Dr Saihong Li

Senior Lecturer in Translation Studies

French Stirling

Dr Saihong Li

Contact details

About me

I am a Senior Lecturer in Translation and Interpreting Studies at the University of Stirling. My research interests are interdisciplinary and encompass cultural studies, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, corpus linguistics, and translation studies. My research methods are drawn from the digital humanities. Globally, I am ranked in the top 3.23% in Translation Studies and in the top 23.86% across all academic fields (ScholarGPS: https://scholargps.com/scholars/53900278462097/saihong-li). My specific expertise is interdisciplinary food translation (including tourism) and political discourse translation. I work collaboratively with international researchers (e.g. in Spain, Canada, Denmark and China) with expertise in food studies, aquaculture, nutrition, psychology, political science, and social science. I have been the director of multiple degree programmes in Translation and Cross-Cultural Studies at universities in Britain, Denmark, and China. I have been recently appointed as co-editor of Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice (https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rmps20), and as guest editor of The Translator (https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rtrn20/current). I am also on the editorial boards of several journals, such as International Journal of Chinese English Translation and Interpreting (https://ijceti.at-journals.com). I am a reviewer for publishers such as Routledge and a reviewer and a panellist for the AHRC and ESRC funding councils. I have also worked as a freelance interpreter and as a pharmaceutical business consultant in China, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark before I joined Stirling.

Brief Biography

2013 –Lecturer in Translation Studies (2013-2015); Senior Lecturer in Translation/Interpreting Studies (2015 -), University of Stirling.

2019 –Honorary Professor, School of Foreign Languages, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, China

2017 –2022Visiting Professor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

2010 –2013Lecturer in Translation and Interpreting, Chair of Research Ethics Committee at College of Art and Social Science (2011-2013), University of Salford, UK

2006 – 2010 PhD stipend & Part-time Lecturer, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

2004 – 2009 Lecturer (external) and Programme Director, Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark 1997 -2004 Lecturer (1997-2001); Associate Professor of Linguistics (2002-) at Dalian Maritime University, China.

I have been invited to deliver over 100 talks and keynotes globally since 2013. Please see selected ones below:

Dr Li specialises in interdisciplinary digital humanities translation studies and cross-cultural studies. She was awarded a PhD at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) in 2019. Her doctoral research focused on comparative studies in Translation and Lexicography, working with English, Chinese, and Danish. Her international working and research experiences in China, Denmark, and Britain have straddled diverse cultures, languages, and disciplines. Her research philosophy is to strive for theoretical innovation and to embed this within projects that bring practical benefits to industry and society. Her research seeks to enhance our understanding of human health, animal health, and the environmental eco-system from the perspective of language and translation. Her research interests are focused in four main areas that interlink:

1)FOOD (AND TOURISM) TRANSLATION: INTERDISCIPLINARY AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES Dr Li’s food (and tourism) translation research addresses food-related translation research and scholarship from international and interdisciplinary perspectives. Language and translation have an essential function in the production and reception of texts that circulate in Food (and tourism) Studies and in global food security, food trade, and tourism. They are also crucial to the shaping and circulation of food narratives. The increasing demands and the ethical and environmental challenges of global food security and the food trade indicate that there is a compelling need to address multilingual communication within different foodscapes from perspectives in Translation Studies. This is because distinctive symbolic and cultural values characterize the preparation and consumption of different foods in various religious and social contexts, and also because food is a system of communication that can be used to exchange knowledge, to promote social values, and to reaffirm personal and ethnic identities in today's globalised postmodern world.

2)BUILDING TOWARDS ONE (DIGITAL) HEALTH FROM TRANSLATION AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES

One Health (https://www.who.int/health-topics/one-health) – the human, animal, and environment ecosystem – has emerged as an important framework for understanding and enhancing human, animal, and environmental health for aquatic and terrestrial systems. Different cultures and languages emphasise different aspects of food and food production such as quality, cultural value, environmental sustainability, and animal health and welfare. This imposes challenges on communication regarding the globally traded food production and resources on which much of the developing world depends for exports and food security. Working with colleagues from aquaculture, nutrition, social science, psychology, and food studies, Dr Li uses a cross-institutional and interdisciplinary approaches to identify the cultural and linguistic knowledge gaps around One Health, such as food perception and food consumption, and to examine how food concepts are translated and assimilated into public health, animal welfare, and environmental policies.

3)HUMAN HEALTH: INTERPRETERS’ AND TRANSLATORS’ MENTAL HEALTH

By using experimental research, notably multimodal technology such as eye-tracking, electroencephalogram (EEG), (Galvanic Skin Response) GSR and (Heart Rate) HR which she developed after her PhD research at the University of Copenhagen, Dr Li has received several funding awards to carry out projects such as Studying Interpreters’/Translators’ Mental Health. The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between the level of an interpreter’s / translator’s cognitive load, their stress levels, their mental health, and their interpreting strategies, particularly in crisis communication situations.

4)POLITICAL AND CULTURAL DISCOURSE TRANSLATION

Dr Li’s political and cultural discourse translation research explores the complexities of conveying and mediating contemporary politico-cultural discourse from Chinese to Western contexts and vice versa. One key element of cultural discourse concerns food, its origins, and also its geo-political uniqueness as part of each nation’s identity in an era of globalization. Recent research indicates that translation is often invisible in certain political and cultural fields, and therefore Dr Li is conducting research on the role of translators in the process of representing and re-contextualising political and cultural discourse.

Award

Outstanding Collaborator Nomination, 2022, 2023, 2024

Outstanding Research Leadership Nomination, Stirling Research Culture Award 2022, 2023, 2024

Outstanding Research Mentor, Stirling Research Culture Award 2022,2023,2024

2023 Rate Award Winner of Outstanding Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

European Crucible 2022 Award

Inspirational Women Awards
Winner of 2023 Inspirational Women Awards

One Thousand Overseas Chinese Elite Award

Overseas Chinese Outstanding Scholar Award

Rate Award Winner of Best Supervisor of the year 2022

Community Contribution

Executive Council member, Chartered Institute of Linguists

Visiting Scholar-PhD-HNU Covid-19 community

Consultancy

Consultant, AVOICE (Against Violence to Overseas Chinese Women Program), a youth-led NGO
https://www.linkedin.com/…%E7%9B%AEavoice/

Divisional / Faculty Contribution

Programme Director: MSc in Translation Studies with TESOL

Programme Director: MRes in Translation Studies

Divisional Chief Examiner

Programme Director: Stirling-HNU joint degree programme

Event / Presentation

‘Studying Interpreters’ Stress in Crisis Communication: Evidence from Multimodal Technology of Eye-Tracking, Heart Rate, and Galvanic Skin Response', Invited Speaker
Peking University

‘Translating Food Culture and Society within Chinese Contexts’ at International Chinese-English Translation Theory and Practice Forum - Keynote Speaker
Southeast University

'A Parallel Approach to the Study of Political Translation in Chinese Contexts', International Symposium on Globalization: Challenges for Translators and Interpreters - Keynote Speaker
Jinan University

'Food Narratives in Feminist Translation', Hong Kong and Macau Postgraduate Symposium on Translation Studies - Keynote Speeker
University of Macau and Lingnan College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Jinan University

'Food Translation in Conversation' - Invited Speaker
University of Oxford

'Interpreters' training in Crisis Communication' , Translation, Interpreting and Cognition Panel, Where Are We Now? The Location of Modern Languages and Cultures - Panel discussion and Plenary Speaker
Durham University
https://bcla.org/…9-21-april-2023/

'The Pedagogical Entrepreneurial Approach to a Master’s Degree in Translation Studies’, International Symposium on SLA-based Language Pedagogy - Keynote Speaker
University of Macau and Lingnan College, University of Hong Kong and Jinan University

Translating (and Rewriting) Jane Austen’s Food Across Time and Space, International Knowledge Exchange Forum - Keynote Speaker
Zhejiang University of Technology

Translating Food Terminology as Cultural and Communicative Processes - Invited Speaker
Lancaster University

External Examiners and Validations

University of Leicester
University of Leicester

External Examiner
Swansea University

PhD Viva
Durham University

PhD Viva
University of Leeds

PhD Viva
Queen's University Belfast

PhD Viva
University of Leicester

Other Project

Conflict in Xinjiang: Aims and Consequences of Language Policy in Western China - PI
The British Academy

Study of Chinese-English Translation : Use of Eye-tracking technology, The Vice Chancellor’s Early Career Scholarship at Salford - PI
University of Salford

Global English Communication Gap - Funded by Carlsberg Foundation, Co-I with Professor Per Durst-Anderson
Copenhagen Business School

This research investigates whether the use of business interpreting into English is always effective — in accuracy, in rhetoric, in idiom — in business negotiations.

Contemporary Chinese-English Corpus: algorithm and its application in text feature selection - Co-I with Professor Yonghe Lu
Sun Yat-Sen University

Discourse Analysis Technology for Dialogue Machine Translation - Co-I with Dr Xiaojun Yang
Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China

Multilingual Eco-tourism in China - Co-I with Professor Qin Liu and Professor Yueming Rong
Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences

Biodegradable wearable wireless Peizoelectric Nanosensors for personalised Motor-neuro rehabilitation, European Crucible Project Fund - Co-I with Dr Dr Aruna Ivaturi

Legacy of Minority Languages, Culture and Translation in Hainan: Past and Present with Professor Haiyan Ma
Hainan University

Political Discourse Translation in Chinese and Western Contexts - Co-I with Professor Roberto Valdeón
University of Oviedo and Southeast University

Food and Translation: International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives - Co-I with Prof Adrián Fuentes-Luque & Dr Renée Desjardins
Universidad Pablo de Olavide

Cross-cultural Adaptation, Translation and Interpretation of Shakespeare's Theological Ethics from Page to Stage

British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant (£10,000) Co-I with Dr Jenny Wong (University of Birmingham)

Engaging with One Health: Translating perceptions around aquatic and terrestrial animal consumption in Vietnam and China
https://onehealth-stirling.webador.co.uk/
2023 NERC (Natural environmental Research Council) Discipline Hopping Grant (£18, 486.19), Principle Investigator (PI)

Professional membership

Member of British Association of China Society (BACS)
bacsuk.org.uk

Member of European Society for Translation Studies
https://est-translationstudies.org

Member of Institute of ITI (Institute of Translation and Interpreting)
https://www.iti.org.uk

Member of UKRI Peer Review College
http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/peerreview/college/

Professional qualification

Chartered Linguist (CL); Fellow (FCIL), The Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL)
https://www.ciol.org.uk/member-check/profile/50573/11921

HEA Senior Fellow
Higher Education Academy

Research programmes

Research centres/groups

Research themes