Chapter 10. Flowing to the reception side
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Bei Hu
Abstract
The empirical line of reception studies has staked out new research questions regarding the effects of translation on actual readers. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms of how the translated text flows towards and is received by the target reader remain elusive, notably with respect to attempts to rationalise the individual reader’s decision-making in compromising situations. Drawing on empirical evidence from a quasi-experiment in which a group of 22 readers in Australia responded to various translations of Chinese foreign affairs discourses, this chapter illustrates how a nonlinear trade-off model serves to explain the reader’s ultimate judgements in which linguistic and ethical considerations are weighed against each other. It is found that a pair of two incompatible but desirable expectations is (un)consciously calculated by the reader. The extent to which the translation can be accepted is susceptible to the degree to which the reader trusts the translator.
Abstract
The empirical line of reception studies has staked out new research questions regarding the effects of translation on actual readers. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms of how the translated text flows towards and is received by the target reader remain elusive, notably with respect to attempts to rationalise the individual reader’s decision-making in compromising situations. Drawing on empirical evidence from a quasi-experiment in which a group of 22 readers in Australia responded to various translations of Chinese foreign affairs discourses, this chapter illustrates how a nonlinear trade-off model serves to explain the reader’s ultimate judgements in which linguistic and ethical considerations are weighed against each other. It is found that a pair of two incompatible but desirable expectations is (un)consciously calculated by the reader. The extent to which the translation can be accepted is susceptible to the degree to which the reader trusts the translator.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
-
Part 1. Historical flows
- Chapter 1. A naïve inquiry into translation between Aboriginal languages in pre-Invasion Australia 3
- Chapter 2. The circulation of knowledge vs the mobility of translation, or how mobile are translators and translations? 23
- Chapter 3. A transatlantic flow of Spanish and Catalan romans-à-clef 43
- Chapter 4. Recognition versus redistribution? 69
- Chapter 5. From intersection to interculture 87
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Part 2. Current flows
- Chapter 6. Recirculated, recontextualized, reworked 107
- Chapter 7. Nollywood and indigenous language translation flows 129
- Chapter 8. Maryse Condé and the Alternative Nobel Prize of 2018 149
- Chapter 9. The role of literary agents in the international flow of texts 163
- Chapter 10. Flowing to the reception side 183
- Chapter 11. The tidalectics of translation 207
- Chapter 12. Combining translation policy and imagology 225
- Notes on the authors 247
- Index 251
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
-
Part 1. Historical flows
- Chapter 1. A naïve inquiry into translation between Aboriginal languages in pre-Invasion Australia 3
- Chapter 2. The circulation of knowledge vs the mobility of translation, or how mobile are translators and translations? 23
- Chapter 3. A transatlantic flow of Spanish and Catalan romans-à-clef 43
- Chapter 4. Recognition versus redistribution? 69
- Chapter 5. From intersection to interculture 87
-
Part 2. Current flows
- Chapter 6. Recirculated, recontextualized, reworked 107
- Chapter 7. Nollywood and indigenous language translation flows 129
- Chapter 8. Maryse Condé and the Alternative Nobel Prize of 2018 149
- Chapter 9. The role of literary agents in the international flow of texts 163
- Chapter 10. Flowing to the reception side 183
- Chapter 11. The tidalectics of translation 207
- Chapter 12. Combining translation policy and imagology 225
- Notes on the authors 247
- Index 251
