Missionary as gatekeeper in translation: exploring motivations based on the cases of two missionaries in the late Chinese Ming dynasty (1580s-1640s)

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article investigates the role of missionaries in translation activities during the last six decades of the Ming dynasty in China and explores the motivations from a sociological perspective. The study identifies three ways in which missionaries carried out the act of gatekeeping, including the alteration of book subjects, the selection of collaborators, and the addition of religious texts. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of social practice, the analysis reveals that these gatekeeping behaviours were motivated by the intricate interplay among habitus, field, and capital. The study suggests that missionaries adjusted their habitus to influence the choice of book subjects, carefully selected collaborators to navigate the translation field securely, and incorporated religious texts to enhance their standing in the religious field. Consequently, missionaries functioned as gatekeepers in translation, guided by their habitus and leveraging diverse capitals to advance their position in the social field of the late Ming dynasty, with the ultimate goal of spreading religious culture China.