Reproducing Cultural Imagery in Allusions in Political Texts: A Transitivity Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1606.15Keywords:
cultural imagery, allusions, political text, experiential meaning, transitivityAbstract
Transitivity is a lexico-grammatical system for construing experiential meaning through both grammatical structure and lexical choice. This study investigates how the experiential meaning is reproduced in translating cultural imagery in allusions in Chinese political texts, with particular attention given to its structural realization. Drawing on a parallel corpus of 449 instances from Xi Jinping: The Governance of China (Volumes I to IV), it examines how imagery, in translation, is grammatically realized as participant or circumstance through different processes, together with lexical choices. A strong preference is observed for structural equivalence, especially when the imagery conveys universal or ideological significance. Shifts in structural role or process type are employed to clarify abstract reasoning, foreground general principles, or facilitate intercultural understanding. Material and relational processes are predominant, and shifts often signal rhetorical movement between action and evaluation. As to lexical choices, a strong preference is also observed for retaining the original image rather than rendering its sense or omitting it. These results indicate that the selection of imagery reflects the diplomatic principle of proximity, and its retention in translation aligns with harmony-oriented institutional norms. This study offers a replicable model for analysing cultural imagery in political translation from a transitivity perspective.
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