Paolo MAGAGNIN

Paolo Magagnin is Associate Professor in Chinese language and translation at the Department of Asian and North African Studies of Ca' Foscari University of Venice since April 3, 2020. 

He obtained a MA degree in Translation and Interpreting (Translation - French, Chinese, English) at the Scuola Superiore di Lingue Moderne per Interpreti e Traduttori (SSLMIT), University of Trieste, in 2004. After that, he obtained a MA degree in Technical and Scientific Translation (Chinese, English) at Ca' Foscari University of Venice in 2006. In 2010 he completed his PhD in Languages, Civilisations and Societies (East Asian Studies) at Ca' Foscari University of Venice and Université de Provence of Aix-en-Provence, with a thesis in co-supervision titled L’œuvre narrative de Yu Dafu en italien et en français : spécificités, problèmes et stratégies de traduction. 

He started to teach Chinese language, linguistics, and literature at Alma Mater Università di Bologna in 2010. Since then, he has taught courses in Chinese-Italian literary and specialised translation, Chinese-Italian business negotiation, English-Chinese consecutive interpreting, and didactics of Chinese literature and culture at the Department of Asian and North African Studies of Ca' Foscari University of Venice. He was fixed-term Assistant Professor (non-tenure track) at the same Department from December 2011 to December 2016, and fixed-term Assistant Professor (tenure track) from December 2016 to April 2020. 

He has obtained the National Scientific Qualification for the role of Associate Professor (March 31, 2017) and Full Professor (May 6, 2021) in the scientific sector 10/N3 (Civilizations of Central and East Asia), The Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR).

He has studied and conducted research in the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, first attending Chinese language courses at  Nanjing Normal University (2002-2003) thanks to a scholarship of he Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and later acting as visiting professor at Fu-Jen University (2012) and visiting scholar at Capital Normal University (2013, 2014), Peking University (2015) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2019). 

He is a member of the board of Ca' Foscari School for International Education since January 2018. He is also a member of the editorial committee of the book series Sinica Venetiana and Translating Wor(l)ds of Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, and of the scientific committee of the book series Asiasphere of Atmosphere Libri. Additional memberships include EACS (European Association for Chinese Studies), AISC (Italian Association of Chinese Studies), EST (European Society for Translation Studies), ACCL (Association of Chinese and Comparative Literature), AFEC (Association française d’études chinoises), HKSA (Hong Kong Studies Association), and SHKS (Society for Hong Kong Studies).

He is also a member of the steering committee of the Laboratorio sulla Traduzione delle Lingue Orientali research group at Ca' Foscari University. He was also a corresponding member of the Unité Mixte de Recherche IrAsia (UMR 7306) at CNRS/Aix-Marseille Université.

His research interests include modern and contemporary Chinese literature, translation studies and the theory of literary and specialised translation, contemporary Chinese political discourse, and the didactics of Chinese literature and culture, as witnessed by his extensive scholarly output and participation in national and international conferences. Besides conducting research in these fields, he is also a translator of Chinese fiction: among his published translations are novels by Zhu Wen, Xu Zechen, Xiao Bai, Cao Wenxuan, A Yi, and Chen He.

In addition to his personal page in the Ca' Foscari University website, updates about his work and research can be found in the Facebook pages Paolo Magagnin Unive and Laboratorio sulla Traduzione delle Lingue Orientali.

[Last updated: November 2, 2021]