A history from below: Translators in the publication network of four magazines issued by the China Book Company, 1913–1923

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article offers a glimpse into the “history from below” of a population of previously uncharted Chinese translators, based on the data drawn from four magazines published between 1913 and 1923 by the China Book Company, an ordinary commercial publisher in Shanghai. Combining methods in historical studies, translation history and network studies with Gephi, the article registers the translators’ presences and connections in the magazines’ publication network that comprises the editors, contributors and their educational, professional, commercial and other social affiliations. The study interprets these presences and connections as a sign of the emergence of a writing public in the periodical press, and translation as a discursive mode of production that popularized the very act of publication in this historical setting. This understanding serves as an alternative to the current translation historiography of early twentieth century China that tends to selectively focalize the “great men” of worldly trends and events.