On Tuesday, December 17, 2024, the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (KFCRIS) held a lecture entitled “Ontological Multiplicity: Rethinking the Problem of Difference in Translation”, delivered by Prof. Lydia H. Liu, a Professor in the Humanities, Modern China, and Cross-cultural Exchange at Columbia University. The lecture was moderated by Dr. Mohammed Al-Sudairi, a Head of Asian Studies Program at KFCRIS and a lecturer in Politics and International Relations of the Arabic-Speaking World at Australian National University.

The lecture discussed how the work of translation raises important philosophical questions about identity and difference. These questions typically range across familiar epistemological, political, and cultural divides (Chinese, Arabic, Western, etc.) that require close scrutiny. For instance, what difference qualifies as difference and why? Using examples from Chinese art and literature which highlight the role of medium, number, and the dialectic of sense and nonsense.  Prof. Lydia Liu reexamined the discursive traditions that render certain ideas of translation legible while occluding others and propose the notion of ontological multiplicity for future theoretical work on translation. 

The lecture is one of the events organized by the UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures, a project implemented by KFCRIS with the support of the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission.