Finding the translator’s voice: a study of translators’ prefaces to Chinese translations of Christian texts in Hong Kong and Taiwan

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this rare study of Chinese Christian translated publications, 17 sets of translators’ prefaces from Hong Kong and Taiwan in the recent four decades were examined. The communicative purposes of such prefaces were identified with a ‘move analysis’. These prefaces serve five major functions: informative, interpretive, normative, affective and vocative, like most others of this sub-genre, yet with a few unique sub-moves to reflect their special identity. One case was chosen for comparison of the source and target texts to consider whether the claims made by the translator in the preface were substantiated. A questionnaire survey targeting 43 publishers in both regions was also conducted for information on their treatment of freelance translators and their translations, with the aim of providing a substantive picture of the status and image of Christian translators working for religious publishers. It is concluded that the Christian translators deserve much higher visibility by being given a space to speak for themselves in their prefaces.