China's minority language translation policies (1949-present)

• Published in: Perspectives, studies in translatology studies in translatology, 2017-10, Vol.25 (4), p.540-555
• Main Authors: Li, Shuang, Qian, Duoxiu, Meylaerts, Reine
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cultural factors; language policy; Mandarin; Minority languages; modern China; Monolingualism; Multilingualism; Politics; Sociolinguistics; Translation policy; Translation theories
• ISSN: 0907-676X; 1747-6623
• DOI: 10.1080/0907676X.2016.1241286

Current studies on translation policy towards minority languages are largely confined to the Western context. This paper aims to investigate translation policy in modern China (1949-present) to cast a critical eye on its experiences in policy making, using examples from official regulations, existing studies, and personal networks. It is found that modern China's translation policy during the Hanyu monolingual period (1957-1977) is characterized by monolingualism and assimilationism, whereas translation policies during the first and second multilingual phases (1949-1957 and 1978-present) are featured by multilingualism both nationally and regionally. However, China's multilingualism emphasizes the promotion of Mandarin Chinese. It also reveals that discrepancies exist between translation management and practices. This descriptive study from a Chinese perspective will provide examples of translation policies in a cultural and linguistic context that is different from most Eurocentric studies, which helps to identify the regularities of translation policy in different contexts and contributes to the formulation of guidelines on a fair and sustainable translation policy. It is suggested that future translation policy studies should be conducted on an interdisciplinary basis, drawing upon both familiar subfields, such as translation theory and audiovisual translation studies, and other fields, such as political science, sociolinguistics, and anthropology.