A Study On The Translation Of The Treaty Of Nanking From The Perspective Of Power Differential

Sprung up in the 1980 s,the postcolonial translation study has first linked politics with translation and boldly revealed the power relations that have always existed in translation and their roles in translation.Power differential is an important factor that influences translation in postcolonial context.Translation,as a way of intercultural communication,is bound to be influenced by power differential.According to the postcolonial translation theory,the choice of translation strategies is closely related to the power differential between different countries and cultures.Translation in the postcolonial context can also be regarded as translation from the perspective of power differential.As a new theory,postcolonial translation theory has opened up a new perspective for translation studies.In the meanwhile,this theory has also been developing rapidly in China.Therefore,it is forward-looking to take the power differential in postcolonial translation theory as the theoretical basis.The Opium War of 1842 was a war launched by Britain against China from 1840 to 1842,which ended in China's failure.The Opium War has not only marked the beginning of modern Chinese history,but also opened a new chapter in the history of modern Chinese people's resistance to foreign aggression.After the defeat of the war,China and Britain signed the first unequal treaty in Chinese history,that is,the Treaty of Nanking.Since then,China began to cede land to foreign countries,pay reparations and negotiate tariffs with foreigners.At the same time,China began to degenerate into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society,losing its independent status,and the natural economy began to disintegrate.It can be concluded that the outbreak of the Opium War and the signing of the Treaty of Nanking have an important impact on the development of China's history,society and even the world.In recent years,there has been many scholars who have done a lot of researches on the signing background,signing process and the influence of the Treaty of Nanking.However,insufficient attention has been paid to the treaty itself and its translation.The Treaty of Nanking is signed on the basis of the huge power differential between China and Britain and the translators are all from Britain.As a result,it is inevitable that the Britain side will take advantage of its power to adopt certain translation strategies to achieve its own goals in the process of translation.Accordingly,the translation of this treaty can be viewed from the perspective of power differential.However,few scholars have studied the translation of the Treaty of Nanking based on this view.Therefore,this paper has selected ten examples,aims at exploring the translation strategies adopted by translators and the reasons in the translation of this treaty from the angle of power differential.In addition,this paper will further analyze how British imperialism further accelerated its colonial expansion in China through translation.At the same time,this paper will also list the influence of the translation of the Treaty of Nanking on China.Through study,it can be concluded that in the translation of the Treaty of Nanking,the British translators have mainly adopted two translation strategies: domestication and foreignization.The reason for adopting domestication translation is to make it easier for the rulers of Qing Dynasty to accept this unequal treaty and obtain extra benefits.The purpose of foreignization is to improve the international status of Britain and to import British culture into China.Both domestication and foreignization are the means by which Britain manipulates translation with power differential to achieve its own goals and gain more benefits.At the same time,the translation strategies adopted by the translator have expanded the power of Britain,further accelerated the colonial process of Britain in China,and also affected the reshaping of international relations.This paper studies the translation of the Treaty of Nanking from the perspective of power differential,which not only reveals how imperialism achieves its goals by using translation,but also provides a new perspective for the study of the Treaty of Nanking.In addition,this paper also hopes to provide some references for future generations to study postcolonial translation theory,thus promoting the development of this theory in China.