Ideological struggle and cultural intervention in online discourse: an empirical study of resistance through translation in China

ABSTRACT

In the contemporary world, resistance in translation is no longer restricted to cultural interventions that strive to counterbalance Eurocentrism and English hegemony. Beyond this, translation also enacts social struggles with multiple ideological implications. Through an analysis of translational creativity in Chinese online discourse, this paper unpacks the interaction between translation, cultural intervention, and ideological struggle in China. Findings show that by improvising the creative and flexible potentials of language and translation, Chinese online users challenge English hegemony by breaking institutionalised linguistic rules and established language boundaries, using English as a cultural resource to articulate Chinese culture. Moreover, creative online discourse challenges social inequality and the elite status associated with English by intentionally misinterpreting English expressions, or by blending European brand names with Internet slangs. Translational creativity also empowers voices against social pressure, environmental pollution, and sexual harassment, thereby playing an instrumental role in social and ideological struggles in contemporary China.

KEYWORDS:

• Translation
• resistance
• China
• Internet
• culture

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Mingming Yuan is currently a Lecturer in the College of Liberal Arts at Shantou University, China. She received her PhD in translation and interpreting from Monash University, Australia. Her research interests include translation and identity, linguistic landscape in translation and global Englishes.

Notes

1 A component of a Chinese character that suggests its pronunciation.

2 A component of a Chinese character under which the character is classified.

3 It is perhaps interesting to note that CNN also created its own Chinese version of #MeToo, #米兔 (mitu, lit. rice, rabbit), integrating 米 (mi, rice), a stereotypical Asian food, in the transliteration. Despite its insensitivity to cultural stereotyping, #米兔was quickly adopted by the Chinese netizens as one of the many alternatives for #MeToo.