Translating CPC orthodoxy with Xi Jinping as its core: the role of the translator in the translation skopos of Zhongguo Gongchandang Jian Shi

Abstract

ABSTRACT 中国共产党简史 (Zhongguo Gongchandang Jian Shi, 2021) constitutes arguably the most important publication of Chinese political discourse to be published in 2021. Translated by a team of translators outside the confines of the institutional Central Compilation and Translation Bureau (CCTB), an examination into key translation tendencies in this work provides an opportunity to depart from the main body of existing scholarly literature which has focussed primarily on institutional translation. This article identifies, however, that the different translational context from that of the CCTB did not result in any evidence of either ideological divergence from the source text or efforts to ‘spruce it up’. Building on this, the article presents the translation skopos of deliberate marking and ‘self-view portrayal’ as being the key priority and vital to supporting honest engagement between China and English-speaking countries, which also somewhat liberates the translator from the fear of being branded a ‘traitor from within or the agent from without’ Tymoczko, 2003:21.