Diverse Voices In Translation Studies In East Asia

This edited volume showcases essays revolving around diverse translation discourses and practices in China, Korea and Japan. The contributors bring together different areas of expertise, such as the history of translation, political activism and translation, literary translation, transcreation and the translation profession.

This book presents a thoughtful and thorough account of diverse studies on Chinese translation and interpreting (TI). It introduces readers to a plurality of scholarly voices focusing on different aspects of Chinese TI from an interdisciplinary and international perspective. The book brings together eighteen essays by scholars at different stages of their careers with different relationships to translation and interpreting studies. Readers will approach Chinese TI studies from different standpoints, namely socio-historical, literary, policy-related, interpreting, and contemporary translation practice. Given its focus, the book benefits researchers and students who are interested in a global scholarly approach to Chinese TI. The book offers a unique window on topical issues in Chinese TI theory and practice. It is hoped that this book encourages a multilateral, dynamic, and international approach in a scholarly discussion where, more often than not, approaches tend to get dichotomized. This book aims at bringing together international leading scholars with the same passion, that is delving into the theoretical and practical aspects of Chinese TI.

Translation and Literature in East Asia: Between Visibility and Invisibility explores the issues involved in translation between Chinese, Japanese and Korean, as well as from these languages into European languages, with an eye to comparing the cultures of translation within East Asia and tracking some of their complex interrelationships. This book reasserts the need for a paradigm shift in translation theory that looks beyond European languages and furthers existing work in this field by encompassing a wider range of literature and scholarship in East Asia. Translation and Literature in East Asia brings together material dedicated to the theory and practice of translation between and from East Asian languages for the first time.

Voices of East Asia provides significant yet accessible readings in translation chosen to stimulate interest in the long and rich cultural history of East Asia, the countries of China, Japan, and Korea. The readings range from ancient to modern, elite to popular, and include poetry, stories, essays, and drama. Each section begins with a broad but brief overview of that country's political and cultural history. Each reading is preceded by a concise explanation of its literary and cultural context. As expertise in East Asian studies has exploded in the West in recent decades, a novice could be overwhelmed by all the materials available now. In this volume, however, the reader will find a manageable set of texts that may be read on their own, as part of a world literature course, or as supplementary readings for an East Asian history class. As economic and political news from East Asia sweeps across the world, this anthology aims to provide a taste of the enduring traditions upon which contemporary East Asia is built, a glimpse into the hopes and fears, love and sorrow in the hearts of the people behind the headlines. This anthology will be welcomed by students and scholars of Asian history, culture, society and literature.

Two Voices in One: Essays in Asian and Translation Studies is a collection of papers by eight scholars of international standing. Concentrating on what really makes Asian and Translation Studies fascinating and worth one’s while, it opens the reader’s eyes to new horizons, horizons not found in collections or monographs that look at either discipline in isolation. In going through the collection, the reader will see how a translation problem can rear a “yellow-ochre head,” why a Chinese garden can become a source language text, and in what way a commentary can shine with “Multiflorate Splendour.” Emerging from the surreal world, the reader must be prepared, first to have his/her breath taken away by a translation project on a truly grand scale, then to see the difference between the page and the stage, and finally to be amazed by the speed at which computer-aided translation has been developing. With equal amazement, the reader will learn that Chinese can sometimes be more effectively taught, not through Chinese, but through translation, and that the Greek philosopher Aristotle and the Chinese philosopher Mencius are linked, not only by philosophy, but also by translation.

Routledge Handbook of East Asian Translation showcases new research and developments in translation studies within the East Asian context. This Handbook draws attention to the diversity of scholarship on translation in East Asia, and its relevance to a variety of established and emerging fields. It focuses on hitherto less-explored interactions, such as intra-Asian translation encounters, translation of minority languages, and translation between East Asian and non-European languages, while also contributing to a thriving body of historical scholarship on East Asian translation traditions. Contributions reflect a growing awareness of the cultural and linguistic heterogeneity within nations, and the reality of multilingualism and plurilingualism among many communities in East Asia. A wide variety of translatorial practices are discussed, including the creative use of Chinese in Japanese-language novels, the use of translation to evade censorship online, community theatre translation, and translation of picture books. The volume also includes contributions by practitioners, who reflect on their experiences of translation and of developing training programmes for community interpreters. This Handbook will appeal to researchers and students of translation and interpreting studies. Chapters are likely to be of value to those working, not only in East Asian studies, but also disciplines such as literary studies, global cultural studies, and LGBT+ studies.

Translation Studies, one of the fastest developing fields in the humanities since the early 1980s, has so far been Euro-centric both in its theoretical explorations and in its historical grounding. One of the major reasons for this is the unavailability of reliable data and systematic analysis of translation activities in non-Eurpean cultures. While a number of scholars in the Western tradition of translation studies have become increasingly aware of this bias and its problems, practically indicates that the burden of addressing such defiencies and imbalances should be on the shoulders of scholars who are conversant with the non-Western translation traditions and capable of engaging in much-nedded basic research. This book brings together eleven scholars with expertise in different Asian translation traditions, who highlight language and cultural environments as well as perceptions and modes of operation often different from those in the Western tradition. Their contributions enhance our understanding of the various elements that influence the transfer of knowledge across cultures and provide invaluable data for the study of translation as a force for cultural development and cultural planning. Contributors include Eva Hung, Judy Wakabayashi, Lawrence Wong, Yoshihiro Osawa, Teresa Hyun, Keith Taylor, Rita Kothari, Doris Jedamski, Raniela Barbaza and Bill Cummings.

Comprising 11 countries and hundreds of languages from one of the most culturally diverse regions in the world, the chapters in this collection explore a wide range of translation issues. The subject of this volume is set in the contrasted landscapes of mainland peninsulas and maritime archipelagos in Southeast Asia, which, whilst remaining a largely minor area in Asian studies, harbors a wealth of textual heritage that opens to inquiries and new readings. From the post-Angkor Cambodia, the post-colonial Viantiane, to the ultra-modern Singapore metropolis, translation figures problematically in the modernization of indigenous literatures, criss-crossing chronologically and spatially through different literary landscapes. The peninsular geo-body gives rise to the politics of singularity as seen in the case of the predominant monolingual culture in Thailand, whereas the archipelagic geography such as the thousand islands of Indonesia allows for peculiar types of communication. Translation can also be metaphorized poetically to configure the transference in different scenarios such as the cases of self-translation in Philippine protest poetry and untranslatability in Vietnamese diasporic writings. The collection also includes intra-regional comparative views on historical and religious terms. This book will appeal to scholars and postgraduate students of translation studies, sociolinguistics, and Southeast Asian studies.