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Part of
Key Cultural Texts in Translation
Edited by Kirsten Malmkjær, Adriana Şerban and Fransiska Louwagie
[Benjamins Translation Library 140] 2018
► pp. 185–201

Chapter 11
The immigration of key cultural icons

A case study of church name translation in Macao

The Church is a key icon of Christianity. Journeying to disseminate Christianity eastward, many European missionaries chose Macao as their first stop in China, and built churches for religious practice. To have the new religion recognised by local people, the foreign church names were translated into Chinese. This article surveys church name translation in Macao from the 16th to the 20th century, identifying and comparing the linguistic patterns of original and translated names and the associated translation strategies. I argue that translation plays a crucial role in integrating the immigrated culture into the host culture. In addition, translations of church names reflect social changes and social relationships within the host society.

Keywords: cultural icons, Christianity, translation, church names, Macao
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.An overview of concepts relevant to the translation of church names in Macao
    • 2.1Strategies and methods in cultural translation
    • 2.2CDA: A socio-historical perspective
  • 3.Data and scope of the study
  • 4.Analysis
    • 4.1Church names in English
    • 4.2Church names translated into Chinese
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgement
  • References
Published online: 16 May 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.140.11pan
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Cited by 2 other publications

Akoto, Osei Yaw
2023. Towards a ‘grounding model’ of linguistic landscape through church names. International Journal of Multilingualism ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Akoto, Osei Yaw & Juliet Oppong-Asare Ansah
2021. Towards a Language-Based Typology of Church Names in Ghana. Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology ► pp. 77 ff. DOI logo

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