Translation as cultural diplomacy: a Chinese perspective

ABSTRACT

The People’s Republic of China, since its foundation in 1949, has been at the forefront of strategizing outward translation (translation of works for readers outside of China) as a means of cultural diplomacy. The concept ‘guojia fanyi shijian’ (literally, national translation practice) is being developed by Chinese scholars to analyze state-sponsored translation. This article provides a historical overview of China’s state-sponsored outward translation activities and aims to highlight the conundrum of deploying translation as a means of cultural diplomacy in the Chinese context. The close relationship between the concept of soft power and the Chinese propaganda system not only constrains the creativity and attractiveness of cultural resources, but also predisposes translation projects to prioritize the source culture over the target culture. Based on the possibility of extending cultural diplomacy beyond national interests, this article argues that the Chinese government’s use of translation for cultural diplomacy should draw insights from intercultural communication practices to reinvent the principle of ‘neiwai youbie’ (different approaches to domestic and foreign propaganda work). In particular, the growing international popularity of Chinese online literature, largely translated by fans, is a timely reminder for policymakers to reform their conventional translation policies with the aim of increasing soft power.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural diplomacy
• outward translation
• national translation practice
• soft power
• Chinese online literature

Acknowledgments

I am sincerely grateful to the reviewers and the editor for their constructive comments. I would also like to thank Professor Wu Yun for introducing me to the academic field of translating Chinese literature and culture into English.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mengying Jiang

Mengying Jiang is an Assistant Professor in the program of Applied Translation Studies at BNU-HKBU United International College. Her main research interests are gender and translation; translation and cultural diplomacy; cultural and sociological approaches to translation studies; the role of paratexts in literary translation.