The Justification Of China English From The Approach To Translation As Adaptation And Selection

With the irresistible globalization of English carrying on, the localization of Englishhas mushroomed, which led to the generation of a plural concept of world Englishes.Thereafter, the big family of world Englishes is not dominated only by British English andAmerican English any longer. More and more English varieties have come into existenceand gained access to World Englishes, for example, Australian English, Canadian English,New Zealand English, Indian English and Singaporean English, etc. There are more to beaccepted or on the way. These English varieties with local characteristics have played amore and more significant role in international communications. The same is true of China.As a localized variety of English with Chinese characteristics, China English has carried abig weight in the international communications of China; meanwhile, it has also arousedmany scholars’ interest in the study of China English in the fields of cross-culturalcommunication, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, English teaching as well as translationstudies, etc.However, for a long time, the problem of whether China English should exist isunder fierce debate among scholars, with each sticking to his own point of view. Some ofthem assume a positive attitude towards the existence of China English, while some take anegative attitude, and others undergo a conflict on the future of China English. Whatcourse should translation studies follow after the “cultural turn”?“The approach totranslation as adaptation and selection” put forward by professor Hu Gengshen emerged asthe times demanded, which was labeled an “ecological approach” to translation studies.On the basis of the theory, he established “Eco-translatology” and defined translation as “atranslator’s adaptation and selection activities in a translational eco-environment”, or cyclical alternations of the translator’s adaptation and selection. This is a“translator-centered” approach rather than “source text-centered” or “target text-centered”ones.Reasoning from this approach, the author made a discussion on the justification ofChina English. In the first place, a brief introduction was given to China English about itsdefinition and formation, which is distinguished from Chinese English, Chinese PidginEnglish and interlanguage. The following dealt with attitudes of some scholars towardsChina English as well as basic translation methods of rendering Chinese-featuredexpressions into China English, which paved the way for the following case studies.Besides, the approach to translation as adaptation and selection, a refreshingly differentapproach to translation studies, was worthy of necessary introduction. After that, the thesisfocused on justifying China English from linguistic dimension, cultural dimension andcommunicative dimension. According to the principle of “survival of the fittest”, the thesisproves that the existence of China English is a matter of fact and it is indispensable.What’s more, China English deserves the name and it sees a vast range of prospects.