The metalanguage of translation: A Chinese perspective

Jun Tang
South China University of Technology
Abstract

This paper provides a brief introduction to the metalanguage of translation in China. It also gives an account of the recent domestic anxiety about the uncritical acceptance of Western metalanguages and the discontinuity of traditional metadiscourses. The author contends that mutual understanding between scholars from different academic backgrounds will contribute to a new global academic order that accommodates and incorporates local knowledge of different cultures and marginal metalanguages of various academic communities.

Keywords:
Table of contents

The metalanguage of translation reflects not only the terminological concerns of Translation Studies as an autonomous discipline but also the ideological tendencies of researchers and influences of socio-historical factors. In this sense, it can be examined as one of the socio-historical indicators of a given culture, which contributes to a fuller understanding of the changes and developments in Translation Studies. Since a comprehensive account of the development of the metalanguage of translation in China throughout history proves to be an impossible task, this paper provides a brief introduction to major lines of approach to translation as a basis for further discussions on the pressing issues encountered by Chinese scholars.

Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price. Direct PDF access to this article can be purchased through our e-platform.

References

Benjamin, Walter
2000 “The task of the translator: An introduction to the translation of Baudelaire’s Tableaux Parisiens”, tr>. Harry Zohn. Lawrence Venuti, ed. The Translation Studies reader. London and New York: Routledge 2000 15–25.Google Scholar
Chen, Fukang
1996 Chinese Translation Studies: A theoretical history. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.[ p. 373 ]Google Scholar
Cheung, Martha P.Y.
2004 “A few suggestions for the development of theoretical discourse on translation”. Chinese translators journal 167:5. 3–9.Google Scholar
Feng, Tianyu
2004 “Chinese words of Buddhist origin: Cultural influences of the Wei, Jin, Southern, Northern, Sui, and Tang Dynasties on Eastern Asia history”. 10 May 2004 http://​www​.ricric​.org​/list​.asp​?id​=497Google Scholar
Fu, Yonglin
2001 “Translation Studies paradigms: Transformation, creation and innovation”. Chinese translators journal 149:5. 5–13.Google Scholar
Gao, Ge and Stella Ting-Toomey
1998 Communicating effectively with the Chinese. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Hu, Qingping
1999 “Some problems in the theoretical study of translation”. Chinese translators journal 137:5. 2–5.Google Scholar
Hung, Eva and David Pollard
2004 (1998) “Chinese tradition”. Mona Baker, ed. Routledge encyclopedia of Translation Studies. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press 2004 365–375.Google Scholar
Kuhn, Thomas S.
1970 (1962) The structure of scientific revolutions. 2nd ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Lefevere, André
2001 (1998) “Chinese and Western thinking on translation”. Susan Bassnett and André Lefevere, eds. Constructing cultures: Essays on literary translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press 2001 12–24.Google Scholar
Lin, Kenan
2002 “Translation as a catalyst for social changes in China”. Maria Tymoczko and Edwin Gentzler, eds. Translation and power. Amherst and Boston: University of Massachusetts Press 2002 160–183.Google Scholar
Lü, Jun
What could we learn from deconstructive theories in Translation Studies”. Journal of foreign languages 141:5. 48–54.
Wang, Dongfeng
1999 “Thoughts on research of translatology in China”. Chinese translators journal 133:1. 7–11; 134:2. 21–23.Google Scholar
Wang, Gungwu
2004 “The age of new paradigms”. Keynote speech at the 18th Conference of the International Association of Historians of Asia (IAHA), Taipei, December 2004.Google Scholar
Wang, Hongyin
2003 An interpretation of major writings in traditional Chinese Translation Studies. Wuhan: Hubei Education Press.Google Scholar
Wong, Lawrence
1999 Reinterpretation of “Xin-Da-Ya”: Translation in 20th century China. Shanghai: Orient Publishing Centre.Google Scholar
Yang, Zijian
1999 (1994) “A survey of recent research in translation in China”. Yang Zijian and Liu Xueyun, eds. New views on Translation Studies (1983–1992). 3rd edition. Hankou: Hubei Education Press 1999 1–19.Google Scholar
Zhu, Chunshen
2000 “A critical review of Chinese Translation Studies: Towards a globalised perspective”. Chinese translators journal 139:1. 2–9.[ p. 374 ]Google Scholar