New trends of Chinese political translation in the age of globalisation

Abstract

This study explores the new features of Chinese political speeches translation in recent periods of Chinese leadership. It argues that the predominant source-oriented view of translation impairs a profound understanding of the intricacy and ideology involved in political translation as an evolving and adaptive practice in the era of globalisation. The aim is to identify the target-oriented features of the texts and discuss their roles in enhancing the level of reception by the target community. The article focuses on the target-oriented ‘translation shifts’ (defined as marked semantic or stylistic deviations) and explores the ideological implications embedded in the shifts. Through a diachronic textual analysis, changes in translation strategies can be perceived along the line of power succession. The data consists of 15 political speeches and their English translations, delivered by Chinese leaders in three successive periods (1970s–2010s). Three types of shifts are ultimately identified and each of these plays a role in communicating with the target communities. The subsequent quantitative analysis of the data confirms that an increasing number of translation shifts are involved in accommodating the target readership, as China is playing a greater part in global affairs.