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Article published In: Target
Vol. 33:3 (2021) ► pp.381–409

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The retranslation of Chinese political texts

Ideology, norms, and evolution

 | Huazhong University of Science and Technology
ORCiD logo with link | Shanghai Ocean University
Published online: 12 February 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.20057.pan
Abstract
The past three decades have witnessed an increase in research on retranslation. Drawing on Critical Discourse Analysis, this study examines the retranslation of political texts – specifically Work Reports by the Communist Party of China – as a special genre in its own right. By concentrating on the retranslation of a recurring set of Chinese political concepts, culture-specific items, and preferred usages into English from the early 1990s to the late 2010s, this study shows how and why the retranslations have been carried out, as motivated by the evolving ideologies of the original author – the Communist Party of China. The retranslations are shown to be influenced by the broader social, economic, and political dynamics within China, rather than by prevailing factors within the receiving culture or variables associated with the individual translators, as is commonly suggested in the literature. Our findings add to the existing body of research into retranslation by extending the genres and contexts of retranslation research.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Studies of retranslation
  • 3.Institutional translation of political texts in China
  • 4.Ideology, power, translation, and CDA
  • 5.Data analysis and discussion
    • 5.1Retranslation of political concepts: Evolving ideology within a dynamic social-political situation
    • 5.2Retranslation of culture-specific items and preferred verbs: Changing institutional translation norms within a new ideological milieu
      • 5.2.1Retranslation of culture-specific items
      • 5.2.2Retranslation of preferred verbs
      • 5.2.3Changing institutional norms of translation
    • 5.3A quantitative overview
    • 5.4Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (66)
References
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