Bridging the political and the personal : a descriptive study of literary translation in contemporary China
With the development of Descriptive Translation Studies (e.g. Even-Zohar, 1978; Toury, 1995), and more importantly, with the âcultural turnâ and the subsequent âpower turnâ in Translation Studies (e.g. Bassnett and Lefevere, 1990; Tymoczko and Gentzler, 2002), it is now generally recognized that translation is not a mere linguistic phenomenon, but a complex social and political process involving competing values and ideologies. This thesis aims at presenting a manifold and multifaceted vision of literary translation in contemporary China, while at the same time, remaining critically aware of our own positions and perspectives. Derived from the researcherâs personal experiences in and observation of Chinaâs highly politicised literary milieu, the current study of literary translation is carried out from two different perspectives. The first is related to the social and political dimension of translation, which is concerned with the general context of translation, translation practices, literary norms as well as the structures that support them. The second perspective focuses on the more personal dimension, which is influenced by personalities and dispositions of the individuals involved in translation.
Wang, Xiulu
P Philology. Linguistics
Bridging the political and the personal : a descriptive study of literary translation in contemporary China. With the development of Descriptive Translation Studies (e.g. Even-Zohar, 1978; Toury, 1995), and more importantly, with the âcultural turnâ and the subsequent âpower turnâ in Translation Studies (e.g. Bassnett and Lefevere, 1990; Tymoczko and Gentzler, 2002), it is now generally recognized that translation is not a mere linguistic phenomenon, but a complex social and political process involving competing values and ideologies. This thesis aims at presenting a manifold and multifaceted vision of literary translation in contemporary China, while at the same time, remaining critically aware of our own positions and perspectives. Derived from the researcherâs personal experiences in and observation of Chinaâs highly politicised literary milieu, the current study of literary translation is carried out from two different perspectives. The first is related to the social and political dimension of translation, which is concerned with the general context of translation, translation practices, literary norms as well as the structures that support them. The second perspective focuses on the more personal dimension, which is influenced by personalities and dispositions of the individuals involved in translation.
bridging political personal descriptive study literary_translation contemporary china development descriptive_translation_studies even zohar toury importantly cultural turn subsequent power turn translation_studies generally recognize translation mere linguistic_phenomenon complex social_political process_involve compete value ideology aim_present manifold multifaceted vision literary_translation contemporary china time remain critically aware position perspective derived researcher personal_experience observation china highly politicise literary milieu current_study literary_translation carry two_different perspective first relate social_political dimension translation concern general_context translation translation_practice literary norm well structure support them second perspective focus personal dimension influenced personality disposition individual_involve translation