"Big Translation" and Cultural Memory

Abstract

“Big translation,”1 a concept developed from the theory of cultural memory, lends insights into the construction and transmission of China’s image and the promotion of translation studies by Chinese scholars to nurture an interdisciplinary paradigm. “Big translation” has a strong interpretative power in the construction of national images from a global perspective, for it aims at overcoming the obstacles brought about by the differences among alien languages, mentalities and cultures, and producing quality translations, which, in turn, can facilitate international communication and cross-cultural exchanges. Under the broad concept of “big translation,” classical and regional resources can be explored synchronically and diachronically. Translation and reinterpretation, language symbols and art images, all coexist and interact with each other. It is in these forms of coexistence and interactions that collective cultural memory plays an important role in the construction of national images.