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Article published In:
Translation and Interpreting Studies
Vol. 14:1 (2019) ► pp.39–60

The fuzzy interface between censorship and self-censorship in translation

 | Shenzhen University | Beijing Foreign Studies University
The present research explores how the self-censoring mechanism is established in the translator’s mind and how this internal mechanism interfaces with external, institutional censorial policies to affect both the process and the outcome of a translation. The paper begins with a discussion of the ubiquitous nature of censorship and how the translator internalizes various coercive censorial forces. Based on detailed case studies of three well-known censorship/ self-censorship-affected Chinese translations – those of Lolita, Animal Farm, and Deng Xiaoping – this research finds that when certain values, ideologies, cultural practices and moral presuppositions become internalized by translators, their censorial behavior is no longer a coerced option but an active choice of their own, and also that there is often no clear dividing line between what is coerced (censoring) and what is one’s own (self-censoring) action in contexts where ‘politically/ culturally sensitive’ source texts are bound to be scrutinized by the censor’s/ self-censor’s eye before they enter the translations market.
Keywords: censorship, self-censorship, fuzzy interface, cultural politics, Chinese context
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • The ubiquitous nature of censorship in translation
  • Self-censorship in translation and the invisible hand of the censor
  • Case study: Three censorship-/self-censorship-affected translations
    • Overview
    • Textual analysis
    • Critical reflections
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 5 April 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.00029.tan
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