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Article published In: Translation and Interpreting Studies
Vol. 17:2 (2022) ► pp.313–330

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A sociological study of Howard Goldblatt’s English translations of the ideological markers in Mo Yan’s three Chinese novels

 | Beijing International Studies University
Published online: 15 December 2021
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.19047.wu
Abstract
Over the last two decades, ideology has evolved into a major issue in translation studies. In terms of the ideological explorations of translation, previous studies focused on the explicit or implicit ideological manifestations in translated texts, or how translation was used to serve ideology. Studies on the diachronic changes of translator’s ideology, however, remain scarce. This study of Howard Goldblatt’s English translations of three Chinese novels over three different periods finds that translators’ ideology is dynamic rather than static. In their translations, translators may follow the ideology of the source culture or that of the target culture, depending on the relative status of the source culture and the target culture as well as the capital possessed by the author and the translator. A sociological account is provided to explain the changes in translators’ ideology over time.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Mo Yan’s Red Sorghum, Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out, and Frog and Goldblatt’s English translations: A sociological approach
  • Translating ideological markers in Red Sorghum, Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out and Frog
    • Goldblatt’s English translation of ideological markers in Red Sorghum
    • Goldblatt’s English translation of ideological markers in Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out
    • Goldblatt’s translation of ideological markers in Frog
  • A sociological study of Goldblatt’s translations of ideological markers
  • Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
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