With China’s technological advancement and economic prosperity, Chinese Translation Studies has entered a new era. Thus, The Routledge Handbook of Chinese Translation, edited by Chris Shei and Zhao-Ming Gao, is coming out at exactly the right time. The book presents a comprehensive review of current research directions in Chinese Translation Studies, outlines key themes, offers detailed discussions from different perspectives, and points out the future direction of Chinese translation (CT). It is divided into eight parts plus an introduction and index.
Part I begins with Zhu’s historical review of CT, before other contributors examine CT in different academic settings. Zhong surveys global translation programs, Dong discusses the knowledge and skills required for Chinese translators, Song and Fang examine assessment and accreditation issues in both China and Australia, and Shei considers traditional CT approaches vs. new directions.
Part II investigates the linguistic aspects of CT, starting with Sun’s discussion of translatability and untranslatability. Liu examines CT difficulties with regard to the phonological, lexical and phraseological aspects. Sterk moves on to the grammatical artistry of Chinese-English translation. Next, Wang delves into discourse and pragmatics perspectives of CT. The section concludes with Pellatt’s discussion of translation of Chinese paratext and paratext of CT.
Part III focuses on the social context of CT. Firstly, Kung uses the translation of Harry Potter to explore CT. Secondly, Liu expounds on media translation from linguistic, cultural and sociological perspectives. Thirdly, Wong investigates general practice and makes a case study of censorship and translation in Mainland China. Lee then explores how translation in China is “engaged with power structures, involving different kinds of identity and ideology” (254). Chan’s concluding chapter offers a general picture of the CT market.
Part IV explores the process of translation and interpreting. Sun and Wen offer a comprehensive review of the problems, key points and methods in translation process research. Zheng and Xiang give an overview of psycholinguistic enquiries into CT. Next, Kumar reviews Chinese interpreting history and academic practice with some pedagogical suggestions, before Jin examines consecutive interpreting and offers some suggestions for training. Finally, Lai offers a comprehensive review of public service interpreting.
Part V examines Chinese literary translation, starting with Hu’s interpretation of the 1918 Chinese translation of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Fan and Minford then analyze The Story of the Stone’sjourneyto the West. McDougall adopts her personal translating experiences to describe CT in the past 50 years. Pellatt concludes the section by surveying the modern history of Chinese drama and examines the issues, challenges and solutions involved in drama translation.
Part VI includes four essays on translation issues in four specific discourse domains. First, Kuo discusses the various factors that affect subtitling quality. Tsai discusses technical translation and offers strategies for translating patents while Poon investigates the skills involved in legal translation, touching upon issues of sex and gender. Finally, Pritzker examines the translation of Chinese medical texts.
Part VII explores the changes to CT brought about by technology. First, Gao and Chiou discuss how to improve computer-assisted translation. Next, Shih discusses a collaborative mechanism to improve machine translation. Wang and Huang review Corpus-based Translation Studies. In the concluding chapter, Ding and Li propose future directions in technical communication and technical translation.
Part VIII points out some future research directions for CT. First, Guo studies the role of the Chinese translator and agent in 21st century Chinese social activism. Lee examines the unique context and distinctive features of non-professional subtitling. Next, Bai delves into the relationship between translators, patrons and professionals while Chang traces the change of norms in China’s outbound literary translation to illustrate a nation’s ‘auto-image’. Tan concludes the section and the volume with proposed new directions for Chinese Translation Studies, including five fundamental tasks involving in-depth TS research, improvement on the Chinese conceptual and terminological system, expansion of Chinese TS topical areas, enhancement of training and education and broader societal recognition; five major relationships about history, views, practice, theories and profession in translation and TS, and a set of six themes for exploration and outbound strategic cultural initiatives of promoting Chinese literary works abroad.
What strikes me most about The Routledge Handbook of Chinese Translation is its coherent organisation and structure, which takes the reader from theories and methodological models to key studies and finally to future directions. Secondly, it is quite representative of the field, with contributions from thirty-seven leading scholars from several continents who have published widely in the field. Thirdly, with its comprehensive originality and findings, it may “not only put the current CT theory and practice in perspective but also shed light on global translation studies as a whole” (xviii). That being said, I wish to add two minor points of critique. First, little attention is given to localisation which is an important topic in Chinese translation. Second, most essays of the volume rely only on Western translation theory to examine contemporary practice of Chinese translation. To conclude, The Routledge Handbook of Chinese Translation is an impressive sourcebook for students and scholars as well as practitioners of CT.
Hua Song
Minnan Normal University, China
E-mail: 52859906@qq.com