Translation Studies as a Young Established Discipline in China

Abstract

About two decades ago, Xu, a leading translation studies scholar in China, claimed that “theoretical research on translation in China lags behind the West by at least twenty years” (Xu in Chin. Transl. J. (1):2–5, 1996, p. 3). The claim soon sparkled a controversy amongst Chinese translation teachers. Many strongly objected the assessment and on the contrary, insisted that translation studies in China has its own strengths, imbued with its own tradition and characteristics, and that it is totally inappropriate to compare translation theories and translation studies in China with those in the West (e.g. Dong in Chin. Transl. J. (6):2–5, 1997, p. 4). The controversy seems to have been settled now to the favor of the latter view. Xu’s claim has not been referred to for years, and translation studies has now become an established discipline, with both Ph.D. and M.A. translation (studies) programs offered in hundreds of universities in China, and considered as a second-tier discipline in the national academic discipline table. This is a settlement, of course, only based on institutional recognition. Academically, there has been no widely known agreement among translation scholars as to whether translation studies in China is now on a par with that in the West. Given such vastly different views as outlined above, we deem it useful to expand the discussions to include both Chinese and Western translation scholars so that a constructive comparison of translation studies in China and the West can be made.