Cover not available

Article published In: Translation and Interpreting Studies
Vol. 20:3 (2025) ► pp.352–376

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Power dynamics in collaborative translation

A case study of the Yangs’ solo and co-translation

ORCiD logo with link | Shanghai Jiao Tong University
ORCiD logo with link | Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Published online: 5 December 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.22034.yu
Abstract
This article explores the power dynamics in long-term collaborative translation. While power plays an essential role in collaborative translation, the sources and dynamics of power have received limited attention. The present study uses the concept of interdependence and an analytical framework from collaborative governance to examine the case of the Yangs, one of the most prominent co-translation teams in China. The case study analyzes textual and paratextual strategies employed in their co-translations and respective solo translations to identify their individual fingerprints in their co-translations. The study reveals how they obtained, negotiated, and accumulated four sources of power at different stages of their career, how their power relations evolved over time, and what factors may have contributed to the power dynamics between them. This research aims to enrich translation studies with insights into the mechanism of power play in collaborative translation and translators’ agency, autonomy, and empowerment.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Power dynamics and interdependence in collaborative translation
  • The case study
    • The consistency of the co-translation: Literal strategy and invisible co-translators
    • The convergence and the upper hand of the lead translator
    • The divergence and the autonomy of Gladys
  • Gladys’s empowerment and the change of power dynamics
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (77)
References
Anokhina, Olga. 2016. “Vladimir Nabokov and his translators: Collaboration or translating under duress.” In Collaborative Translation: From the Renaissance to the Digital Age, ed. by Anthony Cordingley and Céline Frigau Manning, 113–131. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Booth, Marilyn. 2008. “Translator v. author (2007).” Translation Studies 1(2): 197–211. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cordingley, Anthony, and Céline Frigau Manning, eds. 2017. Collaborative Translation: From the Renaissance to the Digital Age. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dai, Yun-fang. 2021. “Power imbalance in translaboration: A perspective from Chinese translation history.” Neohelicon 48(2): 599–612. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dewulf, Art and Willem Elbers. 2018. “Power in and over cross-sector partnerships: Actor strategies for shaping collective decisions.” Administrative Sciences 8(3): art. 43. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Diao, Hong. 2022. “Homogenized literary co-translation: A Hero Born and A Bond Undone.” Across Languages and Cultures 23(1): 92–110. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldblatt, Howard and Shi Guoqiang. 2014. “Woxingwosu: Ge Haowen and Haowen Ge [I Will Continue in My Own Way: Howard Goldblatt].” Chinese Comparative Literature (1): 37–49.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldblatt, Howard. 2004. “Blue pencil translating: Translator as editor.” Translation Quarterly 33(3): 21–29.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gray, Barbara. 1985. “Conditions facilitating interorganizational collaboration.” Human Relations 38(10): 911–936. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gu, Hua. 1981. Furongzhen [A Small Town Called Hibiscus]. Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1983. A Small Town Called Hibiscus, translated by Gladys Yang. Beijing: Chinese Literature Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Han, Lili. 2012. “Zhulian bihe, herer butong”. [Perfect Harmony, Two in One]. Journal of Hubei Correspondence University 121: 150–151.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Henderson, Kenneth. 1980. “The wrong side of a Turkish tapestry.” Hemisphere 25(1): 32–37.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hill, Michael Gibbs. 2013. Lin Shu, Inc.: Translation and the Making of Modern Chinese Culture. New York: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hou, Yu and Hu Kaibao. 2019. “A corpus-based study of co-translation style of Howard Goldblatt and Lin Li-chun.” Journal of Yanshan University (1): 32–41.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huang, Youyi. 2010. “Hanxuejia he Zhongguo Wenxue de Fanyi — Zhongwai Wenhua Goutong de Qiaoliang].” Chinese Translators Journal (6): 16–17.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huxham, Chris and Siv Vangen. 2000. “Ambiguity, complexity and dynamics in the membership of collaboration.” Human Relations 53(6): 771–806. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jansen, Hanne, and Anne Wegener. 2013. “Multiple translatorship.” In Authorial and Editorial Voices in Translation 1, ed. by Hanne Jansen and Anne Wegener, 1–39. Montréal: Éditions québécoises de l’oeuvre.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jin, Hongyu, and Xu Wentai. 2018. “Gaige Wenxue Shi Ruhe ‘Lian’ Cheng de — Yi Zhang Jie ‘Chenzhong de Chibang’ de Banben Bianqian Wei Kaocha Duixiang [How ‘reform literature’ was forged — A case study of the version changes in Zhang Jie’s Heavy Wings].” Journal of Tianjin Normal University (3): 51–58.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Konca, İrem. 2022. “Translation as ‘transcreation’ through author-translator collaboration.” Istanbul University Journal of Translation Studies 171: 79–93.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lan, Yan. 2010. “Ta Fanyi le Zhengge Zhongguo — Ji Wo Guo Zhuming Fanyijia Yang Xianyi [He translated the whole of China — Remembering our country’s famous translator Yang Xianyi].” Guoxue [Chinese Studies] (1): 30–32.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lane-Mercier, Gillian. 2017. “The role of institutional collaborations in contexts of official bilingualism: The Canadian example.” In Collaborative Translation: From the Renaissance to the Digital Age, ed. by Anthony Cordingley and Céline Frigau Manning, 212–232. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lang, Abigail. 2016. “Contemporary poetry and transatlantic poetics at the Royaumont Translations Seminars (1983–2000).” In Collaborative Translation: From the Renaissance to the Digital Age, ed. by Anthony Cordingley and Céline Frigau Manning, 145–163. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, Leo Ou-fan. 1985. “Contemporary Chinese literature in translation: A review article.” The Journal of Asian Studies 44(3): 561–567. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Letawe, Céline. 2017. “Günter Grass and his translators: From a collaborative dynamic to an apparatus of control?” In Collaborative Translation: From the Renaissance to the Digital Age, ed. by Anthony Cordingley and Céline Frigau Manning, 130–144. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lobejón Santos, Sergio and Francis Jones. 2020. “Creativity in collaborative poetry translating.” Target 32(2): 282–306. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lu, Xun. 1957. Lu Xun Selected Works (Volume 11). Trans. by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1990. Diary of a Madman and Other Stories. Trans. by William A. Lyell. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lv, Mihong. 2002. “‘Zuyi’ yu ‘zhongshi’–《Hongloumeng》 yingyiben bijiao yanjiu [‘Adequate translation’ and ‘faithfulness’: A comparative study of different versions of A Dream of Red Mansions].” Foreign Languages and Their Teaching 71: 61–64.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marin-Lacarta, Maialen and Mireia Vargas-Urpi. 2019. “Translators revising translators: A fruitful alliance.” Perspectives 27(3): 404–418. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McAllister, Daniel J. 1995. “Affect- and cognition-based trust as foundations for interpersonal cooperation in organizations.” Academy of Management Journal 38(1): 24–59. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McCann, Joseph E. and Barbara Gray. 1986. “Power and collaboration in human service domains.” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 6(3): 58–67. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nelson, Debra L. and James Campbell Quick. 2012. Understanding Organizational Behavior. Mason, OH: SouthWestern/Cengage Learning.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Brien, Sharon. 2011. “Collaborative Translation.” In Handbook of Translation Studies 2, ed. by Yves Gambier, and Luc van Doorslaer, 17–21. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Olohan, Maeve, and Elena Davitti. 2017. “Dynamics of trusting in translation project management: Leaps of faith and balancing acts.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 46(4): 391–416. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Orth, Patricia B. and Antony S. Cheng. 2018. “Who’s in charge? The role of power in collaborative governance and forest management.” Humboldt Journal of Social Relations 401: 191–210. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Purdy, Jill M. 2012. “A framework for assessing power in collaborative governance processes.” Public Administration Review 72(3): 409–417. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2016. “The role of power in collaborative governance.” In The Challenges of Collaboration in Environmental Governance, ed. by Richard D. Margerum and Cathy J. Robinson, 246–264. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pym, Anthony. 2020. “Trust-based translation history: Guideline questions and an illustration.” Chronotopos: A Journal of Translation History 2(1&2): 146–160.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Qian, Duoxiu and E. S.-P. Almberg. 2001. “Interview with Yang Xianyi.” Translation Review 62(1): 17–25. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ran, Bing, and Huiting Qi. 2018. “Contingencies of power sharing in collaborative governance.” The American Review of Public Administration 48(8): 836–851. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Saadat, Shabnam. 2017. “Translaboration: Collaborative translation to challenge hegemony.” Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts (3): 349–369. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
St. André, James. 2010. “Lessons from Chinese history: Translation as a collaborative and multi-stage process.” TTR 23(1): 71–94. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stalling, Jonathan and Ronald Schleifer. 2020. “Unpacking the Mo Yan archive.” In A Century of Chinese Literature in Translation (1919–2019), ed. by Leah Gerber and Qi Lintao, 23–40. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Susam-Sarajeva, Şebnem. 2009. “The case study research method in translation studies.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 3(1): 37–56. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trzeciak, Joanna Huss. 2018. “Collaborative translation.” In The Routledge Handbook of Literary Translation ed. by Kelly Washbourne and Ben Van Wyke, 389–406. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vanderschelden, Isabelle. 1998. “Authority in literary translation: Collaborating with the author.” Translation Review 56(1): 22–31. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yang, Gladys (ed.). 1982. Seven Contemporary Chinese Women Writers. Beijing: Chinese Literature Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1980. “A new woman writer Shen Rong and her story ‘At Middle Age’.” Chinese Literature, 101: 64–70.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1980a. “Review on The Story of the Stone.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 43(3): 621–623. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1982. “Preface.” In Seven Contemporary Chinese Women Writers, ed. by Gladys Yang, 5–9. Beijing: Chinese Literature Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1983. “Preface.” In Gu Hua, A Small Town Called Hibiscus, 5–12. Beijing: Chinese Literature Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1985. “Women Writers.” The China Quarterly 1031: 510–517. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1987. “Preface.” In Zhang Jie, Leaden Wings, viii–xii. London: Virago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yang, Xianyi. 1998. “Luetan wo congshi fanyigongzuo de jingli he tihui [On My Experiences and Thoughts from My Translation Work].” In Artistry in Difficulty: Experiences of Renowned Translators, ed. by Jin Shenghua and Huang Guobin, 79–84. Beijing: China Translation and Publishing Corporation.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2002. White Tiger: An Autobiography of Yang Xianyi. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2003. Wo you liangge zuguo: Dainaidie he tade shijie [I Have Two Countries: Gladys Yang and Her World]. Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2003a. “Ciqing kedai cheng zhuiyi [Anecdotes of Gladys Yang].” International Communications 11: 27–29.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. “Wo yu yingyiben Hongloumeng [I and the English Translation of A Dream of Red Mansions].” In One Book and One World, ed. by Zheng Lulan, 1–3. Beijing: Kunlun Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. Yang Xianyi zizhuan [Autobiography of Yang Xianyi], trans. Xue Hongshi. Beijing: People’s Daily Publishing House.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. Yangxianyi duihuaji [Dialogues of Yang Xianyi]. Beijing: People’s Daily Publishing House.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yen, Tunyi. 1957. “Introduction.” In The Courtesan’s Jewel Box, ed. by Feng Menglong, translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang. Beijing: Foreign Language Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yu, Chuan. 2022. Online Collaborative Translation in China and Beyond: Community, Practice, and Identity. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yu, Jing and Liu Xiaoli. 2019. “A study of Gladys Yang’s telling of the Chinese stories in her solo translations of Chinese literature.” Chinese Translators Journal (6): 109–116.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zhang, Huanyao and Ma Huijuan. 2018. “Intertextuality in retranslation.” Perspectives 26(4): 576–592. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zhang, Jie. 1981. Chenzhong de chibang [Heavy Wings]. Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1987. Leaden Wings. Trans. by Gladys Yang. London: Virago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zhang, Man. 2006. “Yangxianyi yu Huokesi de yizhe zhutixing zai yingyiben 《hongloumeng》zhong de tixian [Yang Xianyi’s and Hawks’s Subjectivity in the English Translations of Hongloumeng].” Journal of Sichuan Foreign Studies University 41: 109–113.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zhang, Peiyao. 2003. “Cong huayu de jiaodu chongdu Weiyi yu Linshu heyi de 《heinv yutianlu》 [Translation as Discourse: A re-reading of Wei Yi and Lin Shu’s Chinese translation of Uncle Tom’s Cabin].” Chinese Translators’ Journal 21: 15–20.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zielinska-Elliott, Anna, and Ika Kaminka. 2017. “Online multilingual collaboration: Haruki Murakami’s European translators.” In Collaborative Translation: From the Renaissance to the Digital Age, ed. by Anthony Cordingley and Céline Frigau Manning, 167–191. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zlatnar Moe, Marija, Tamara Mikolič Južnič, and Tanja Žigon. 2021. “Who determines the final version? The roles of translators, language revisers and editors in the publishing of a literary translation.” Across Languages and Cultures 22(1): 14–44. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue