Chapter 10. Impact of power relations on news translation in China
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Liang Xia
Abstract
Global news transmission relies on language and particularly on the services of translation. Decision making exists in every step of the translation process, for instance, from the text selection to the discursive expression, and from information transference to culture communication. This study examines the translation practice of news in Cankao Xiaoxi (Chinese: 参考消息), the most read Chinese daily run by the Chinese government that collects various news or information from international media, translates and reprints them in Chinese. This study outlines various powers that underline text manipulation in this state news agency and explores the impact of power relations on both the process and the product of news translation. Combining an ethnographic approach with a critical discourse analysis of news translation, this study investigates the institutional contexts and human agencies involved in the news making process, which lead to the manipulation of the news production. This study reveals that various powers determine how to shape the already shaped news via translating and that network of power relations underlying news translation in China is hierarchical. This hierarchy of power relations affords both macro and micro-analytical perspectives on the realisation of manipulation in news translation in China.
Abstract
Global news transmission relies on language and particularly on the services of translation. Decision making exists in every step of the translation process, for instance, from the text selection to the discursive expression, and from information transference to culture communication. This study examines the translation practice of news in Cankao Xiaoxi (Chinese: 参考消息), the most read Chinese daily run by the Chinese government that collects various news or information from international media, translates and reprints them in Chinese. This study outlines various powers that underline text manipulation in this state news agency and explores the impact of power relations on both the process and the product of news translation. Combining an ethnographic approach with a critical discourse analysis of news translation, this study investigates the institutional contexts and human agencies involved in the news making process, which lead to the manipulation of the news production. This study reveals that various powers determine how to shape the already shaped news via translating and that network of power relations underlying news translation in China is hierarchical. This hierarchy of power relations affords both macro and micro-analytical perspectives on the realisation of manipulation in news translation in China.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors ix
- Chapter 1. Researching the Chinese language and discourse 1
- Chapter 2. The distribution of null subjects in Chinese discourse 11
- Chapter 3. Conversational narrative marker 37
- Chapter 4. Windows of attention and the polysemy of V-kai 59
- Chapter 5. The acceptability of 把 ba +subject-oriented resultatives in Mandarin Chinese 73
- Chapter 6. Gender representation in Chinese language 101
- Chapter 7. Understanding stancetaking through gestures and linguistic practices in a public political debate in Hong Kong 119
- Chapter 8. Representations of Pinkunsheng in China’s university media 147
- Chapter 9. Language resources of Yunnan in “the Belt and Road” project 167
- Chapter 10. Impact of power relations on news translation in China 177
- Chapter 11. Translating puns in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland 195
- Chapter 12. Translation and re-narration of Nainai 219
- Name index 229
- Subject index 231
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors ix
- Chapter 1. Researching the Chinese language and discourse 1
- Chapter 2. The distribution of null subjects in Chinese discourse 11
- Chapter 3. Conversational narrative marker 37
- Chapter 4. Windows of attention and the polysemy of V-kai 59
- Chapter 5. The acceptability of 把 ba +subject-oriented resultatives in Mandarin Chinese 73
- Chapter 6. Gender representation in Chinese language 101
- Chapter 7. Understanding stancetaking through gestures and linguistic practices in a public political debate in Hong Kong 119
- Chapter 8. Representations of Pinkunsheng in China’s university media 147
- Chapter 9. Language resources of Yunnan in “the Belt and Road” project 167
- Chapter 10. Impact of power relations on news translation in China 177
- Chapter 11. Translating puns in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland 195
- Chapter 12. Translation and re-narration of Nainai 219
- Name index 229
- Subject index 231
