Liang, X. (2019). A Discourse
Analysis of News Translation in China (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351021463 (pp.238)
Discourse
analysis of news translation has drawn the attention of translators, interpreters
and scholars of applied linguistics over the past decades, evolving into a more
methodical subject due to its embeddedness within multidisciplinary approaches.
Liang Xia’s book, A Discourse Analysis of
News Translation in China provides substantial evidence as to the role of
translators in translation studies (TS) and the influence of institutions,
ideology and culture in the process of translation. The author argues that
translators are constrained by institutional authority and culture. Despite the
purported idiosyncrasy of ethnographic approaches, Liang suggests that these actually allow
deeper insights into news translation discourses and the role of translators.
Further, this book touches upon the role of translators, process of linguistic
textual representations, and its product within the cultural paradigms. The
author convincingly argues that manipulation is woven into the warp and woof of
cultural norms and perspectives which in turn influences translators so that
they exploit it at ideological, linguistic or cultural fronts. Therefore, on
account of its expansive coverage of important issues in the field, this book
significantly contributes to the field of TS. The theoretical underpinnings the
book introduces
help explicate the close connections between critical discourse analysis (CDA) and TS. It proposes a model to analyze news
translation from a sociological perspective and highlights the importance of context-based
analysis, foregrounding key components such as linguistic features,
connotations of prevalent discursive practices and tactful maneuvering of power
relations, well-evidenced in translation.
Chapter 1 provides
a comprehensive history of trends in translation. The reader is apprised of the
basic historical developments in the field, from the emergence of primary
translation in 2500 BCE to discourse analysis of news translation in 1960s
(Baker & Saldanha, 2019;
Munday, 2016). Observing that it is a new discipline, the author notes that it
borrows from other disciplines and is based on the theoretical foundations of
Bible and literary translation. This chapter maps the movements which have transformed the field of TS and provides evidence and examples to
substantiate the key arguments put forward therein. While touching upon the
historical background of translation, the author outlines the focus of the
study and briefly mentions news discourses translation through the selected
newspaper Cankao Xiaoxi (CKXX). Three major steps of analysis, namely translation as a product, process,
and dynamic social act in the cultural context, are further highlighted in the
discussion. A comprehensive note on CKXX, historical evolution of the
newspaper, reasons of legitimacy in China and format and features of inner
pages with illustrations are some of the prominent aspects which have been covered
within the chapter.
Chapter 2
discusses the review of literature and its contextual connection with
previously conducted studies pertaining to the TS. It is important to mention that all the
significant gaps within the existing review of literature have been given due
attention. Various phases of TS from the very outset to where it is positioned today as an academic
discipline have been concisely presented. In addition to highlighting the
research gaps, this chapter focuses on
the influence of social, cultural, political and ideological aspects of
translations. The author points out the manipulative nature of translation and notes
that cultural variables determine the discrepancy between the original text and
its translation. The author adds that such discrepancies can often be traced
back to the position and intent of the translator.
Connecting
the argument with the previous chapters, the author explicates a strong link of
TS to CDA in Chapter 3. In this chapter, all the
theoretical connections and general principles of CDA are presented through illustrations.
In particular, the discursive practices of language viewed through Fairclough’s
theoretical framework of CDA and supplemented with the comprehensive framework
of TS are presented. For example, the chapter focuses on Fairclough’s three-dimensional
model of CDA and shows how power emerges in the context of institutional
interaction. In addition, this chapter
presents the connection among CDA, news report and TS. While exploring the role
of CDA, the author discusses how CDA theorizes news, and reveals its
conventions and approaches. Finally, the author suggests that in order to
understand the complexity of translation activities (p. 63), it is essential to
incorporate ethnographic methods into CDA-based translation analysis.
The author’s descriptions
are more intensive in Chapter 4. He presents a method of the study which is
substantiated through the proposed model, i.e. product-process-power which is
the conceptual framework on the study of news translation. All the significant
arguments,
elaborating on how CDA can be used as an approach to analyze news translation
as a social phenomenon, are clearly presented. He further presents a three-dimensional method based on
culture, context and text. This chapter not only illuminates textual discrepancies
pertaining to translation product but also examines the institutional and
sociocultural features of translation process. Drawing upon the contextual relevance,
the author discusses all
factors, particularly the role of press, influencing the translators with respect
to socio-political settings. The author concludes this chapter by reflecting on
the analysis of translation action in terms of social practice so as to
disclose further power relations that might manipulate the information in the
newspaper.
Chapter 5
examines the findings of textual analysis and the basic understandability of
translated news as a product. It further highlights how textual manipulations
occur through the linguistic choices at lexical-grammatical levels and how
changes are made for different contextual settings based on various procedures.
The example presented through the translation of Chinese source is catchier and
interesting and highlights the entire process explicating how changes are made on
the lexical level. It indicates various
translation discrepancies known as manipulation strategies which are commonly
identified through a
comparison of source text with translated text ranging from addition and
subtraction to alteration.
Chapter 6 provides
readers with orientation to news making producers and the holistic translation process.
The commentary on the role of translators in translating news and the mechanism
of translation are succinctly
presented. The interaction of news institutions with other departments has also
been discussed in detail. This chapter also illuminates the role of news
institutions in the development of behavior in the process of translation, putting
forward the argument that translated news is indicative of the behavior of institutions.
However, the major point of discussion in this chapter pertains to the dependence of
news translation on two key components, i.e. “the voice of the institution” and “the voice of
the source”. With the
active involvement of the voice of institution, the voice of source is muted or
suppressed to prevent source information.
Chapter 7
explores the internal logic of the Chinese media system and the motivation of
the manipulators. The author dilates upon the function of manipulation and
describes different ways in which it is employed. It proceeds to the last stage
of the analysis, considering the respective sociocultural and sociopolitical
contexts in which the news translation is produced, and explores how power
relationships manipulate and influence translation practices in China (p. 122).
The author emphasizes that the selection of a text matters a great deal with translators
deciding upon various linguistic strategies to overcome the linguistic problems
in the process of translation. The author further observes that manipulation
ranges from textual adaptation in adjusting the movement of the information to
the multilayered concept of cultural confrontation. Arguing that the role of
press is multifaceted, the author ends by asserting that policies, institutional power, and
cultural influences shape the process of news translation.
The final chapter
summarizes the findings of the research and states that language is an
intricate entity of social life which relates directly to society and social
practice. The author also discusses the product-process-power model in this
chapter and relates it to the properties of decoded text and instances of
conversation, arguing that this is linked to the process of manipulation. The author
notes that text-based analysis helps to show that the manipulation of
contemporary international news transmission is prevalent. The chapter suggests
that news is manipulated, modified and then interpreted to suit specific purposes
that are controlled by powerful groups, ideology and institutions.
The author provides
a comprehensive figure which illustrates the process of manipulation to the
core and highlights how translators exploit some linguistic choices and additive/subtraction techniques to reframe the text framed through
the source text. This suggests that the role of translators is pivotal, given
that they work to fulfil the purpose of the institutions they serve. The author
terms this as “re-contextualization of translated news”. It is pertinent to mention that the manipulation ensues on routine
basis these days where the key influence of institutions on purposive
translations by designated translators cannot be underrated. The translated
text reveals some of the instances exemplifying the translator’s decision-making
process. Here it may be borne in mind that the source text translator is very
different from the translator who is engaged in reading translated news. The
author’s consideration of translators as originative writers suggests a
purposeful and agentive role as they successfully disseminate and tacitly
convey the intended message to readers. The
strength of the book
is that it treats translation as a product, and analyzes the news translation at the textual,
discursive, and sociocultural levels. Another strength of the book is that it
investigates how translation is produced from Faircloughian analysis embedded
within a qualitative approach. The rich display of translation strategies and in-depth analysis of Chinese media on a unique
newspaper make this book singular. The one discernible weakness of the book is
that it
does not provide a systematic and scientific model or typology of the
discrepancies between English source texts and Chinese translations. The author
has adopted a classification of “addition”, “subtraction”, and “alteration” in
order to capture basic changes in the translated texts. However, the
definitions of these three strategies are not clearly presented. For instance, some
changes seem to occur at the lexical level while others occur at the structural
level or even at the discourse level. Therefore, it seems somewhat ambiguous to
calculate the translation shifts on the basis of “occurrences per text of translation discrepancies” (p. 84) alone.
In
conclusion, A Discourse Analysis of News
Translation in China is highly recommended as a very good read for the aspiring
researchers in TS and news
discourse who seek to unpack the implicit intricacies within the subject areas.
This book contains useful resources for students belonging to TS as well as discourse analysis which offers
an all-inclusive hands-on experience of the treatment of the source text in the
target text.
References
Baker, M.,
& Saldanha, G. (2019). Routledge encyclopedia of translation
studies. London: Routledge.
Munday, J. (2016). Introducing translation studies: Theories
and applications. New York: Routledge.
Chao Liu
Beijing Foreign Studies University, China
liu-chao@bfsu.edu.cn
Muhammad Afzaal
Shanghai
International Studies University, China
muhammad.afzaal1185@gmail.com