Abstract
Systemic functional approaches to translation studies have focused on the parameters of translation equivalence and shift within the hierarchy of realisation. However, translations from the perspective of individuation focus on language users, i.e., the author, translator and reader, involving ideological issues, showing tendentiously the genre, register and free options in a language in accordance with individual factors such as class, gender, age, race etc. to the language user. The present paper looks into one of the most significant individual factors—gender of the translator—in the English translations and re-translations of the Tao Te Ching as a next step into the model of individuation translation by using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The result shows that women translators’ re-individuations are more spoken, while men’s are more written in style, reflecting in three aspect: the choice of words, the choice of syntactic patterns and the choice of mood.
Highlights
Tao Te Ching, as the most frequently translated Chinese classic only next to the Bible, has obtained a widespread and diversified Western audience, appealing to readers on a variety of levels
The present paper looks into one of the most significant individual factors—gender of the translator—in the English translations and re-translations of the Tao Te Ching as a step into the model of individuation translation by using both qualitative and quantitative methods
There are over 130 English translations and re-translations of the Tao Te Ching (Xin, 2008, p. 17), which are classified according to time into three intensified translation periods: The first period (1868-1905), the second period (1934-1963), and the third period (1972-2004)
Summary
Tao Te Ching, as the most frequently translated Chinese classic only next to the Bible, has obtained a widespread and diversified Western audience, appealing to readers on a variety of levels. There are over 130 English translations and re-translations of the Tao Te Ching In the late1960s, Women’s Liberation Movement resulted in a more gender-emphasized society, where “social gender” was unprecedentedly focused on. The first woman involved English translation of the Tao Te Ching was published in 1972 by Gia-fu Feng & Jane English, after which there were several versions translated by women translators on their own, for example, Ellen Marie Chen (1989), Ursula K. The present paper will explore whether translators’ gender will affect their choices of language in translations by using the hierarchy of individuation in systemic functional linguistics
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