On The Discursive Practice Of Government Document Translation

As China becomes ever more prominent on the world stage and attracts increasing international attention,its voice and wisdom need to be shared widely through the process of global governance.However,China’s international discursive power and its comprehensive national strength has not been able to match its international status.Therefore,to cope with this problem,the present administration emphasizes the necessity of strengthening international communication capabilities and the construction of China’s international discourse system with multilateral understanding,so as to draw upon China’s wisdom when solving global issues.As an authoritative way of disseminating Chinese concepts,positions and attitudes globally,the translation of government document plays an important role in the construction of China’s international discourse system.Previous studies have focused on the translation of words or phrases of text fragments,as well as the recontextualization and image construction in the process of spreading translated texts.However,they have rarely focused on the transformation of language metafunctions and inter-subjective relations in the translation of the whole text.Furthermore,in-depth research failed to be conducted due to the lacking of theoretical guidance on the research of translation dissemination.Therefore,this dissertation takes the translated texts of the white paper on China-US trade consultation as an example.Research questions underpinning this study include:(1)What discourse is constructed along with the language metafunctional transformation realized in the translated texts of the white paper?(2)What is the relationship between subjects reflected by the discursive construction in the translated texts of the white paper?(3)How are the translated texts of the white paper represented by the media in a given social context?Drawing on Fairclough’s three-dimensional analytical theory in critical discourse analysis,this study proposes a three-dimensional analytical framework on the discursive practice of government document translation which is regarded as a social practice.Taking the English translation of two white paper on China-US trade consultation issued by China as its research subject,this study examines the discursive practice of the English translation of the white paper from three dimensions:national consciousness,intersubjectivity,and social context.We establish a white paper corpus of 62,912 words and an English news report corpus of 538,903 words,among which 65,644 words are reports that related to two white papers.On the aspect of discursive production,this study chiefly examines the transformation of meta-functions from the source language to the target language in the translation process with regards to national consciousness.Next,relations among translation subjects in the translation process is analyzed from the perspective of intersubjectivity.In terms of discursive spread,the social context of the target language is investigated chiefly with respect to the international media’s reporting on two white papers,such as through spoken reports,news sources,and genre intertextuality.The research findings include:(1)Social factors,such as consciousness of national sovereignty,image and responsibility,constantly influence the reproduction and realization of language metafunctions.With regards to discursive production,the metafunctions of language are faithfully translated from the source text to the target text.Material,relational and verbal processes in ideational function are transformed faithfully.Noticeably,the diversification of verbal processes in the translated text has constructed the informative authenticity of two white papers.In terms of interpersonal function,personal pronouns are added to the target text due to structural differences between Chinese and English and the image of a rational,authoritative,responsible,cooperation-oriented China is constructed.In addition,the textual function in the target text follows the textual structure of the source text with the same patterns of thematic progression as that of the source text.On the language structure of the translated texts,however,the transformation from English pro-temporality to Chinese pro-spatiality of the sentences in the translated text isn’t thoroughly presented.Also,logical and grammatical conjunctions in the translated texts are less frequently used than that of native English expression.On the whole,China is constructed as the defender of national interests,a practitioner of international responsibility,and initiator of dispute resolution through consultation.(2)Relations of collective subjectivity exist between patron,author,source text,translator,target text,and reader.By providing social status and economic support for translators,patrons act as a constraint on stance and national consciousness,which the translator has little space to manipulate translated texts in the translation process.Given the purpose of government document translation,translators prefer to choose expressions that the audience will understand,and conduct meaning negotiation between subjects in the translation process to form discursive construction through the form of ‘Chinese meaning within native foreign expression’.(3)International media reports on China’s position and stance on China-US trade consultation are partially rational,and tend to virtually embed reporters’ negative thoughts and imbue western ideology into the news.With regards to reported speech in the news,the percentage of indirect speech is generally higher than the direct speech,and reporters tend to add their own attitudes and stances,so that readers are unable to identify the original words of the reported speech which are imperceptibly imbued with the reporters’ value.In terms of news source,international media reports generally don’t mention the direct news source,so that readers couldn’t distinguish the authenticity and authority of the reported speech,making it easier for reporters to reproduce their own stance.On the aspect of generic intertextuality,international media represent the two white papers by integrating different genres to enhance the attractiveness and readability of reports.Compared with the Chinese media,international media outlets pay more attention to the argumentation so as to convey China’s strong attitude while ignoring China’s willingness to embrace negotiation and dialogue of solving dispute.The discursive practice research of government document translation in this study expands the remit of translation research from translation texts to the investigation of social factors such as ideology and power which lie behind translation production.The exploration of the discursive practice in this study reveals the social factors that influence discourse production and representation of translated texts in the dissemination process,and examines the mediating role of the discourse practice between text and social practice.This study expands the research space of translation and provides suggestions for government document translation and its research,thus providing feedback to China’s international discourse spreading and construction of international discourse system.