Content uploaded by Qijun Song
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Qijun Song on Mar 10, 2024
Content may be subject to copyright.
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rcrc20
Critical Arts
South-North Cultural and Media Studies
ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcrc20
Ideological Mediation: Metaphor Shifts in
Translating the Communist Party of China’s
Centenary Speech
Qijun Song & Junfeng Zhang
To cite this article: Qijun Song & Junfeng Zhang (08 Feb 2024): Ideological Mediation:
Metaphor Shifts in Translating the Communist Party of China’s Centenary Speech, Critical Arts,
DOI: 10.1080/02560046.2024.2303431
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2024.2303431
Published online: 08 Feb 2024.
Submit your article to this journal
View related articles
View Crossmark data
Ideological Mediation: Metaphor Shifts in Translating the
Communist Party of China’s Centenary Speech
Qijun Song
a,b
and Junfeng Zhang
a
a
School of Foreign Languages, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China;
b
School
of International Studies, Guangdong University of Education, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China
Abstract
Under the guidance of Ideological Square Model, this paper
conducts a critical metaphor analysis of the metaphor shifts in
translating the Communist Party of China’s centenary speech. The
results demonstrate that (1) six types of metaphors are identified
in the ST and while all the types are kept, shifts do occur in the
TT; (2) cultural considerations and linguistic representations
engendering the metaphor shifts are subjugated to and mediated
by the ideological kernel of presenting a desired CPC Self-image;
(3) the Chinese traditional philosophy of He (harmony) is a
feasible complement to the Ideological Square Model in making
sense of particular metaphor shifts in translating Chinese political
discourse into a foreign language. The study observes that
Chinese political translation is often institutional translation. It is
argued that metaphor shifts, in this translation context, are
ideologically motivated, culturally mediated, and linguistically
configured collective endeavours. Chinese political translation, as
compared to the traditional view of translation as an ST-bound
transference, is an ideologically determined, source-philosophy-
channelled, and image-building-oriented verbal activity that
conforms to China’s national interests.
KEYWORDS
Metaphor shifts; metaphor
translation; ideological
square model; CPC’S
centenary speech; Chinese
political discourse;
institutional translation
Introduction
Translation shifts, defined by Catford (1965, 73) as “departures from formal correspon-
dence in the process of transferring from the SL (source language) to the TL (target
language)”, have long been a lens through which semantic configuration (Osimo 2008;
Li and Li 2015), pragmatic dynamics (Wang 2009; Fotheringham 2017), and multimodal
framing (Chueasuai 2013; Qian and Feng 2020) in translation are observed and analysed.
To make these shifts possible, translation methods and techniques such as adaptation,
omission, and amplification are applied (see Zhang and Pan 2009). These shifts, together
with the enabling methods and techniques, can also be seen in translating metaphors.
Then, are there any shifts in translating metaphors that can be called metaphor shifts?
Simply put, when A is expressed with B, we can say it is a metaphor in use. Other than
this, interpretations of metaphor differ among scholars in terms of its identification
© 2024 Critical Arts
CONTACT Junfeng Zhang zjfeng@cug.edu.cn School of Foreign Languages, China University of Geosciences,
Lumo Road 388, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
CRITICAL ARTS
https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2024.2303431
criteria, working mechanism, and intended functions. Metaphor has been treated as a rhe-
torical ornament (Aristotle 1995, 21; cited in Chilton 2006, 63), a mechanism that explains
how incongruent language forms function lexically and syntactically as a powerful lexico-
grammatical meaning-making potential (Halliday 1985), and a category-based, domain-
crossing, cognitive phenomenon (Lakoffand Johnson 1980). Consequently, metaphor
has been respectively labelled as a rhetorical device, grammatical metaphor, and concep-
tual metaphor. Taking metaphor in use as a cognitive event where one thing is employed
to interpret and express another by mapping the source domain onto the target domain,
we now attempt to give a tentative definition, in Catford’s vein, of metaphor shift in trans-
lation as departures from source domain correspondence in the process of transferring
from the ST to the TT. These departures include substitution and cancellation.
By substitution, we mean replacement and/or modification of a metaphoric form in ST.
Replacement denotes the scenario where a TT metaphoric form capable of invoking a
similar source domain is chosen while modification occurs when there is a somewhat
different TT form capable of invoking a desired TT source domain. Substitution may be
viewed as translators’meticulous efforts to mediate between two heterogeneous cultural
communities with due attention given to TT idiomaticity to ensure an invocation of a
certain intended TT source domain. One case in point is “硬骨头”(literally, hard bone),
a distinctive Chinese metaphoric term alluding to tough issues and challenges China con-
fronts. It was substituted through replacing “bones”with “nuts”in the English version of Xi
Jinping: The Governance of China II (Xi 2017, 133). Another example can be seen in the first
volume: the Chinese version “胸中要装着…” (literally, it is necessary to load the chest
with …,) was substituted with an idiomatic metaphoric expression “keep our eye on
…”(Xi 2014, 328). The substitution was achieved by modifying the original bodily experi-
encer from the original “胸”(chest) in the ST to the “eye”in the TT. In these two examples,
substitution, via replacement and modification respectively, was employed in achieving
metaphor shifts for invoking a familiar conceptual frame among TT readers.
By cancellation, we mean an ST metaphoric form is removed in TT. This removal may
stem from a pursuit of conciseness, idiomaticity, or a by-pass translatorial act for overcom-
ing cultural incompatibility that hinders evocation of an intended source domain. For
instance, “高举社会主义旗帜”(literally, hold high the socialism banner) was translated
into “uphold socialism”(Xi 2017, 360) without any reference to the metaphoric form
“旗帜”(banner) for succinctness and idiomaticity. Similarly, another example from the
same book is the phrase “不敢越雷池一步”(literally, dare not cross the line of the
thunder pool, not even one step), which is a Chinese allusion implying excessive conser-
vatism. In the translation of this phrase, the metaphoric term “雷池”(Leichi, thunder pool)
was deleted in the TT –“lack the courage to step beyond the limits”(Xi 2017, 134) –to
avoid invoking an exotic source domain.
Metaphor shifts feature cognitive and ideology-laden operations, yet it has received
little attention in political translation. Research on shifts in political translation falls into
two categories: shifts that are found in machine-identifiable lexicogrammatical items
and those observed in context-dependent ideology-hidden lexicogrammatical items.
Machine-identifiable lexicogrammatical items are often terms, collocations, and construc-
tions that are easily identifiable and retrievable with a corpus tool, such as personal pro-
nouns (Pan, Fu, and Li 2023), self-references (Gu and Tipton 2020), develop* concordances
(Gu 2022a), and present perfect constructions (Gu 2018). In contrast, context-dependent
2Q. SONG AND J. ZHANG
and ideology-hidden lexicogrammatical items usually require meticulous manual identifi-
cation and categorization, for example, ideologically salient verbs (Pan, Kim, and Li 2020)
and appraisal epithets (Li and Hu 2021; Li and Pan 2020). Although divergent in research
objects, these two strands of research converge in finding these objects indicative of insti-
tutional translatorial manoeuvers via shifting. Take China-related studies for example,
those shifts reflect a broader socio-political context where a major power skilfully instils
its ideological considerations into discourse for stance-taking (Wang and Feng 2018), dip-
lomatic mediation (Li and Hu 2021), and image presentation (Yu and Wu 2017).
Few studies have discussed shifts concerning metaphor translation in political dis-
course, especially in the Chinese institutional translation context. In this study, we take
the Lakoffian perspective and focus on conceptual aspects of metaphor use and trans-
lation. With our tentative definition of metaphor shift, we deem metaphors and their
shifts in translation as cognitive devices and powerful lexicogrammatical resources.
Bearing this perspective in mind, we seek to examine metaphor shifts in translating the
Communist Party of China’s (hereafter CPC) centenary speech into English. After compar-
ing and contrasting the deployment of metaphors in ST and TT in terms of quantity and
type, the examination will be focused on providing a socio-political account of metaphor
shifts in the TT. To address the particularities of those shifts, we draw on the Ideological
Square Model proposed by van Dijk (1998;2006) and refined by Li and Pan (2020). Based
on our analysis, we contend that the traditional Chinese philosophical element of He (和,
harmony) should be incorporated into the model for a better account of metaphor shifts
in translating Chinese political discourse.
Ideological square model: a critical discourse analysis enlightened
framework
Ideological Square Model (ISM) will be taken in scrutinizing metaphor shifts in our data.
ISM features dichotomies of Us vs. Them and Ingroup vs. Outgroup, which have been
employed to examine ideology-laden discursive patterns (Apirakvanalee and Zhai 2022;
Ghauri and Umber 2019). The reason of adopting ISM lies in the ideological prominence
and textual property of Xi’s CPC Centenary Speech and its English version. We take ISM as
a guide, rather than a rule, due to its explanatory power and expanding capability. Next,
we will describe the course we followed in identifying ISM as a guide.
As a critical and analytical perspective on discourse analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis
(CDA) investigates the interplay between discourses and their embedded socio-cognitive
or socio-political contexts (van Dijk 2015). Employing various approaches, ranging from
the discourse-historical approach to the dialectical-relational approach, CDA effectively
unveils concealed ideologies within discursive devices that might otherwise be taken
for granted. The cognitive and ideological facets of metaphor shifts in our data require
a specific focus on Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) in conjunction with the Ideological
Square Model. The integration of CMA and ISM in a CDA fashion is deemed necessary
because a critical cognitive perspective centred on the construction of conceptual
meaning in discourse, which in turn contributes to an ideologically informed understand-
ing of discursive practices and events (Hart 2017), better serves our research purpose.
Another reason for the integration is that the critical cognitive perspective should not
be neglected as it has the potential to connect micro-analysis of cognitive linguistic data
CRITICAL ARTS 3
with macro-analysis of the social aspects of translation. This integration is beneficial in
that it lends a cognitive lens to a systemic functional approach (Wang and Feng 2018)
for a critical investigation of conceptual structures and processes to reveal underlying,
translation-guiding patterns of beliefs and values. Among various analytical approaches
applying this perspective, metaphor analysis is “the earliest and most recognized
application of cognitive linguistics in cognitive discourse studies”(Hart 2017, 80) and
serves as an important starting point for studying ideology from a cognitive aspect
(Koller 2014).
For studies involving CMA from a CDA perspective, ISM is particularly powerful in high-
lighting potential ideological impacts on translation, because the translators in our case
study are institutional professionals. As representatives of the government, they may stra-
tegically employ cognitive and discursive resources to frame an event and legitimate an
idea. In this model, ideologies are socio-cognitively defined as “foundational beliefs that
underlie the shared social representations of specific kinds of social groups”(van Dijk
2006, 120). Of note is that the concept of ideology, as used in this context, is neutral
and not inherently pejorative. It is characterized by a prominent dichotomy between
Self and Other, representing ingroup and outgroup respectively. From an ingroup per-
spective, self-serving becomes the guiding principle that drives social activities through
the dominant ideology (van Dijk 1998). Discursively, positive information about Us and
negative information about Them tend to be emphasized or made salient, while negative
information about Us and positive information about Them are often suppressed or neg-
lected (ibid.). In other words, ideological discourse typically presents a positive portrayal
of Self (boasting) and a negative depiction of Other (derogation) (van Dijk 2006).
The model’s mediative nature is often seen in institutional translators’manoeuvers as
they have to weigh various possible frames that may be invoked and interpreted by a
target audience. They are entrusted with the task of comprehending the delicacies and
nuances of political values and stances before mediating and representing them with
chosen discursive devices to serve national interests or, at the very least, to avoid undesir-
able misunderstandings and impertinent schematic associations. In their study on
mediated and shifted appraisal epithets found in translating the Work Reports and
White Papers since the year of 2000 into English, Li and Pan (2020) further refine the Ideo-
logical Square Model by distinguishing two layers of the model: the superficial layer and
the deeper layer. According to their analysis, the negatively shifted image presented
superficially is linked to the Chinese government’s self-serving principle at a deeper
level. Their findings draw our attention to metaphor shifts in translating Xi’s CPC centen-
ary speech and facilitate our discussion of the balance between the superficial and deeper
levels from the perspective of the Chinese philosophy He.
Data and research design
The Communist Party of China was founded on July 1st, 1921. On July 1st, 2021, Chinese
President and CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a speech on Tiananmen Square,
commemorating the 100th anniversary of CPC. The speech recapitulates the history of
founding CPC and the contributions CPC made by leading the Chinese people to the
founding and development of the People’s Republic of China. In the speech, political phil-
osophies, achievements, and prospects of CPC were elucidated at length. Good traditions
4Q. SONG AND J. ZHANG
of CPC, such as perseverance and solidarity, are advocated for realizing the Chinese
dream. The speech was chosen as our primary source because it not only traces and
justifies China’s development but also maps out the future vision for this second
largest economy in connection with other major powers in the world. A wide range of
international media covered the momentous celebration and produced numerous
reports and news headlines. Given the inherent political significance and international
attention, the speech and its official TT are indicative of ideological constituents that
deserve investigation under the guidance of ISM.
The speech was published by the People’s Publishing House and then translated into
six languages by the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Commit-
tee (formerly known as the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau). Since the speech
was delivered for a highly political occasion and the publishing and translating insti-
tutions are official government organizations, political stance and language quality of
the Chinese version and its translations are guaranteed.
1
We take the Chinese speech
(7269 Chinese characters) and its English version
2
(5256 English words) as the data of
this study.
The study addresses the following research questions regarding metaphor translation
with CMA and ISM from a CDA perspective:
(1) Do the patterns of metaphor deployment in the ST and the TT show significant quan-
titative differences in terms of number and type?
(2) What types of metaphors are shifted in the TT compared with those in the ST and how
and why are they shifted via translation?
Data collection constitutes identification and tagging of metaphors, which was trian-
gulated by two bilingual analysts for improved reliability. When there was a disagreement
between the two analysts, a third analyst was included to reach a consensus. The analysts
were trained in metaphor identification and data tagging. To explore the metaphor shifts
in the translation, a list of the metaphors in the ST and their counterparts in the TT was
prepared.
In the process of data collection, Charteris-Black’s(2004) identification procedure with
close-reading for CMA was followed for its exhaustiveness and efficiency. It entails an
investigation of semantic tension between form and meaning extracted by close
reading. To identify and classify the metaphors in the discourse, Cao and Wang’s(2017)
classification served as a reference in our tagging process.
3
This is because their
1
An official Chinese translation team primarily consists of professional translators who are CPC members (Li and Li 2015)
and international experts (i.e. qualified native speakers of the target language) responsible for proofreading (Li 2021).
To ensure translation correctness and quality, official Chinese translation institutions put much emphasis on in-service
training. For example, the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau has developed an advanced study scheme that
includes workshops and seminars on politics and translation (Teng and Wu 2015). Political discourses are translated
following stringent procedures, which involve preliminary translation, proofreading, and finalizing (Cheng 2002).
2
The full text of the English version was retrieved from Press Center for the Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the
Founding of the Communist Party of China (http://www.100cpcnews.cn/english/n101/2021/0701/c89-442.html), on
October 5, 2021.
3
Five types of metaphors are identified in Cao and Wang’s(2017) study, namely, ILLNESS metaphor, LIFE metaphor,
ANIMAL metaphor, FOOD metaphor, and BUILDING metaphor. ILLNESS metaphor and BUILDING metaphor were
also identified in our data. Other than these two types, we also identified JOURNEY, WAR, BODY, and CAUSE metaphors
in the data analysis section.
CRITICAL ARTS 5
classification was built on a systematic exploration of metaphors found in Xi Jinping’s dis-
course. Many repeated metaphors are used in various political speeches, which are “vital
in restoring as a focus of interest the rhetorical and ideological characteristics of meta-
phor”(Charteris-Black 2004, 34). The contexts were carefully examined to ensure that
the terms or expressions were metaphorically used. In terms of labelling, the identifiers
were labelled as <JOURNEY/ST>, <JOURNEY/TT>, <WAR/ST>, <WAR/TT>, <BUILDING/
ST>, <BUILDING/TT>, etc. to indicate their source domains. The source domains of
different categories were highlighted for their capability of elucidating ideological bear-
ings in the use of metaphors. Upon identification and collection, we ran a reliability test
and the overall reliability coefficient was .84, suggesting a high level of agreement
between the two analysts. Inconsistent coding results were determined by a discussion
with the third analyst.
It should be noted that we also employed tools (CorpusWordParser and AntConc 3.5)
4
to retrieve theme-related keywords and the most frequently-used nouns and pronouns
(see results in the next section) for a finer-grained description and interpretation of the
data.
Data analysis and discussion
In this section, we give an overall picture of metaphor types in the ST and TT, an analysis of
observed metaphor shifts, and a discussion on their ideological underpinnings in light of
ISM and in connection with the Chinese philosophy He, with due attention given to the
institutional translation setting.
Overall distribution of metaphors in the ST and TT
Six major types are found via keyword matching and close reading of the parallel concor-
dance lines: JOURNEY
5
metaphor, WAR metaphor, BUILDING metaphor, BODY metaphor,
CAUSE metaphor, and ILLNESS metaphor. As shown in Table 1, the total amount of meta-
phors in the ST is 219, while the number of metaphors in the TT is 146. Those data on the
whole demonstrate no significant difference (p = .823 > .05) by Fisher’s exact test,
6
which
reflects that the translation team tends to keep the metaphors in the TT. This correlates
with Newmark’s(1988) contention that original metaphors should, in principle, be pre-
served in authoritative discourse.
Regarding how the metaphors should be preserved in the TT, reflections from Chinese
institutional translators may shed some light on the manner. As a veteran translator of
Chinese political discourse, Huang (2004, 29) proposed the principle of “Waixuan San
Tiejin”(外宣三贴近, Three Closeness in Publicity Translation). In the three principles, he
4
CorpusWordParser is specifically developed for parsing Chinese characters and tagging their parts of speech. AntConc is
a free corpus analysis toolkit for concordancing, lexical frequency measuring, Kwic sorting, etc. While there are a variety
of tools for textual analysis, they would not normally generate significantly different results in terms of keywords and
lexical frequency. However, for higher reliability, we triangulated the data by using SegmentAnt 1.1.3 and WordSmith
7.0 and the same results were obtained, as seen in the data analysis section.
5
In this article, we adhere to the cognitive linguistics tradition of presenting conceptual metaphors and their domains
with small capital letters.
6
For an examination of contingency tables, the chi-square test is usually employed for typically large datasets, while the
Fisher’s exact test is more apt for estimating statistical differences of relatively small datasets (Brezina 2018).
6Q. SONG AND J. ZHANG
suggests that when translating political/publicity discourse into a foreign language, the
translated version should stay “close”to the development conditions of China, foreign
audiences’needs for Chinese information, and their ways of thinking. Confronted with
the growing need for publicity translation, Huang (2015) further adds that helping
foreign audiences better understand China requires careful selection and preservation
of expressions with Chinese characteristics in translating the president’s discourse.
Huang’sreflections justify the macro preservation of the metaphors in the TT, yet an
explanation is still needed as there still remain differences in the frequencies of varied
types.
In terms of frequencies of the identified types, the JOURNEY metaphor accounts for the
highest both in the ST (33.8%) and TT (28.8%), while the lowest is the ILLNESS metaphor
(respectively 1.8% and 2.7%). The WAR metaphor ranking the second place finds a ratio of
25.1% in the ST and 27.4% in the TT. Interestingly, the results are contrary to Cao and
Wang’s(2017)findings. In their research, the most frequent metaphor type employed
in Xi’s discourse is the ILLNESS metaphor (59 out of 261, 22.6%), while the JOURNEY
and WAR metaphors are significantly lower, respectively 1.9% (5 out of 261) and 2.7%
(7 out of 261).
The divergence might stem from the different types of discourse in Cao and Wang’s
(2017) study. Their data constitute various types of Xi’s discourse from various sources
with a special focus on metaphors with Chinese characteristics. This allows them to sys-
tematically examine metaphor usage in contemporary Chinese political discourse,
which differs from the aim of our case study. Notably, the metaphors analysed by Cao
and Wang (2017) were situated in diverse contexts so that they might be imbued with
varied discursive purposes. Notwithstanding the divergence, Cao and Wang’s research
and the present study both take Xi’s discourse and its translation as an attempt to
cohere and mobilize the Party members and other citizens to strive for the Chinese
dream against an increasingly complicated international background.
Let us take the JOURNEY and WAR metaphors to unveil the purpose and functions rep-
resented in the ST. The JOURNEY metaphor can be formulated as PURPOSEFUL ACTIVITY
IS TRAVELLING ALONG A PATH TOWARDS A DESTINATION (Lakoff1993). This purposeful-
ness can be seen in the addresser’s advocating for reviewing the Party’s history
particularly during the centenary phase for its future development. Aiming to make a
planned connection between the past and the future, THE CONSTRUCTION AND
DEVELOPMENT OF CPC AND THE COUNTRY IS A JOURNEY is mapped by the addresser
to portray the future by drawing on accumulated wisdom from the past. Similarly, the
discourse expressing traumatic experience incorporates the WAR metaphor invoking
corresponding frames to depict sufferings the Chinese people endured decades ago.
Table 1. Types and frequencies of metaphors in the ST and TT.
Type of metaphor Frequency in the ST (ratio) Frequency in the TT (ratio)
JOURNEY metaphor 74 (33.8%) 42 (28.8%)
WAR metaphor 55 (25.1%) 40 (27.4%)
BUILDING metaphor 41 (18.7%) 32 (21.9%)
BODY metaphor 35 (16%) 20 (13.7%)
CAUSE metaphor 10 (4.6%) 8 (5.5%)
ILLNESS metaphor 4 (1.8%) 4 (2.7%)
TOTAL 219 (100%) 146 (100%)
CRITICAL ARTS 7
These metaphors strategically present visual images of past ordeals and future challenges
via associations made possible by invocation of relevant frames. They serve to emphasize
the value of hard-earned peace and development and plead for consorted efforts for
future glories.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION IN THE FUTURE IS A NEW JOURNEY is also deli-
neated to outline a new blueprint. This metaphor is framed with terms designating
China-related actors and agents. For example, in addition to theme-related keywords
such as “中国”(China), “共产党”(CPC), “中华民族”(Chinese nation), the most fre-
quently-used nouns and pronouns are “人民”(people) (F = 83) and “我们”(we) (F = 33),
reflecting a sense of ingroup belonging (van Dijk 2006). The frequent use of “人民”
(people) indicates that the Chinese people are highly valued, and they are encouraged
to mobilize themselves on the journey of national development. The use of “we”
signifies shared communality (Pennycook 1994; Wang 2021) and intimacy (Pan, Fu, and
Li 2023) within the Chinese ethnic group. These choices along with the JOURNEY meta-
phor aim to unite and inspire the Chinese people to partake in the journey for more fruit-
ful achievements.
Metaphor shifts: naturalization and adaptation from linguistic and cultural
aspects
Whilst the ST employs metaphors to construct an ingroup frame, the TT demonstrates
metaphor shifts that point to more discreet considerations and subtle operations. This
is because translating a text into another language expands its readership. When a text
is produced and then translated, a planned cross-lingual and cross-cultural mass com-
munication act occurs (Forceville 2020). The planned nature of this cross-cultural mass
communication can be seen in considerations of reception of the foreign audience,
which vary from conveying something new and exotic to (re)creating a familiar textual
world for a desired image presentation. In other words, discursive and cognitive functions
of ST and TT are always among the top priorities of the considerations. In our case study,
whilst one major function of the Chinese discourse is to mobilize the Chinese citizens, a
vital drive for providing an English version could be enabling wider publicity and accept-
ability. In essence, translating the text into English becomes a channel for the CPC to
showcase its stance, virtues, and merits. Metaphors in the ST, as a cognitive phenomenon
embodied by language can on the one hand be intentionally employed to accommodate
creating political concepts for public consensus and social harmony, to name a few. On
the other hand, those metaphors can be linguistic and cultural barriers when implanted
from the Chinese socio-political context to the English counterpart. Therefore, the varied
cognitive environments being considered, the metaphor shifts in the TT are attributable
to the linguistic and cultural disparities, a frequently examined topic by many scholars.
The following extracts are listed to show the two aspects in preparation for a discussion
of cognitive and ideological influencers enabling the shifts.
(1) ST
…中国产生了共产党，这是开天辟地的大事变，深刻改变了近代以后中华民族发展的方
向和进程…
(1) Gloss
8Q. SONG AND J. ZHANG
…China gave birth to CPC. This is a ground-breaking event that has changed deeply the
direction and progress of the development of the Chinese nation since modern times …
(1) TT
The founding of the communist party of China was an epoch-making event, which pro-
foundly changed the course of Chinese history in modern times …
The metaphoric terms “方向”(direction) and “进程”(progress) in the ST function as
members of the source domain, mapping onto the target domain of THE DEVELOPMENT
OF CHINA as a JOURNEY. Although the conceptual metaphor THE DEVELOPMENT OF
CHINA IS A JOURNEY is maintained in the TT, the source domain has been partially
shifted to avoid redundancy. Specifically, “方向”(direction) has been eliminated, while
the domain carrying the element of “进程”(progress) has been retained and expressed
through “course”. In this context, “course”refers to “the path over which to some
degree something extends or moves”.
7
It carries the metaphoric connotation of “pro-
gression through a development or period or a series of acts or events”. Note that it
also denotes “the direction of a vehicle’s travel”. That is to say, the translation utilizes
the polysemy of “course”to encompass the connotations of both “方向”(direction)
and “进程”(progress), which can be understood as “repeated references to the same
thing”(Pinkham 2000, 114), or more specifically, “repeated references that can be dis-
pensed with”(ibid.). Consequently, the overlapping connotation of “方向”(direction)
and “course”determines the removal of “方向”(direction) in the translation.
Such a shift, as also observed in other translated Chinese political discourse, follows a
norm of assimilation aimed at eliminating repetitive rhetorical terms (Deng and Zeng
2020) and adapting to the TL readers’rhetorical psychology (Gong 2012). While the dis-
posal generally reduces the rhetorical effects, it represents a compromise to enhance
acceptability of the rendition. This is because redundancy can serve as an ostensive stimu-
lus for the target audience to beware the heterogeneity of the discourse. Such heterogen-
eity may strengthen their perception of outgroup identity and direct their attention to the
differentiated ideology. Therefore, shifting the metaphor becomes a form of discursive
naturalization for eliminating undesired associations between alien linguistic devices
and outgroup (therefore, negative) interpretations, i.e. misconceptions, of the infor-
mation. The rationale of the linguistic manoeuver, as van Dijk (2006, 118) summarizes,
is “utilization of different strategies to possibly eliminate or disregard in a way inconsis-
tencies between the multifarious ideological beliefs and those facts they are confronted
with”. In brief, the linguistic shifts of metaphor represent the translators’cognitive and
ideological inclination to ensure a non-distorted Self. This cognitive and ideology-laden
Self may arise from an audience’s presuppositions based on their pre-existing ideologi-
cally biased frames or from assumptions caused by more or less alienated linguistic
representations.
(2) ST
…我们要继续弘扬光荣传统、赓续红色血脉…
7
The referential meanings of the English words are retrieved from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (https://www.
merriam-webster.com/).
CRITICAL ARTS 9
(2) Gloss
…We will continue to promote our glorious tradition and sustain our red blood vessel …
(2) TT
…We will continue to promote our glorious tradition and sustain our revolutionary legacy
…
Culture is another factor that renders metaphor shifts in translation. As in the example
above, “红色血脉”(red blood vessel) is utilized to represent the revolutionary spirit, which
has been highly valued in Chinese culture. The colour red in the context signifies the CPC
and its revolutionary stories. However, in a Western context, the colour is culturally associ-
ated with negative connotations, often symbolizing evil. According to the Merriam-
Webster dictionary, “blood vessel”denotes “any of the vessels through which blood cir-
culates in the body”. However, searching online corpora such as COCA (Corpus of Con-
temporary American English) and BNC (British National Corpus) informs us that there is
no match for the exact phrase “red blood vessel”, while “blood vessel”can be found
only in medical concordances within both corpora. Therefore, in the translation, the
BODY metaphor is shifted to an asset-related one, as shown in the construction “revolu-
tionary legacy”.
As van Dijk (2006) indicates, shared knowledge within a group facilitates mutual
understanding among its members. The cultural knowledge embedded in the meta-
phor here, however, cannot be reckoned as completely shared by the target audience.
Furthermore, the current limitations on China’s discourse power seem to challenge the
feasibility of maintaining the exotic source domain in the TT. It then becomes necessary
to shift the metaphor in the TT in order to ensure effective communication with a
wider audience. Additionally, when translating a speech, the use of annotation,
which involves adding notes to certain forms in the TT, would impede smooth
reading and demand additional cognitive effort for achieving relevance. Given this
reflection, metaphor shifting in translation can be viewed as a solution to literally over-
lapping but culturally undesired perceptions in TT culture. This solution is more appli-
cable to publicity translation for its capability of handling highly political nuances with
desired conciseness, coherence, and compassion. A mistake or failure in making meta-
phor shifts in translation could be disastrous. For instance, John Ratcliffe, serving as
Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, claimed that China was trying to
make the army stronger through gene editing, by which China attempted to dominate
the planet and set a new world order (Gabbatt 2020). It is said that the claim was gen-
erated based on the military slogan –inherit the red gene; build a first-class army
(Huang 2021). Although the “red gene”is metaphorically used to make salient the valu-
able nature of a true Communist Party in building a high-level military to serve the
people, the incommensurable ideologies inherent to their respective political mental-
ities enable the intentional or unintentional misinterpretation of the metaphor to inten-
sify the biased outgroup property of the Other, thus overshadowing the addresser’s
justification with the intended perlocutionary effect in peril. As such, metaphor shifting
in translation is essential to fend offbeing trapped by a nation’s cultural terms
especially when it has not obtained the dominant discourse power worldwide.
10 Q. SONG AND J. ZHANG
Institutional translators’mediation of metaphors: Ideological Square and He
Ideology refers to “political or social systems of ideas, values or prescriptions of groups or
other collectives, and have the function of organizing or legitimating the actions of the
group”(van Dijk 1998, 3). Bearing this definition in mind, we could argue that translating
Chinese political discourse means faithfully conveying its ideology to illustrate China’s
political stance and attitude. In principle, it behoves the translators to make their TT in
line with ST without alterations. In reality, shifts do occur in TT. These shifts have
nothing to do with institutional translators’bilingual competence. As employed pro-
fessionals of the central government, those institutional translators are sophisticated
experts with rich experiences in political translation. Spotted shifts in TT, after all, are lin-
guistically and culturally processed, and collectively finalized by the translation group in
the Chinese institutional translation setting (cf. Pan, Kim, and Li 2020). This conforms to
the self-serving principle (Li and Pan 2020) and can be further verified by the following
example.
(3) ST
…同时，中国人民也绝不允许任何外来势力欺负、压迫、奴役我们，谁妄想这样干，必
将在14亿多中国人民用血肉筑成的钢铁长城面前碰得头破血流…
(3) Gloss
…Meanwhile, (we) Chinese people will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress or sub-
jugate us. Anyone who would wishfully attempt to do so will only find their heads broken
and blood shedding in front of the iron Great Wall that over 1.4 billion Chinese people
forged with blood and flesh …
(3) TT
…By the same token, we will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress or subjugate us.
Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great
wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people …
The original images in these sentences have been kept intact in Western media, where
“血肉”(blood and flesh) and “头破血流”(heads broken and blood shedding) are often lit-
erally retained in their English translations. For instance, the New York Times keeps them
as in “…crack their heads and spill blood on the Great Wall of steel built from the flesh
and blood of 1.4 billion Chinese people”.
8
Similarly, BBC and CNN both translate “头破血
流”into “heads bashed bloody”as in “anyone who dares try to do that will have their
heads bashed bloody against the Great Wall of Steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese
people”
9
and “anyone who dares to try, will find their heads bashed bloody against a
great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people”.
10
In contrast, the BODY
metaphor “血肉”and the WAR metaphor “头破血流”in the official translation as demon-
strated above have been shifted to “on a collision course”for a mitigated tone. The shift
par excellence cannot be fully explained from linguistic and cultural aspects alone, consid-
ering that the source domains are derived from and shared through common embodied
8
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/06/30/world/china-communist-party-anniversary Accessed on November 25, 2021.
9
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57648236 Accessed on November 25, 2021.
10
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/01/china/ccp-100-beijing-china-xi-celebration-intl-hnk/index.html Accessed on
November 25, 2021.
CRITICAL ARTS 11
experience. This could be explained by the Western media’s conscious choice to retain the
source domains in their reports as demonstrated above. Judging from the functions of the
whole discourse, CNBC (Cheng 2021) puts that it unfolds China’sfirm resolve to stand up
to foreign pressure. As China has become the world’s second-largest economy, conflicts
between China and the US seem to intensify. It is plausible that the centenary speech is
not merely a call to unite the Chinese citizens but also a signal to the globe that the CPC
will stand with the Chinese people in leading the country towards a promising future. In
this context, the metaphor shift in the extract seems to be partly inconsistent with the
CPC’s ideologies in that the tone has been softened and that the stance and attitudes
have been degraded.
The institutional translators’mitigation of tone might degrade China’s resolution as
compared to the image presented in the ST. However, from an Ideological Square
Model perspective, the strategy is in accordance with the deeper self-serving principle
influenced by the Chinese traditional philosophy of He. As Li and Pan (2020) propose,
translation shifts are presented in the superficial layer of the model, which involves a
deeper purpose of serving China’s interests. The diplomatic policies put forward inter
alia by Deng Xiaoping, the designer of China’s Reform and Opening-up, have been
upheld by generations of Chinese leaders. These policies are summarized as “keeping a
low profile (KLP), attaining some achievements (ASA)”(Wei 2020, 413). The diplomatic
view can help identify the self-serving principle behind the metaphor shift. As a major
developing country, China has been advocating for “a community of a shared future”,
within which is the pursuit of inclusive development for co-prosperity as can be seen
in the practice of the Belt and Road initiative. Likewise, China’s diplomatic goal –safe-
guarding world peace and promoting common development (Liu 2018) and the five prin-
ciples of peaceful coexistence manifest that China insists on resolving differences in a
peaceful manner. While the discourse aims to showcase China’sfirm resolution to coun-
terattack the oppressors in ST, shifting the sanguinary metaphors in TT strategically helps
to keep a low profile by linguistically warding offmisinterpretations of hegemony and
violent nationalism. As such, the metaphor-shifting strategy represented in the restrained
style of TT consolidates China’s moral stance in a global context.
Of note is that metaphor shifting in the discourse is not a provisional translation strat-
egy but could be ascribed to the far-reaching He philosophy at play in Chinese contem-
porary political ideology, which may further serve as a guiding scaffold for the ISM model
to interpret metaphor shifts in Chinese political translation. In Confucianism, He is advo-
cated for creating a harmonious world. The aim of He is not to export and impose a
nation’s values on others, but to realize interpersonal and international “harmony in diver-
sity”(和而不同, he er bu tong). In this sense, He prescribes how we ought to act and
expect peace in both interpersonal and international relations for a harmonious and
diversified world (平天下, ping tian xia) (Li 2008). To implement this philosophy in diplo-
macy, China “remains unchanged in its commitment to world peace”, because “[A]mity
with neighbors, harmony without uniformity, and peace are values very much cherished
in Chinese culture”(Xi 2017, 597). Different from the ancient context where the world (天
下, tian xia) denotes a disintegrated China, an international adaptation of the mentality is
suggested here, that is, He serves as the basis for the development of all countries. He is
strategically valued by Chinese authorities and implemented in the practice of communi-
cating with the international community. By creating a harmonious global society with He,
12 Q. SONG AND J. ZHANG
a prospective economy will be possible in a stabilized developing environment so that the
economic interest can be guaranteed. This manifests that the mitigated tone in the
shifted metaphor is a mediation motivated by the mentality of He to avoid sharpening
conflicts. After all, China aims to show its resolution but not to find fault with other
countries, as merely being involved in conflicts may not satisfy the goal of economic
development –currently the central issue in China’s interests.
Moreover, He implies the idea of mediation for a balanced condition (Jin and Chen
2020). With this He mentality, a statesman or diplomat is usually prone to reconciling dis-
putes and varied ideologies. It is evident that the translation team mobilized by the
central bureau is politically informed and vigilant of undesired discursive effects. They
tend to be ideological mediators to render an internationally-contextualized and self-
serving discourse. As a result, their renditions are usually linguistically naturalized and cul-
turally adapted for the target readership, with the ideological kernel –serving the inter-
ests and refraining from intensifying international conflicts and disputes out of
misconception or misinterpretation. Given the reflections presented above, we can
argue that the linguistic, cultural, and ideological aspects of translating publicity/political
discourse in a Chinese context are interconnected and mediated by the philosophy of He.
We can also argue that simplifying political translation as ST-bound will overshadow the
ideological kernel embedded with the self-serving motivation. A pertinent perspective
requires setting aside the ST-TT dichotomy. While it may be tempting to consider the
majority of metaphors retained in the target text as conforming to the source text, quan-
titative analysis only demonstrates an overall formal resemblance between the metapho-
ric expressions in the source and target texts. It is important to note that even when
metaphors are largely identical, they can yield varied cognitive interpretations in
different contexts. This formal resemblance is primarily achieved based on ideological uni-
formity, where the translation team presumably deems that retaining the metaphors
aligns with, or at the very least, does not harm, national interests. However, when con-
fronted with metaphors that may lead to misconceptions or unexpected conflicts, the
translation team is likely to adapt or even eliminate them out of ideological concerns.
Conclusion
Inspired by Catford’s notion of translation shifts, this case study explores metaphor shifts
in the English translation of Xi’s CPC Centenary Speech. By metaphor shifts, we mean
departures from ST source domain correspondence in the TT. These departures are
engendered in the form of substitution (including replacement and modification) or can-
cellation. Both non-shifts and shifts are found in our comparison and contrast of meta-
phors identified in the ST and TT. Our study shows that the types and numbers of
metaphors in the ST and TT demonstrate no significant differences.
However, shifts do occur in all the six types of metaphors in the translation. Out of con-
cerns of cultural compatibility and through linguistic configurations of meaning, the shifts
naturalize the source domains and adapt to the target cognition customs and patterns for
a non-distorted and well-portrayed Self. The ideological kernel of He, it is argued, prevails
over cultural concerns and linguistic configuration in governing the shifts to serve China’s
national interests. Therefore, He in our study, or any other dominant philosophy of the
translating institution in future studies, should be incorporated into ISM for a more
CRITICAL ARTS 13
thorough examination. Our analysis of the metaphor shifts verifies that political trans-
lation is an interest-oriented activity under ideological mediation rather than simply an
ST-bound linguistic transference.
The English version of Xi’s CPC Centenary Speech is a collective, political product of
Chinese institutional translation. Given the high quality and professionalism of the trans-
lation team, the translated discourse is believed to be error-free and worthy of a scrutiny
on textual properties and ideological considerations. Taking Huang’s(2004, 2015) prin-
ciples of political publicity translation as valid guidelines for Chinese institutional trans-
lation, we could argue that
.Determination of the “three closeness”(to the development conditions of China,
foreign audiences’needs of Chinese information, and their ways of thinking) is an
entrusted work of the translating institution regarding specific tasks.
.Metaphor shifts, as well as other means of linguistic configuration of meaning, are
based on the determination and meticulously planned in a collective and official
manner.
.Ideological concerns prioritize over cultural and linguistic factors in making the meta-
phor shifts, and other textual manoeuvers in translation for realizing a national-inter-
ests-oriented purpose, despite possible departures from ST correspondence in TT.
.Dominant cultural philosophy of the translating institution, such as He in the present
study, should be incorporated into the ISM model for presenting a more comprehen-
sive picture.
Owing to linguistic disparities between SL and TL, translation shifts, as described by
Catford, are ubiquitous. In Toury’s(1980,1995) view, Catford’s shifts are obligatory
while the metaphor shifts we discussed are cultural-norm-determined non-obligatory
ones with an acceptability initial norm. Our discussion points out that, when translating
political discourse in an institutional setting, ideological concerns and political philosophy
such as He weigh more than purely cultural norms in making non-obligatory metaphor
shifts. Thus, the case study contributes to linking the ideological perspective to the lin-
guistic and cultural aspects of metaphor translation. It helps refine the Ideological
Square Model by incorporating the Chinese traditional philosophy He. Methodologically,
our research introduces a critical-cognitive perspective for translating political discourse
in an institutional setting. This may further forge cross-fertilization between critical meta-
phor studies, translation or interpreting studies, and political science.
Nevertheless, future work is still required to verify and examine how the macro reser-
vation and micro shifts of metaphors are coordinated in the translation. Corpus-based
studies (cf. Gu 2023) with large-scale data that cover other cognitive and ideology-
laden elements (e.g. frames and scenarios) in connection with metaphor shifts might gen-
erate more comprehensive findings regarding translating Chinese political discourse.
Hopefully, these future academic efforts would crystalize as some “critical points”
(Munday 2012, 41) indicative of institutional translators’intervention and motivation.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.
14 Q. SONG AND J. ZHANG
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Funding
This work is sponsored by Chinese National Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science [grant
number: 18BYY026], Center for the Development of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education
[grant number: 2021ITA02004], and Education Department of Hubei Province [grant number:
2021155].
References
Apirakvanalee, L., and Y. Zhai. 2022.“An Ideological Square Analysis of the Podcast Discourse in
‘Chinese Dreams’of the BBC World Service.”Critical Discourse Studies 20 (4): 379–395. doi:10.
1080/17405904.2022.2087702.
Brezina, V. 2018.Statistics in Corpus Linguistics: A Practical Guide. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Cao, L., and H. Wang. 2017.“English Translation of Metaphors with Chinese Characteristics in Xi
Jinping’s Speeches: From the Perspective of Embodied Philosophy.”Languages and Translation
3: 65–70.
Catford, J. 1965.A Linguistic Theory of Translation: An Essay in Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Charteris-Black, J. 2004.Corpus Approaches to Critical Metaphor Analysis. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Cheng, Z. 2002.Papers on Translation Studies. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Cheng, E. 2021.“Xi at Communist Party Anniversary: China Won’t Accept ‘Sanctimonious Preaching’
from Others.”CNBC, June 30. Accessed November 25, 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/01/
china-ccp-anniversary-xi-speaks-at-100th-anniversary-of-communist-party.html.
Chilton, P. 2006.“Metaphors in Political Discourse.”In Encyclopaedia of Language & Linguistics,
edited by K. Brown, et al., 63–65. Boston, MA: Elsevier.
Chueasuai, P. 2013.“Translation Shifts in Multimodal Text: A Case of the Thai Version of
Cosmopolitan.”The Journal of Specialised Translation 20: 107–121.
Deng, Z., and J. Zeng. 2020.“Xi Jinping: The Governance of China: Translating Repetitive Rhetoric in
Political Discourse.”Chinese Translators Journal 41 (5): 136–144.
Forceville, C. 2020.Visual and Multimodal Communication: Applying the Relevance Principle. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Fotheringham, C. 2017.“A Cognitive-Pragmatic Model for Translation-Shift Analysis in Descriptive
Case Studies.”Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 35 (1): 79–92. doi:10.
2989/16073614.2017.1302350.
Gabbatt, A. 2020.“China Conducting Biological Tests to Create Super Soldiers, US Spy Chief Says.”
The Guradian, December 4. Accessed November 25, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/world/
2020/dec/04/china-super-soldiers-biologically-enhanced-john-ratcliffe.
Ghauri, M. J., and S. Umber. 2019.“Exploring the Nature of Representation of Islam and Muslims in
the Australian Press.”SAGE Open 9 (4): 1–9. doi:10.1177/2158244019893696.
Gong, G. 2012.Cognitive Rhetoric of Translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Jiaotong University Press.
Gu, C. 2018.“Forging a Glorious Past via the “Present Perfect”: A Corpus-Based CDA Analysis of
China’s Past Accomplishments Discourse Mediat(is)ed at China’s Interpreted Political Press
Conferences.”Discourse Context & Media 24: 137–149. doi:10.1016/j.dcm.2018.03.007.
Gu, C. 2022a.“Concordancing Develop* at the Interpreter-Mediated Press Conference: A Corpus-
Based CDA on Reform and Opening-up (RoU) as an Overarching Metadiscourse Justifying
China’s Recent Development.”Linguistica Antverpiensia, New Series: Themes in Translation
Studies 21: 55–84.
CRITICAL ARTS 15
Gu, C. 2023.“Low-hanging Fruits, Usual Suspects, and Pure Serendipity: Towards a Layered
Methodological Framework on Translators and Interpreters’Ideological Language use Drawing
on the Synergy of CDA and Corpus Linguistics.”Perspectives 31 (6): 1014–1032. doi:10.1080/
0907676X.2022.2148545.
Gu, C., and R. Tipton. 2020.“(Re-)Voicing Beijing’s Discourse Through Self-Referentiality: A
Corpusbased CDA Analysis of Government Interpreters’Discursive Mediation at China’s
Political Press Conferences (1998–2017).”Perspectives 28 (3): 406–423. doi:10.1080/0907676X.
2020.1717558.
Halliday, M. 1985.An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold.
Hart, C. 2017.“Cognitive Linguistic Critical Discourse Studies.”In The Routledge Handbook of Critical
Discourse Studies, edited by J. Flowerdew, 77–91. London: Routledge.
Huang, Y. 2004.“Following the Principle of ‘Three Closeness’and Resolving Problems in Publicity
Translation.”Chinese Translators Journal 25: 27–28.
Huang, Y. 2015.“How Should we Translate as China Stands on the Center of the International Stage.”
Chinese Translators Journal 36 (5): 5–7.
Huang, Y. 2021.“Keynote Speech at 7th National Symposium on Foreign Communication Theory.”
CNWWJ, January 8, 2022. Accessed June 23, 2023. http://www.cnwwj.com/xwxq.html?newsid =
3608991.
Jin, Z., and F. Chen. 2020.“The Contemporary Analysis of Confucius’Diplomatic Philosophy.”
International Review 1: 101–118.
Koller, V. 2014.“Cognitive Linguistics and Ideology.”In The Bloomsbury Companion to Cognitive
Linguistics, edited by J. Littlemore, and J. Taylor, 234–252. London: Bloomsbury.
Lakoff,G.1993.“The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor.”In Metaphor and Thought, edited by A.
Ortony, 202–251. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lakoff, G., and M. Johnson. 1980.Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Li, C. 2008.“The Philosophy of Harmony in Classical Confucianism.”Philosophy Compass 3 (03): 423–
435. doi:10.1111/j.1747-9991.2008.00141.x.
Li, J. 2021.“Approaching CPC’s‘State Translation Team’: How to Build a Bridge for Sino-Western
Communication?”China News, July 26. Accessed December 6, 2023. https://chinanews.com.cn/
gn/2021/07-26/9528760.shtml.
Li, T., and K. Hu. 2021.Reappraising Self and Others: A Corpus-Based Study of Chinese Political
Discourse in English Translation. Singapore: Springer.
Li, J., and S. Li. 2015.“New Trends of Chinese Political Translation in the age of Globalisation.”
Perspectives 23 (3): 424–439. doi:10.1080/0907676X.2014.983530.
Li, T., and F. Pan. 2020.“Reshaping China’s Image: A Corpus-Based Analysis of the English Translation
of Chinese Political Discourse.”Perspectives 6 (1): 71–77.
Liu, X. 2018.“Speech by H.E. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming at the Graduation Ceremony of the
University of Huddersfield: Devote Your Youthful Vigour to China-UK Cooperation.”Embassy of
the People’s Republic of China in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
July 10, 2018. Accessed June 23, 2023. http://gb.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/ambassador/
dsjhjcf/2018remarks/201807/t20180710_3385608.htm.
Munday, J. 2012.Evaluation in Translation: Critical Points of Translator Decision-Making. London:
Routledge.
Newmark, P. 1988.A Textbook of Translation. New York: Tice Hall Press.
Osimo, B. 2008.“Meaning in Translation: A Model Based on Translation Shifts.”Linguistica
Antverpiensia, New Series: Themes in Translation Studies 7: 209–226.
Pan, F., Y. Fu, and T. Li. 2023.“Institutional Translators’Mediation of CPC Work Reports Diachronically
Through Personal Pronouns: A Corpus-Based Discourse Analysis Approach.”Pespectives (in press).
doi:10.1080/0907676X.2023.2194548.
Pan, F., K. H. Kim, and T. Li. 2020.“Institutional Versus Individual Translations of Chinese Political
Texts: A Corpus-Based Critical Discourse Analysis.”The Journal of Specialized Translation 34 (1):
51–77.
Pennycook, A. 1994.“The Politics of Pronouns.”ELT Journal 48 (2): 173–178. doi:10.1093/elt/48.2.173.
16 Q. SONG AND J. ZHANG
Pinkham, J. 2000.The Translator’s Guide to Chinglish. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and
Research Press.
Qian, H. S., and D. W. Feng. 2020.“Intersemiotic Shifts in the Translation of Chinese Costume Drama
Subtitles: A Multimodal Analysis Approach.”In Multimodal Approaches to Chinese-English
Translation and Interpreting, edited by H. S. Qian, and D. W. Feng, 16–42. London: Routledge.
Teng, M., and F. Wu. 2015.“The Role of State Translation Under Translation Policies: A Case Study of
the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau.”Foreign Language Education 36 (4): 110–113.
Toury, G. 1980.In Search of a Theory of Translation. Tel Aviv: The Porter Institute for Poetics and
Semiotics.
Toury, G. 1995.Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing
Company.
van Dijk, T. A. 1998.Ideology: A Multidisciplinary Approach. London: Sage.
van Dijk, T. A. 2006.“Ideology and Discourse Analysis.”Journal of Political Ideologies 11 (2): 115–140.
doi:10.1080/13569310600687908.
van Dijk, T. A. 2015.“Critical Discourse Studies: A Sociocognitive Approach.”In Methods of Critical
Discourse Analysis, edited by R. Wodak, and M. Meyer, 63–85. London: Sage.
Wang, V. 2009.“Pragmatic Shifts in two Translations of Fusheng Liuji: A Descriptive Study of Request
Behaviour.”Target 21 (2): 209–234. doi:10.1075/target.21.2.01wan.
Wang, X. 2021.“Construing Community with a Shared Future in President Xi Jinping’s Diplomatic
Discourse (2013–2018): The Role of Personal Pronouns we and They.”Critical Arts 35 (3): 35–51.
doi:10.1080/02560046.2021.1985154.
Wang, B., and D. Feng. 2018.“A Corpus-Based Study of Stance-Taking as Seen from Critical Points in
Interpreted Political Discourse.”Perspectives 26 (2): 246–260. doi:10.1080/0907676X.2017.
1395468.
Wei, L. 2020.“Striving for Achievement in a new era: China Debates its Global Role.”The Pacific
Review 33: 413–437. doi:10.1080/09512748.2020.1728572.
Xi, J. 2014.Xi Jinping: The Governance of China I. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.
Xi, J. 2017.Xi Jinping: The Governance of China II. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.
Yu, H., and C. Wu. 2017.“Recreating the Image of Chan Master Huineng: The Role of Personal
Pronouns.”Target. International Journal of Translation Studies 29 (1): 64–86. doi:10.1075/target.
29.1.03yu.
Zhang, M., and L. Pan. 2009.“Introducing a Chinese Perspective on Translation Shifts: A Comparative
Study of Shift Models by Loh and Vinay & Darbelnet.”The Translator 15 (2): 351–374. doi:10.1080/
13556509.2009.10799285.
CRITICAL ARTS 17
