The Persuasion Tendency In The Self-Translation Of Political Bestsellers From The Perspective Of Hovland’s Persuasion Model ——A Case Study Of The China Wave

Translation of important political texts has been an important channel to introduce China’s political system,policies and political ideas since 1949.As the work of C-E translation surpassed that of E-C translation for the first time in 2011,more efforts should be diverted to C-E translation to meet China’s high demand in international communications.Meanwhile,given the critical role of discourse in international communications,how to build China’s international discourse to create a good environment for China has been an important consideration for China’s political text translation.This thesis uses the qualitative approach to give an analysis of the English Version of The China Wave:Rise ofA Civilizational State,a political bestseller both inside and outside China which was self-translated by its author Zhang Weiwei.This thesis hopes to discuss the persuasion tendency and strategies reflected in The China Wave from the perspectives of the translator,readers and texts,as is indicated under the Hovland’s Persuasion Model,as the book is read across the world.This thesis found that:1.The translator of The China Wave himself has a degree of credibility which comes from his academic background,language competency and work experience.2.Four types of rewriting strategies are reflected during the self-translation,which includes omissions and additions,changes of tones and retention of culture-loaded words.The rewriting reflects multiple persuasion strategies,including enhancing topic familiarity,reducing readers’ suspicion,adjusting fear appeals and motivation appeals and using a bilingual approach to the key concepts of Chinese governance philosophy.3.In choosing translation strategies,Zhang Weiwei considered readers’ cultural background,the public opinion towards certain international affairs and tried to meet the ultimate demand of building China’s political discourse in the book.Through the analysis of The China Wave,this thesis has further explored a"persuasive perspective" to study the translation of political texts,and provides initial thoughts on what translation strategies and considerations should translators take in order to enhance China’s ability in building its international discourse.