Cover not available
Article published In:
Cognitive space: Exploring the situational interface
Edited by Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow and Birgitta Englund Dimitrova
[Translation Spaces 5:1] 2016
► pp. 38–58

Translate live to generate new knowledge

A case study of an activist translation project

| University of New South Wales

This paper discusses findings of an investigation into the real-life practice of Yuan Tianpeng, a new-generation translator whose work, based on Robert’s Rules of Order, involved translating live as well as publishing a translation. This investigation adopted a qualitative method and analyzed both first-hand and second-hand data, focusing on how Yuan delivered live translation, what strategies he used, and especially how he and his target audiences engaged in the co-production of new knowledge required to drive urgently needed social changes in China. The investigation found that Yuan’s practice constituted a distinct new mode of translation, which is called ‘live translation’ in this paper. In the light of recent development of translation theories, this new mode of translation constitutes an interesting case study for exploring the interface between cognitive and situational levels of translation.

Keywords: situational translation, translation event, translation act, live translation, rules of order, Yuan Tianpeng, intersemiotic translation
Published online: 20 October 2016
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.5.1.03zho
References
Baker, Mona
2006a “Translation and Activism: Emerging Patterns of Narrative Community.” The Massachusetts Review 47 (3): 462–484.Google Scholar
2006b Translation and Conflict: A Narrative Account. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Berghaus, Günter
1995 “Happenings in Europe: Trends, Events and Leading Figures.” In Happenings and Other Acts, edited by Mariellen R. Sandford, 263–328. Oxford: Routledge.Google Scholar
Chao, Yuen Ren
1969 “Dimensions of Fidelity in Translation with Special Reference to Chinese.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 291: 109–130. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chen, Tongkui
2007 “Xiang Luobote Xue Kaihui” [Learn to assemble like Robert]. Xinmin [New People] Weekly 30 (July 27–August 2). Accessed April 8, 2014: [URL].Google Scholar
Fiske, John
1987 Television Culture: Popular Pleasures and Politics. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hall, Stuart
1981 “Encoding/Decoding in Television Discourse.” In Culture, Media, Language, edited by Stuart Hall, Dorothy Hobson, Andrew Lowe, and Paul Willis, 128–38. London: Hutchinson.Google Scholar
1997 Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Hartmann, Reinhard R.K., and Francis C. Stork
1972 Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. London: Longman.Google Scholar
He, Xianxue
2008 “Robert’s Rules of Order.” China Value. Accessed November 12, 2014. [URL].Google Scholar
Jakobson, Roman
1959/2000 “On Linguistic Aspects of Translation.” In The Translation Studies Reader, edited by Lawrence Venuti, 113–18. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kottak, Conrad P
1994 Cultural Anthropology. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Milton, John
2006 “The Resistant Political Translations of Monteiro Lobato.” Massachusetts Review 47 (31): 485–509.Google Scholar
Monaghan, John, and Peter Just
2000 Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Morrissey, Charles T
1998 “On Oral History Interviewing.” In The Oral History Reader, edited by Robert Perks and Alistair Thomson, 107–113. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Munday, Jeremy
2001 Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Nantangdiaochatuan
2014 “Guanyu Noncun Jiceng Zizhi Zuzhi de Anli Yanjiu” [A case of self-autonomy at rural grass-root organizations]. Accessed April 8, 2016: [URL].
Reiss, Katharina, and Hans J. Vermeer
1984 Grundlegung einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie. Tübingen: Niemeyer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Robert, Henry M
1995 Yishi Guize [Rules of Order]. Translated by Hongchang Wang. Beijing: Commercial Press.Google Scholar
2000 Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, 10th edition. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. Google Scholar
2008 Luobote Yishi Guize [Robert’s rules of order]. Translated by Yuan, Tianpeng, and Di Sun. Beijing: Gezhi Publishing House of Century.Google Scholar
Roy, Cynthia
1993 “The Problem with Definitions, Descriptions and the Role Metaphors of Interpreters.” Journal of Interpretation 6 (11): 127–154.Google Scholar
Shang, Xiaoyan, and Ilan Katz
2014 “Missing Elements in the Protection of Children: Three Cases from China.” Journal of Social Service Research 40 (41): 545–559. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shattuck, Harriette R
1891 The Women’s Manual of Parliamentary Law. Boston: Lee and Shepard Publishers.Google Scholar
Slaughter, Jim
2005 “Parliamentary Procedure in the 21st Century: Updated from ‘Parliamentary Procedure in 2005’ in the 2005 The Toastmaster Magazine”. Accessed September 28, 2015: [URL]
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty
1992 “The Politics of Translation”. In Destabilizing Theory, edited by Michele Barrett and Anne Phillips, 177–200. Oxford: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Sun, Di, and Rongqing Zheng
2007 Yishi Guize Daoyin – Gongsi Zhili de Caozuoxing Jishi [Introduction of rules of discussion – handbook of company administration]. Shanghai: People’s Publishing House.Google Scholar
Tymoczko, Maria
(ed.) 2010 Translation, Resistance, Activism. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.Google Scholar
Vermeer, Hans J
1989/2000 “Skopos and Commission in Translational Action.” In The Translation Studies Reader, edited by Lawrence Venuti, 221–232. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Zhai, Minglei
2009 “Luobote Yishi Guize de Nantang Shiyan—Rang Cunminmen Xuexi Luobote Yishi Guize, Xuexi Minzhu Bianlun yu Bioajue” [Robert’s rules of order Trialed in Nantang – Helping Villagers Study Robert’s rules of order and Learn to Debate and Vote Democratically]. Nanfang Zhoumo [Nanfang Weekend] April 2. Accessed April 8, 2016: [URL].Google Scholar
Zhong, Shu-Kong
1980 A Handbook of Translation. Beijing: The Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Zhong, Yong
2005 “Plan-Based Translation Assessment: An Alternative to the Standard-Based Cut-the-Feet-to-Fit-the-Shoes Style of Assessment.” Meta 50 (4).Google Scholar
2006 “Assessing Translators vs Assessing Translations: Discussions and A Case Demonstration.” Translation Ireland (Special Issue: new Vistas in Translator and Interpreter Training) 17 (11): 151–170.Google Scholar
2014a “Education Investment and Underdevelopment: An Atypical Case Study of a Typical Underdeveloped Chinese Village.” Rural Education 2 (11): 7–32.Google Scholar
2014b “Sizhong Dianxing Sichao Zhidao Xia de Fanyi Shijian ji Jieguo Bijiao” [Theories-Guided Translation Practices and Outcome Evaluation].” Chinese Translators Journal 35 (11): 109–115.Google Scholar
Zhou, Zhenhuan
1996 Yingxiang Zhongguo Jindai Shehui de Yibai Zhong Yizuo [One Hundred Translations that Changed Recent Chinese Society]. Beijing: China Foreign Translation.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

Zhong, Yong
2017. Moving Words to Move the Mountain: How Yan Fu Translated for the Purpose of Changing China. In Moving Texts, Migrating People and Minority Languages [New Frontiers in Translation Studies, ], ► pp. 107 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 15 april 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.