On Tanslation And Circulation Of External Publicity Books (1949-1976)

It is held that the translation of external publicity books was still a fledglingenterprise from the years of1949to1965, and the translation industry during theCultural Revolution was fruitless and twisted; therefore, it is regarded as valueless toinvestigate the translation of external publicity books during the aforementioned twoperiods. So far, no thorough and systematic research in this field has been carried out.The author of this paper carries out a thorough investigation and summarizes thelessons and experience from the translation and dissemination of external publicitybooks with a view to providing suggestions to further improve the communicationbetween China and the outside world.The study of the human factors is of great significance and an investigation intothe roles of the patrons, translators and editors can enhance the understanding of theprocess of translating external publicity books. From the years of1949to1976, thepatrons of the translation activities concerning external publicity books consist ofindividuals in power, core government institutions and publishing houses. Theconstitution of the patrons undergoes constant change due to the complicatedpolitical setting. The patrons can be divided into three categories and they make thepolicy, deliver it and organize the translation activities in accordance with the policy.In a word, the patrons are the instructors and organizers of the translation activitiesand they can exert influence on different matters such as staff recruitment, thetraining of translators, and the selection of source text and translation strategies, etc.Generally, the editors enjoy a higher status as compared with the translators, and it isespecially true during the years from1949to1965. The editors are responsible forthe selection of source text and the editing work while the translator simply do thetranslation.The translation policies and systems are the products of the ideology and poetics,and they are subject to change, which reflects the change in politics and foreignrelationships. The editorial policies guide the translation activities and the translation of Mao Tse-tung’s works and other political works is given priority. The translationcriterion of ‘faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance’ is employed in the translationof external publicity books. Obviously, this criterion has its limitations and it does notwork with all text types. The awareness of text types is formed, which is a supplementto the translation criterion of ‘faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance’ and itguarantees the translation quality. The editors do all the editing work before thesource text is handed to the translator and authority of the source text is not to bechallenged. It ensures the political correctness of the source text as well as the targettext and helps the patrons control the ideology of the target text. However, theChinese editors do not know the readers abroad well enough, and the translators aretoo rigid in translating the text, which inevitably reduces the effect of the translationand circulation. The system of cooperation between the editors and the translatorsrequires the editors and translators to cooperate with each other closely to selectChinese texts that are suitable for external publicity and rewrite the texts that are notsuitable. The copyright system is also influenced by the ideology and countries ofdifferent ideologies are dealt with differently when it comes to the copyright.The patrons of the translation of external publicity books control firmly theselection of source texts, trying to make the selected texts conforming to themainstream political ideology. A translator has to enjoy certain status and qualities tobe translated. Top priority is given to the translation of the works of revolutionaryleaders as well as the government leaders because the primary goal of the translationof external publicity books is to introduce Mao Tse-tung’s thoughts and China’srevolutionary experience to the outside world. The family background of a writer aswell as his or her attitude towards the masses is also a decisive factor in decidingwhether he or she is qualified to be translated or not. The patrons, ideology andpoetics play an important role in selecting source texts. Generally speaking, a selectedtext should reflect Mao Tzetung’s thoughts, rebuke the old society or pay tribute toChina’s revolution and construction as well as the masses. The criterion for textselection changes with the poetics and the mainstream political ideology.The production and circulation of external publicity books is of the utmost importance because it is closely related to the effect of publicity. In general, if atranslated text conforms to the ideology and meets the expectations of the readers, itwill be well accepted. The target, channels as well as the methods of the productionand circulation of the external publicity books have unique features during this period.The production and circulation of the external publicity books is influenced byvarious factors, some are controllable, while some are uncontrollable.In summary, the translation activity is guided by the patrons, ideology, poetics aswell as translation norms, and it is also influenced by such factors as editors,translators, translation policies and systems, reader’s expectations, etc. These factorsare closely related, contributing together to the effect of external publicity. It is safe tosay that the effect of external publicity does not rely solely on the quality oftranslation. Experience and lessons should be drawn from the translation activitiesduring this period. Attention should be paid to the training of translators, the selectionof source text and the control of translation quality, and emphasis should also beplaced on the production and circulation of external publicity books.