The Cantonese translations of foreign plays in the 1980s Hong Kong

Abstract Before the 1980s, the vast majority of foreign plays in Hong Kong were translated into modern vernacular Chinese, which functioned as the dominant written language for most of the population. Since then, however, a small number of translators began experimenting with Cantonese — the primary spoken language of Hong Kong people — as the medium of translation, notably Jane Lai. By the late 1970s, Lai started using Cantonese as the target language for certain translations. In the mid-1980s, another key figure in Hong Kong theater, Rupert Chan, likewise adopted Cantonese in his translations and adaptations of foreign plays. This study takes Jane Lai and Rupert Chan — two of the most representative theater translators in Hong Kong during the 1980s — as case studies to explore three key questions. First, in an era when most foreign plays were translated into modern vernacular Chinese, why did these two translators choose Cantonese as their medium? Second, what were their translation strategies when working in Cantonese? Lastly, how did their translation practices relate to the historical context of 1980s Hong Kong, including the rise of local identity, reflections on the city’s colonial condition, and the broader development of contemporary Hong Kong theater?