Authentication In The Translation Of Unequal Treaties Since The Second Opium War

Unequal treaties are a unique product of China’s modern history,and they have attracted scholarly attention since their first appearance.However,it was not until the end of the last century that scholars in translation studies began to pay attention to the translation of unequal treaties.Currently,studies about the translation of unequal treaties can be classified into four categories:translation strategies,translation of diplomatic wording,translation and power,and translators.Existing studies highlight the important role that translation has played in the Qing’s relations with foreign countries,supplement translation history studies and stress the significance of incorporating extratextual factors into translation studies.However,there are two aspects which have been overlooked.First,current studies focus more on treaties between the Qing and the UK and the French Empire,neglecting treaties between the Qing and other,relatively minor invaders.Second,in terms of statements inside the treaties that authorize the authentic version(s)among different language versions,i.e.,authenticating statements,only a few studies mention their political significance,but the authentication issues involved have not been investigated.Theo Hermans(2007)discussed the presence of authentication in religious texts,multilingual treaties,and self-translated literature,expanding the notion of authentication from the field of international law and bringing it into translation studies.Authentication is common in the translation of unequal treaties,and its diverse forms have different effects.However,there are few studies focusing on this aspect.This paper studies authentication in the translation of unequal treaties between the Qing and eight countries:the UK,France,Russia,the US,Germany,Spain,Denmark,and Belgium.It looks at different forms of authentication,and analyzes the factors that influence its formulation.In addition,the study will also look at the effects of authentication in practice,and examine relations between translation and power.Four forms of authentication are revealed in this study:authenticating the victorious country’s version,authenticating all versions as equal,authenticating the defeated country’s version,and authenticating a third language version.Extratextual factors,such as political power struggles,the prestige of language,and signatories’ intentions,are the main factors that influence the formulation of authentication.Furthermore,this study also discovers that in the implementation of unequal treaties,because of power struggles between signatories,authentication sometimes is not effective and does not solve conflicts caused by discrepancies between language versions of a treaty.Last but not least,the study summarizes the difference between authentication in unequal treaties and authentication in modern international law,and explains how translation and power interact.The findings of this study will enrich research on the translation of unequal treaties,and will also add to our understanding of authentication as well as our knowledge of the relations between translation and power.In addition,the Chinese materials used in this study will enrich the diversity of translation studies,and contribute to the anti-Eurocentric trend in translation studies.