 37 In reality, as noted in the context of a study of the 2013 and 2014 programmes, 38 the bulk of activities in both odd and even years involved showcasing Chinese culture in Africa rather than the other way around, and almost all activities were sponsored and organized by China.…”

Section: Analysis Of Chinese Representations Of Africa In Focac Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…for consultation and dialogue' between the PRC and the African countries with whom the PRC has diplomatic relations. 19 Official FOCAC discourse stresses the reciprocal nature of FOCAC agreements at every turn, 20 and as such, the products analysed might be expected to reinforce the themes of mutual benefit and respect in every aspect. As I shall argue, however, there is something of a disjunction between the verbal components of the FOCAC products and their visual content, the latter showing a tendency to repeat the colonial stereotypes criticized by Galafa and others.…”

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Images of ‘Africa’ in China–Africa cooperation

Batchelor

2022

China Information

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The question of who represents Africa and how Africa is represented to global audiences continues to be hotly debated in academic publications and in the media. The majority of these discussions critique Western representations of Africa, or set up the West as the implied Other in debates over Africa’s right to self-representation. In recent years, however, Africa has found itself increasingly represented by the People’s Republic of China. This article examines the visual representations of ‘Africa’ that are used in promotional material produced by China in connection with official China–Africa cooperation. The article finds that one of the dominant stereotypes used by China is that of natural, ‘primitive’ Africa, a stereotype that has historically been strongly associated with the imperial gaze of the West. This is seen as potentially undermining key elements of China–Africa discourse, notably China’s emphasis on respect for its African partners. At the same time, the article highlights similarities between the imperial gaze and the tourist gaze, and considers the possibility that China’s representations of Africa might be compatible with a tourist gaze on Africa.

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Section: Analysis Of Chinese Representations Of Africa In Focac Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Images of ‘Africa’ in China–Africa cooperation

Batchelor

2022

China Information

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“…A number of studies have been devoted to the most prominent of these types of cooperation, the Confucius Institutes (see Gil 2017, King 2013. Other topics which have been the focus of article-length studies include cultural diplomacy (Liu 2008), cultural and sports exchanges in historical contexts (Lefkowitz 2017, Shuman 2017, cultural cooperation in FOCAC Action Plans (Batchelor 2017), and Chinese book donations to Africa (Gilbert 2017). 2018 also saw the launch of a curated dataset on cultural institutes in Africa, encompassing Chinese as well as other actors (Nederhood 2018).…”

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Literary translation and soft power: African literature in Chinese translation

Batchelor

2019

The Translator

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In the context of competing and conflicting discourses about the intensification of relations between China and Africa in the 21 st century, this article explores the potential for gaining insight into China-Africa relations through a study of literary translation activities. The article presents the results of a survey of African literature translated into Chinese between 2000 and 2015 and argues that the majority of the translations can be linked with commercial motivations. However, the article also identifies a number of exceptions to this pattern and investigates these on a case by case basis, taking into account the political connections of the authors and drawing on interviews with the Chinese publishing houses. The article argues that literary translation can be connected with the cultivation of good political relations at the highest levels, as well as with the promotion of Sino-African friendship and of a positive view of China. The article asks whether such translation projects can be, or should be, classified as tools of 'soft power' (Nye 2004), and reflects more generally on the usefulness of the soft power concept for translation studies.

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Twenty-first century Sino-African cultural cooperation

Cited by 2 publications

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Images of ‘Africa’ in China–Africa cooperation

Images of ‘Africa’ in China–Africa cooperation

Literary translation and soft power: African literature in Chinese translation

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