Cover not available
Part of
A World Atlas of Translation
Edited by Yves Gambier and Ubaldo Stecconi
[Benjamins Translation Library 145] 2019
► pp. 81–104

Chapter 4
Contemporary views of translation in China

After a brief summary of the classical theories, this report discusses contemporary notions of translation in China with reference to their international and national dimensions. The first section deals with recent conceptualizations that have merged in response to China’s rise as an economic and political power; the concern for promoting outward translations of the Chinese classics in recent years underlines the attempt to “send out” Chinese culture. Section two notes how, in response to the forces of globalization, translation has also been increasingly thought of as language service, the provision of which will allow China to take up a greater share of the worldwide translation market. The final section surveys how translation “manages” the dialectical relationship between the majority language (Chinese) and the minority languages of non-Han communities in the country. Three keywords sum up the turn-of-the-century Chinese thinking on translation: waishu (exportation), canye (industry) and hexie (harmony).
Keywords: cultural exportation, language service, accommodation, globalization, external translation, internal translation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Sending-out, soft power, and translation as cultural exportation
  • 3.Commercialization, market economics, and translation as language service
  • 4.Unity, minority languages, and translation as accommodationist strategy
  • 5.Conclusion: Three keywords
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 5 February 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.145.04cha
References (36)
References
An, Dongyang. 2009. “Qianxi ershiyi shiji Zhongguo fanyi zouxiang” [A Brief Analysis of Translation Trends in China in the Twentieth Century]. Hubei jingji xueyuan xuebao (Renwen xuehui kexueban) 6.7: 143–145.Google Scholar
Beckett, Gulbahar H. and Gerard A. Postiglione (eds). 2012. China’s Assimilationist Language Policy: The Impact on Indigenous/Minority Literacy and Social Harmony. London/New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bian, Yanjie, et al. 2013. Zhongguo Xibu baogao [Western China Report]. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe.Google Scholar
Branchadell, Albert. 2004. “Introduction: Less Translated Languages as a Field of Inquiry.” In Less Translated Languages. Eds. Albert Branchadell and Lovell M. West, 1–23. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cai, Yinhua, Zhang Mi, and Chen Xianghong. 2010. “Guonei fanyi shichang cunzai de wenti ji gaijin cuoshi” [Problems in China’s Translation Market and Methods of Improvement]. Linqu jiaoxue 12: 73–74.Google Scholar
Chan, Leo Tak-hung. 2004. Twentieth-Century Chinese Translation Theory: Modes, Issues and Debates. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cheung, Martha P. Y. (ed.). 2006. An Anthology of Chinese Discourse on Translation, Volume 1: From Earliest Times to the Buddhist Project. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
De Varennes, Fernand. 2006. “Language Rights of Minorities and Increasing Tensions in the People’s Republic of China.” Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law 2: 1–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dwyer, Arienne M. 2005. The Xinjiang Conflict: Uyghur Identity, Language Policy, and Political Discourse. Washington: East-West Center.Google Scholar
González Núñez, Gabriel. 2013. “Translating for Linguistic Minorities in Northern Ireland: A Look at Translation Policy in the Judiciary, Healthcare, and Local Government.” Current Issues on Language Planning 14 (3–4): 474–489. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Han, Enze. 2013. Contestation and Adaptation: The Politics of National Identity in China. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heilbron, Johan and Gisèle Sapiro. 2007. “Outline for a Sociology of Translation: Current Issues and Future Prospects.” In Constructing a Sociology of Translation. Eds. Michaela Wolf and Alexandra Fukari, 93–108. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Information Office of the State Council of the PRC. 2010. “China’s Ethnic Policy and Common Prosperity and Development of All Ethnic Groups.” Chinese Journal of International Law 9: 221–259. DOI logo
Li, Mingjiang. 2009. Soft Power: China’s Emerging Strategy in International Politics. Lanham: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Liu, Lydia H. 1996. “Translingual Practice: The Discourse of Individualism between China and the West.” In Narratives of Agency: Self-making in China, India, and Japan. Ed. Wimal Dissanayake, 1–34. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Luo, Xinzhang. 1984. “Woguo zicheng tixi de fanyi lilun” [China’s Own System of Translation Theory]. In Fanyi lunji. Ed. Luo Xinzhang, 1–19. Beijing: Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Ma, Zengqi and Xin Lili. 2015. “Minzu yizhi yanjiu de wenti yu sikao” [Reflections on the Problems of Doing Research on Ethnic Mentalities]. Chuanbo wenhua no. 4: 22–27.Google Scholar
Macpherson, Seonaigh. 2012. “From Neo-liberal Ideology to Critical Sustainability Theory for Language Policy Studies in the PRC.” In Beckett and Postiglione, 190–206.Google Scholar
Mu, Lei. 2015. “Woguo shaoshu minzu yuyan fanyi yanjiu xianzhuang fenxi” [Analysis of the Current Research on China’s Ethnic Minority Language Translations]. Waiyu jiaoxue yu yanjiu 47 (1): 130–140.Google Scholar
Pennycook, Alastair. 2010. Language as a Social Practice. London/New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Raine, Roberta. 2010. “Minority Language and Translation in Tibet.” mTm 2:35–53.Google Scholar
Ren, Dongsheng and Gao Yuxia. 2014. “Shilun guonei yujixing guojia fanyi shijian—Zhongguo minzu yuwen fanyiju fanyi huodong kaocha” [On China’s National Interlingual Translation Practice: A Survey of the Translation Activities of the Chinese Minority Languages and Translation Bureau]. Minzu fanyi no.3: 36–43.Google Scholar
Sapiro, Gisèle. 2014. “The Sociology of Translation: A New Research Domain.” In A Companion to Translation Studies. Eds. Sandra Bermann and Catherine Porter. 82–94. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shang, Yaning. 2011. “Woguo fanyi canye fazhan: Pingjing yu chulu” [The Development of China’s Translation Industry: Struggles and Solutions]. Qianyan 15: 184–187.Google Scholar
Tan, Jianghua and Wang Xiaoyan. 2009. “Hanyu dianji Yingyizhe de fanyiguan” [The Translation Views of English Translators of the Chinese Classics]. Yuwen xuekan 5: 168–171.Google Scholar
Tsering, Dawa. 2014. “Xin Zhongguo chengli yilai Zangyuyan wenzi zhengce yanbian ji Zangyuwen fanyi gongzuo fazhan xianzhuang yanjiu” [Changes in Tibetan Language Policy since the Founding of New China and Current Developments in Tibetan Translation Work: A Study]. Minzu fanyi 2: 81–87.Google Scholar
Tsung, Linda. 2009. Minority Languages, Education and Communities in China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wei, Qingguang. 2011. “Gaige kaifang sanshinian lai woguo fanyi chuban huodong de shehui dongli jizhi fenxi” [An Analysis of the Social-action Mechanisms of Translation Publishing during China’s Reform Era]. Zhongguo chuban May issue: 7–12.Google Scholar
Yang, Pei. 2010. “Guonei fanyi shichang fazhan qingkuang puxi” [On the Development of China’s Translation Market]. Keji zixun 27: 228–229.Google Scholar
Yu, Shiyi. 2008. “Sinological Translation, Its Methods, and Globalization: How Do Sinological Translators Communicate with Their Potential Readers?” Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 16 (1–2): 39–48. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2007. “Translation as Participation: A Reflection on the Recent Surge of English Translation of Chinese Classics in China.” Neohelicon 34 (2): 91–99. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zeng, Lin. 2013. “Encounter between Languages: Liang Qichao’s Translation and Translingual Practice.” New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies 15: 77–91.Google Scholar
Zhou, Minglang. 2012. “The Contact between Putonghua (Modern Standard Chinese) and Minority Languages in China.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 215: 1–17. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(ed). 2004. Language Policy in the People’s Republic of China: Theory and Practice since 1949. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhou, Minglang and Heidi A. Ross. 2004. “Introduction: The Context of the Theory and Practice of China’s Language Policy.” In Zhou, 1–18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhou, Yaowen and Fang Fenghe. 2004. “The Use and Development of Dai and Its Vernacular Writing Systems.” In Zhou, 201–218.Google Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Wang, Jingui
2024. A Study of Cultural Output in the Translation of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature Based on the Interpretive Structure Model. Applied Mathematics and Nonlinear Sciences 9:1 DOI logo
Diao, Hong
2023. A Survey and Critique of English Translations of Jin Yong’s Wuxia Fictions. In Understanding and Translating Chinese Martial Arts [New Frontiers in Translation Studies, ], ► pp. 49 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 9 october 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.