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Article published In: Babel
Vol. 63:1 (2017) ► pp.3–20

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Exploring the traces of translation

A Chinese perspective

 | Huazhong University of Science and Technology
 | Yangtze University
Published online: 11 July 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.63.1.02xu
Abstract
Translation traces embrace a wide range of inheritance forms in cultural production practices. Pseudo-originals disclose a kind of literary creation pattern which is a partial or full cross-lingual plagiarism of a text by a predecessor or a contemporary from another language-culture. Well-known quotations in a foreign language are frequently employed by speakers or writers via impromptu translating or memory-based appropriation from an available translation. These translated quotations may well be imitated by text producers to derive a large number of variations in the target culture. Plagiarisms or borrowings are also seen in retranslations of great world classics. As two largely uncharted territories, indirect translation and back translation make translation traces too weak to be located. The inheritance of translation beliefs indicates various genealogies, such as husband-wife genealogy, father-daughter genealogy and so on. Research on the origins of translative memes, their morphology and typology of transmission as well as their mutative reasons may create a new area for Translation Studies.
Résumé
Les traces traductives englobent toute une série de formes d’héritage dans les pratiques de production culturelle. Les pseudo-originaux dévoilent une sorte de schéma de création littéraire qui est un plagiat interlinguistique partiel ou total d’un texte d’un prédécesseur ou d’un contemporain d’une autre culture linguistique. Les citations célèbres dans une langue étrangère sont fréquemment utilisées par des orateurs ou des auteurs via une traduction impromptue ou une appropriation, basée sur la mémoire, d’une traduction disponible. Ces citations traduites peuvent être imitées par des producteurs de textes pour obtenir un grand nombre de variations dans la culture cible. On observe également des plagiats ou des emprunts dans les retraductions de grands classiques mondiaux. Étant donné qu’elles sont toutes deux des territoires largement inexplorés, la traduction indirecte et la traduction inverse rendent les traces traductives trop faibles pour qu’on les repère. L’héritage des croyances en matière de traduction indique différentes généalogies, telles que la généalogie mari-femme, père-fille, etc. La recherche sur les origines des mèmes translatifs, leur morphologie et la typologie de leur transmission, ainsi que les raisons de leur mutation, pourrait créer un nouveau domaine dans la traductologie.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Research methodology
  • 3.Pseudo-originals and the mutation of the original
    • 3.1Pseudo-originals
    • 3.2Cross-lingual quotations
    • 3.3The mutation of the original
  • 4.The haunting of earlier translations in retranslating
    • 4.1Borrowing of earlier translations
    • 4.2Indirect translation
    • 4.3Special forms of retranslation
  • 5.Genealogies in dissemination of translation theory
  • 6.Discussion and implications
    • 6.1The morphology of memes
    • 6.2The typology of transmission
    • 6.3Mutative categories and reasons
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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Xu, Mingwu & Chuanmao Tian
2020. A case study of translation norm dynamics: a Chinese perspective. Perspectives 28:5 ► pp. 659 ff. DOI logo

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