Article In:
Translation in Society: Online-First ArticlesTranslation as retelling
A socio-narrative approach to reframing the narratives of Macao through translator agency
Taking the perspective that translation is a form of (re)narration that participates in (re)constructing social
reality (Baker 2018), this article examines how translation is used as a rigorous means
for mediating meaning, narrativity and cultural representation. Focusing on a case study of Amores do Céu e da Terra:
Contos de Macau (2014), a Portuguese version of the original Chinese prose essay collection Youqing
Tiandi (1991), this article examines the Portuguese version as “reconto” (retelling) to see how the public
(collective) narratives of Macao are reframed by the translators in the target language and culture. The analysis reveals that the
original narratives are reconstructed by the Portuguese translators through their agency at the contextual, textual, intertextual
and paratextual levels. Such reframing has resulted in a new version that reconstructs the public narratives and cultural image of
Macao for Portuguese readers.
Keywords: translation, retelling, reframing, socio-narrative theory, translator agency, Macao
Article outline
- 1.The historical, cultural and public (collective) narratives of Macao
- 2.A socio-narrative approach to translation
- 3.Methodology
- 4.Analysis and discussion
- 4.1Recontextualising narratives through temporal and spatial reframing
- 4.2Reframing narratives through selective appropriation and reformulation of textual material
- 4.2.1Addition
- 4.2.2Omission
- 4.2.3Substitution
- 4.2.4Paraphrasing
- 4.3Reframing through intertextual adaptation
- 4.4Reframing through paratextual mediation
- 5.Conclusion
- Notes
- Author queries
-
References
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