Evaluative language and gender stereotyping: a case study of the perpetuation of sexism in literary translation

ABSTRACT

Mainstream translation studies of gender issues have not drawn on socio-psychological studies for more meticulous examinations of sexism and gender stereotyping practices. Moreover, they have rarely used the appraisal framework as an analytical tool in their critical discussions. Based on the appraisal framework and some socio-psychological studies, this case study explores the translatorial manipulations of evaluative language, which take the form of linguistic penalties imposed on gender stereotype violators or linguistic rewards granted to conformists. This study analyses two English-Chinese translations of a historical novel that abounds in linguistic evidence of sexism and gender stereotyping. The analysis shows that literary translators may support the status quo of the gender system of their regions and utilise judgements of esteem and sanctions as gender stereotyping practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Evaluative language
• gender stereotyping
• sexism
• appraisal framework
• literary translation

Acknowledgement

I must thank Mr Wu Junjie, who has assisted in the first round of content analysis of the source and target texts. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to one of the anonymous reviewers who has provided inspiring suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Interested readers can access the modern editions at www.shicimingju.com/book/. Most contemporary scholars regard these records as ‘hostile, biased and curiously fragmentary and incomplete’ (Twitchett & Wechsler, 2007[1979], p. 245). This is because they ‘were composed and edited by men who’ viewed Wu Zetian’s dominance of the court ‘as a perversion of nature’ (Lewis, 2009, p. 36).

2 A partial translation by Zhang Zhenyu had first been published in instalments on the supplements of TSSD News, a newspaper based in Kaohsiung.

3 A slightly revised edition was published in the United States in 1965.

4 Official Tang histories provide a different version of the private communication in question. Interested readers can consult details at www.shicimingju.com/book/

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jun Tang

Jun Tang is Ph.D. and Professor of Translation Studies. She is the author of 47 articles (in English or Chinese) and three books (in Chinese) on translation studies. Her English papers have been published by international peer-reviewed journals, including Babel, META, Perspectives, Target, The Translator, Translation Review, The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, and the European Journal of English Studies. She also serves as a peer reviewer for seven international journals.