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Article published In: Target
Vol. 37:1 (2025) ► pp.85–116

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Renovation and revision

A case study of the translation-related actor network of the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

ORCiD logo with link | Shanghai Jiao Tong University
ORCiD logo with link | Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Published online: 17 December 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.22125.qin
Abstract
The new millennium has witnessed a widening application of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to the field of Translation Studies, but the interface of ANT and Museum Translation Studies has so far remained underexplored. This article focuses on the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum as a case study. It attempts to construct the translation-related actor network involved in the renovation of the museum in 2015 and the subsequent two rounds of revisions the bilingual guide scripts have undergone. It also explores the bi-directional agential relations enabling the role change of main actors and the general development of the network. This article argues that translation-related ANT analysis should deem translational relations as neither the center nor the end of an actor network, and highlights the significance of nonhuman and non-translational actors in explaining the process of translation production and revision in the context of Museum Studies.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.An overview: Museums, ANT, and Translation Studies
    • 2.1Museums and translation
    • 2.2ANT and Museum/Translation Studies
    • 2.3Two problems of ANT-informed Translation Studies
  • 3.The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum and its renovation in 2015
  • 4.Two rounds of revision and the role changes of actors
    • 4.1Materials: Interviews and guide scripts
    • 4.2The lengthening of translation: From C1/E1 to C2/E2
    • 4.3The shortening of translation: From E2 to E3
  • 5.Conclusion: The complete actor network of SJRM
  • Acknowledgements
  • Conflict of interest statement
  • References
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