Discursive Mediation in Translation: Living History and Its Chinese Translations

This book explores the actual process of mediation operation in the translation process and the interaction between mediation and social structure. It defines mediation in translation in a parameterized manner, characterizing the linguistic properties of mediation for ease of mediation identification. On this basis, it puts forward an integrated systematic approach to map out mediation operation at the text level and discuss the interactive relationship between mediation and social structure, with a view to unveiling how the source text is altered for the purpose of power balance in the translation process. It is a key read for those interested in better understanding of how translators mediate in the translation process so as to maneuver a text to achieve a certain purpose, thereby increasing mediation efficiency and avoiding potential pitfalls in mediation operation. It will be of interest to students and scholars in translation studies, professional translators, as well as those working in language and culture, intercultural communication, and cultural studies.

Hui Wang is Associate Professor in Translation Studies, Department of Translation and Interpreting, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. Prior to joining XJTLU, she taught in the Department of Translation, Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include discourse analysis, multimodality and translation, Web localization, media translation, as well as corpus-based translator training.