| This study is an empirical study of the Chinese-Korean compiled texts in the e-China Issue,a section of the official website of the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs dedicated to sharing information about China at home and abroad.The study aims to provide an interpretation of the construction and dissemination of China’s image in Korea from a translation perspective,and to expand compilation theory based on empirical findings.The main questions to be addressed in this study are as follows:What is the compilation strategies adopted by the "e-China Issue" column?In what ways do the writers behind the column intervene in the production of translations?What are the characteristics of the translations and the images of China presented in them?What is the degree of fidelity of the translations and what are the factors that influence their production?How does the study of the compilation process of the column expand the interpretation of compilation theory and what are the implications for China’s foreign affairs work?The first chapter of this study introduces the theories on which the study is based,explaining their application in translation studies and their significance for solving the key problems of the study.The second chapter introduces the framing and agenda-setting theories in communication studies,summarizing the framing and formal strategies of the column in the compilation process.The third chapter is the core of the study,mainly guided by translation theories,examining the main choices and strategies used by translators in the compilation practice(extracting,sequencing,merging,summarizing and transliterating)that can be used in the compilation process,which can have a great impact on the presentation of the translated text,and discusses their use and effects in relation to translation examples.Chapter 4 is based on the results of qualitative and quantitative,diachronic and ephemeral analyses,revealing the factors behind the discourse,exploring the power relations and value system implied inside and outside the discourse,and analyzing the translation strategy bias and the causes of the translation of the column text.Chapter 5 returns to compilation theory,reviewing the compilation path of the column from the perspective of encoding and decoding theory,and interpreting and improving the compilation theory on the basis of empirical research.The study finds that the gap between the translated and original texts of the "e-China Issue"column is the result of the compiler’s conscious "manipulation" of the compiled text,which is influenced by the change of the translated language,and the presentation of the "Chinese image" in the Chinese and Korean texts.The presentation of the "image of China" in the Chinese and Korean texts may also vary to varying degrees.Most of the texts are compiled in such a way that the readability,organization and logic of the content are significantly improved,which helps the reader to grasp the key information and thus understand the different aspects of China’s development.Yet some "manipulations" can take the translation in the opposite direction of the original,breaking the original logic,presenting a negative context,shifting the focus of the text,and preventing readers from receiving the true voice of China and seeing the positive side of China.Specifically,this "manipulation" can be seen in how the column presents the translation and rewrites the content.In terms of presentation,the column first controls the topics involved through the screening of the text in the pre-translation stage,while setting up statements that imply the objectivity of the translated content,inserting suggestive in-text symbols and hiding information in the original text,reconstructing the structure of the discourse,and using cognitive properties to pave the way for effective communication of the translated content.In most of the texts,these modes of presentation can help readers capture the main points effectively and relieve the pressure of reading,but there are also instances of misplaced emphasis and intentionally guided translations,which may abuse readers’ trust,create a negative context,and solidify readers’ inaccurate impression of China.The "manipulation" of the presentation of the translation ultimately serves the content.In terms of content rewriting,the basic and core compilation method is extracts.In terms of effectiveness,the translators’ use of compilation methods is generally beneficial to the effective dissemination of China-related information in the original text,but they can also be used as a ’sword’ to create room for misinterpretation.In comparison,the column is more comprehensive in its restoration of information in the section on China’s foreign relations,but the gap between the translation and the original text is actually greater because of the high use of excerpts and translations.Excerpts can ’hide’ information that the translator does not want to present,and translations facilitate the provision of a reasonable space for ’making something out of nothing’.The possibility of misinterpretation of this part of the text is therefore higher.In addition,some of the translations not only intentionally weaken or highlight certain aspects of China’s image,but also intentionally maintain or embellish the image of major European countries and America,led by the US and bound to Korea’s interests,in the discourse text.The study found that the compilation strategies,the fidelity of the translation and the"image of China" presented therein are directly related to the factors that influence the production of the translation,which mainly follow the values and policies of the current Korean government on China’s development,China-Korea relations,China-US and Korea-US relations.The external power relations represented by military,interest alliances and ideologies,the value system shared by the Korean nation,and the translators can also play an important role in the presentation of the translations and the construction of the "Chinese image".Based on the empirical research,the study restores the general compilation strategies by combining coding and decoding theories,suggesting that in compilation research,the compiler is a triple-role decoder of the original work,an editor of the original work and the translation,and a coder of the translation,and that all aspects of compilation are influenced by the complex background knowledge behind it;the recognition of different cultural identities can interfere with the compiler’s way of translating,so that the translation can be separated from the original text.The purpose of compilation can give the compiler the right to"manipulate" the text,while the professionalism of the translator and his adherence to the morality of translation are the bottom line of his exercise of "manipulation".The study is an attempt to actively integrate translation studies with other multidisciplinary disciplines such as linguistics,image studies and communication studies,and the selected corpus has advantages in terms of novelty,comprehensiveness,timeliness,and it is explanatory for the assessment of the compilers’ involvement.The study provides a multi-dimensional analysis of the performance and causes of the translations of the "e-China Issue" column on the official website of the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs,optimizes the simplistic attribution approach of previous studies,and has practical significance from the perspective of systematically examining the construction and dissemination of "China’s image"in Korea,as well as enriching the empirical research results of Sino-Korean compilation studies,and expanding compilation theory. |
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