Navigating Cultural Connotations in Translation: Blending Paradigms to Illuminate Diǎngù and Shúyǔ in Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's Government Reports
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1403.22Keywords:
cultural connotations, Diǎngù 典故 (allusions), Report on the Work of the Government, Shúyǔ 熟语 (formulaic expressions), translational deficienciesAbstract
This study delves into the translation challenges of Premier Li Keqiang's Report on the Work of the Government (RWG), a notable piece in Chinese political discourse. It focuses on translating the cultural nuances embedded in Diǎngù 典故 (allusions) and Shúyǔ 熟语 (formulaic expressions) into English to enhance global comprehension. Using an interpretive qualitative methodology, the research identifies deficiencies in translating these cultural connotations from the RWG (2013-2022) and explores their root causes, considering translation strategies employed. It integrates Venuti's theories of domestication and foreignization with Aristotle’s concepts of logos and clarity in style. Thematic analysis uncovers key translation issues: loss of original imagery, disrupted logical flow, and verbose redundancy, primarily due to challenges in maintaining logos and stylistic clarity. The study's significance lies in pinpointing these translational gaps and introducing a novel approach that amalgamates diverse theoretical frameworks, offering unique insights and methods to effectively connect language, culture, and political communication in translation studies.
References
Aina, S., Fang, N. C. Subramanlam, V., & Abdul Ghani, C. A. (2022). Chinese-to-English Translation of Political Discourse: A Feature-Oriented Analysis. Arab World English Journal, 13(2), 205-213. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol13no2.14
Aristotle. (2007). On rhetoric: A theory of civil discourse (Kennedy, George A, Trans.). Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1991).
Bassnett, S., & Lefevere, A. (1990). Translation, history and culture. Printer Publishers.
Baumgarten, S. (2012). Ideology and translation. In Y. Gambier & L. van Doorslaer (Eds.). Handbook of translation studies (3rd ed., pp. 59-65). John Benjamins.
Buden, B., Nowotny, S., Simom, S., Bery, A., & Cronin, M. (2009). Cultural translation: An introduction to the problem, and responses. Translation Studies, 2(2), 196-208. https://doi.org/10.1080/1478170090293773
Chan, Leo Tak-hung. (Ed.). (2004).Twentieth-Century Chinese Translation Theory. John Bajamins.
Chen, J. (2017). On communicative translation of Chinese political discourse. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, (72), 2352-5398. http://doi.org/10.2991/icmess-17.2017.20
Dou, J. Y. (2020). On the translation of classic Chinese quotations in political texts from the perspective of eco-translatology: Taking the governance of China as an Example (Master’s thesis, China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing, China). www.cnki.net. http://doi.org/10.27373/d.cnki.gwjxc.2020.000092
Du, L. J., & Zhang, J. (2019). Doing Something by “translation” in the translation of China’s political discourse. Journal of Jiangxi Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 52(5), 133-139. https://navi.cnki.net/knavi/journals/JXSZ/detail?uniplatform=NZKPT Retrieved May 29, 2022.
Editorial Board of Dictionary of Chéngyǔ 成语. (2021). Dictionary of Chéngyǔ 成语 (2nd ed.). (Version 1.0.30) [Mobile app]. App Store. https://www.qqtn.com/azsoft/672224.html Retrieved March 16, 2022.
Ghazalah, H. (2008). Translations as problems and solutions: A textbook for university students and trainee translators. Dar Al-Maarif.
Graves, R. & Hodge, A. (2018). The reader over your shoulder: A handbook for writers of English prose (2nd ed.). Vintage Books.
Hermans, T. (2003). Cross-cultural translation studies as “thick” translation. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 66(3), 380-389. http://www.soas.acc.uk/literatures/satranslations/Hermans. pdf. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
Huang, B. R., & Liao, X. D. (2019). Modern Chinese Textbook (Vol. 1, 6th ed.). Higher Education Press.
Kang, K. (2020). The meta-functional Equivalence in the English Translation of Chinese Allusions in Xi Jinping: The governance of China (Master's thesis, Huaqiao University, Quanzhou, China). www.cnki.net. http://doi.org/10.27155/d.cnki.ghqiu.2020.000680
Katan, D. (2014). Translating cultures: An introduction for translators, interpreters and mediators. Routledge.
Kraus, S., Breier, M., & Dasí-Rodríguez, S. (2020). The art of crafting a systematic literature review in entrepreneurship research. Int. Entrep. Manag. J., 16(3), 1023–1042. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-020-00635-4
Liu, X. (2022). A Study on translation compensation of culturally loaded words from the perspective of eco-translatology: A case study of China's Government Work Report 2017-2021. Language and Culture Research, (2), 217-223. http://dx.doi.org/10.19954/j.cnki.lcr.2022.02.033
Marshall, C. & Rossman, G. (2016). Designing Qualitative Research (6th ed.). SAGE.
Mu, M. Y., & Liu, Y. (2021). A study of policy translation in foreign publicity discourse from the perspective of Venuti's foreignization translation theory: A case study of the 2021 Government Work Report. Northeast Asia Foreign Language Forum (collection of papers in the second quarter of 2022), (3), 104-110. http://dx.doi.org/10.26914/c.cnkihy.2021.067120
Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (4th ed.). Sage.
Pinkham, J. (2000). The translator’s guide to Chinglish. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Pym, A. (2014). Exploring translation theories (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Qi, K. Y., Chen, Y., & Yang, F. Z. (2021). A study of strategies for translating allusions by President Xi Jinping into English. PR Wold, (4), 57-58. https://kns.cnki.net/kcms2/article/abstract?v=3uoqIhG8C44YLTlOAiTRKibYlV5Vjs7iy_Rpms2pqwbFRRUtoUImHR0yyiZkhsSqBV5I8VZmtaC5DZcPUrG4nHts8DBBMku&uniplatform=NZKPT Retrieved April 22, 2023.
Qiu, D. P. (2018). On strategies for Chinese-English translation of political discourse for global communication: A perspective of national image (Doctoral dissertation, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China). www.cnki.net. https://doi.org/10.27159/d.cnki.ghzsu.2019.001327
Shi, J. J., & Zhao, M. Y. (2020). English Translation of Xi Jinping’s Classic Quotations from the Perspective of Dialogue Theory. Journal of Ningbo University of Technology, 32(2), 42-47. http://doi.org/0.3969/j.issn.1008-7109.2020.02.007
State Language Work Committee. (2019). Translation of political discourse with Chinese characteristics. In Research Report on China's language policy (2018) (pp. 148-170). The Commercial Press.
Strunk, William, Jr., & White, E. B. (1979). The Elements of Style (3rd ed.). Macmillan.
Tan, H., & Xiong, B. (2023). Constructing Chinese cultural identity internationally in translated political discourse: A corpus analysis of the English versions of President Xi Jinping’s international addresses. International Journal of Chinese and English Translation & Interpreting, (3), 1-18. https://doi.org/ 10.56395/ijceti.v2i1.63
Toury, G. (2012). Descriptive translation studies: And beyond. John Benjamins. http://digital.casalini.it/9789027274595 Retrieved February 26, 2023.
Tytler, A. F. (Lord Woodhouselee). (1978). Essay on the principles of translation (3rd ed.). John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/acil.13
Venuti, L. (2008). The translator’s invisibility: A history of translation (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Wang, D. P. (2020). Study on cultural correspondence and translation strategy of China-specific words. Academic Research, (6), 34-40. https://navi.cnki.net/knavi/journals/XSYJ/detail?uniplatform=NZKPT Retrieved October 13, 2022.
Yang, H. Y., & Wang, X. N. (2020). Cognitive understanding in the translation of political terms: A case study of the English translations for the political term “新型大国关系(xīnxíng dàguó guānxì)”. Foreign Language and Literature Research, 6(3), 68-77. http://doi.org/10.16651/j.cnki.fllr.2020.0035
Yu, D. N. (2020). A genre approach to the translation of political speeches based on a Chinese-Italian-English trilingual parallel corpus. SAGE Open, (2), 1-15. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244020933607 Retrieved November 25, 2022.
Zhang, J. (2020). A skopos theory approach to four-character translation in non-literary translation: Taking the 2019 Government Work Report as an example. English Square, (29), 34-35. http://doi.org/10.16723/j.cnki.yygc.2020.01.014
Zhang, T. (2022). A metatheoretical study of Venuti's "foreignization translation" theory. Shanghai Journal of Translators, (2), 18-23. https://navi.cnki.net/knavi/journals/SHKF/issues/6GiNiFAwMHDxEOv_mvAe_bK4LT5GuZdEDG5CmoegxdPOIkqrqtyK-LpGjHnzzs8t?uniplatform=NZKPT Retrieved December 19, 2022.
Zhang, X. P. (2021). A study on the English translation of expressions with Chinese characteristics from the perspective of cultural translation theory: A case study of China’s Government Work Report 2018-2020. (Master's thesis, Jilin University, Changchun, China). www.cnki.net. http://doi.org/10.27162/d.cnki.gjlin.2021.005001
Zhao, J. Y. (2020). Translation analysis of allusions in political documents from the perspective of skopos theory (Master's thesis, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China). www.cnki.net. http://doi.org/10.26991/d.cnki.gdllu.2020.002863
