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
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

Cited by 1 other publications

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 22 march 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.