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Target
Vol. 36:1 (2024) ► pp.112–136

Exploring the motivations of student volunteer translators in Chinese queer activism

A Q-methodological study

ORCID logo | Fudan University,
ORCID logo | Fudan University,
Amateur translators have, on a collaborative and voluntary basis, played a notable role in queer activism, but queer translation studies has paid insufficient attention to them, especially in regions other than the Global North. Through the lens of volunteer motivation studies, this study adopts systemic quality of life theory of volunteer motivation and Q methodology to investigate the motivations of Chinese university students to voluntarily engage in a queer translation project. By probing into the translators’ lived experience and subjectivity, it uncovers various contextually mediated motivations, such as the adaptive pursuit for mental compatibility with the environment, exclusive social integration into a valued community, weakened activism for social change, and conservation of cultural belief stability. It also reveals some obstacles and dilemmas faced by the translators in Chinese queer activism.
Keywords: motivation, volunteer translation, queer activism, systemic quality of life theory, Q methodology
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Queer issues in Translation Studies: The larger context
    • 2.2Volunteer translators’ motivation and queer activism: A possible confluence
    • 2.3Quality of life theory of volunteer motivation
  • 3.The study
    • 3.1Research context and research questions
    • 3.2Methodological design: Q methodology
    • 3.3Data collection and analysis
      • 3.3.1Research ethics
      • 3.3.2Selecting participants (P-set)
      • 3.3.3Development of sample statements (Q-set)
      • 3.3.4Q-sorting
      • 3.3.5Factor analysis and interpretation
  • 4.Findings
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 24 November 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.22059.li
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