Translator positioning in characterisation: a corpus-based study of English translations of Luotuo Xiangzi

ABSTRACT

Luotuo Xiangzi, a renowned modern Chinese novel, successfully portrays a young rickshaw puller in Beijing–Xiangzi. Upon its translation into English at the end of World War II, the protagonist aroused much sympathy from American readers. As a best seller in the United States, the novel has been retranslated many times. A contributing factor to its popularity is the creation of the memorable protagonist. The paper investigates the role of translator positioning in constructing the character. It proposes a systematic framework that incorporates Appraisal and characterisation models. An analysis of the Chinese text and three English translations suggests that the positioning or value orientation adopted by the translators plays a significant role in their characterisation and demonstrates how a mixed model can clarify this interaction. Furthermore, the corpus-based method makes it possible to reveal patterns of translator positioning hidden in the translations.

KEYWORDS:

• Luotuo Xiangzi
• translator positioning
• characterisation

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Minru Zhao

Minru Zhao is Lecturer at the School of Foreign Languages of Guangzhou City University of Technology and a doctoral student in translation studies at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research interests include translation studies, discourse analysis, stylistics and narratology.

Dechao Li

Dechao Li is Associate Professor of Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His main research areas include corpuses-based translation studies, empirical approaches to translation process research, history of translation in the late Qing and early Republican periods and PBL and translator/interpreter training.