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Bridging the political and the personal : a descriptive study of literary translation in contemporary China
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Wang, Xiulu (2010) Bridging the political and the personal : a descriptive study of literary translation in contemporary China. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b2677650~S1
Abstract
With the development of Descriptive Translation Studies (e.g. Even-Zohar,
1978; Toury, 1995), and more importantly, with the ‘cultural turn’ and the
subsequent ‘power turn’ in Translation Studies (e.g. Bassnett and Lefevere,
1990; Tymoczko and Gentzler, 2002), it is now generally recognized that
translation is not a mere linguistic phenomenon, but a complex social and
political process involving competing values and ideologies.
This thesis aims at presenting a manifold and multifaceted vision of
literary translation in contemporary China, while at the same time, remaining
critically aware of our own positions and perspectives. Derived from the
researcher’s personal experiences in and observation of China’s highly
politicised literary milieu, the current study of literary translation is carried
out from two different perspectives. The first is related to the social and
political dimension of translation, which is concerned with the general
context of translation, translation practices, literary norms as well as the
structures that support them. The second perspective focuses on the more
personal dimension, which is influenced by personalities and dispositions of
the individuals involved in translation.
Moving along the spectrum with political coercion and pressure on one
end and personal decisions and responsibilities on the other, this thesis
asserts that the political and the personal are two sharply different yet
intimately intertwined domains of translation. In conclusion, it is
recommended that future research should place greater emphasis on the
dialectical relationship between lived personal experience and structural
power relations in translation. This emphasis, as is demonstrated in this
thesis, will provide a base for us to recognize the centrality of human agency
and the possibility of resistance through translation, to understand translation
as a site of power struggle and potential change, and finally, to strive for
translation research and practice that is more socially relevant and personally
meaningful.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
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Subjects: | P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics | ||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Translating and interpreting -- China, Translating and interpreting -- Political aspects -- China | ||||
Official Date: | October 2010 | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Kuhiwczak, Piotr | ||||
Extent: | v, 332 leaves : illustrations. | ||||
Language: | eng |
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