Loading...

Table of Content

    28 April 2023, Volume 23 Issue 2 Previous Issue    Next Issue
    For Selected: Toggle Thumbnails
    Articles
    A Review of Linguistic Semiotics
    WANG Mingyu
    2023, 23 (2):  5-25.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.001
    Abstract ( 281 )   HTML ( 7 )   PDF (3121KB) ( 156 )  

    The concept of semiotics was first proposed by F. de Saussure, which foreshadowed the emergence of this branch of learning. Neither Saussure nor Pierce has made a specialized study of linguistic semiotics due to the limitations of the times and fields. In the world semiotics, there are still no systematic achievements in linguistic semiotics although this issue is occasionally touched upon. It is undoubtedly the series of studies by Chinese scholars that have really played a fundamental role in the building of linguistic semiotics. This paper probes into the historical development of linguistic semiotics from diachronic and synchronic perspectives, and sorts out 10 related issues on the basis of historical review, involving the concept of signs, the origin of semiotics, the debate between nominalism and realism, the boundary of semiotics, the connections between linguistics and semiotics, the research object of linguistic semiotics, the prominent features of linguistic semiotics, the basic construction of linguistic semiotics, the contribution of Chinese linguistic semiotics and the rise of the fourth realm of semiotics. Linguistic semiotics is a rising interdisciplinary field, which aims to study linguistic signs and linguistics with semiotic methods. It has not been established for a long time and still requires our thorough exploration and preservation.

    References | Related Articles | Metrics
    On the Significance of the “Hearted-communication”:Starting from the Puzzling Problems in the Construction of Transknowletology
    CAI Xinle
    2023, 23 (2):  26-39.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.002
    Abstract ( 173 )   HTML ( 8 )   PDF (2190KB) ( 145 )  

    Transknowletology, with its achievements comparable with An Anthology of Chinese Discourse on Translation by Cheung, has become a school of thought. Yet recently established as it is, it may have led to the following troubles: (1) meta-knowledge is still to be probed into, to the result that (2) the relationship between truth and knowledge has not been paid attention to; and (3) with the binary opposition between subject and object deconstructed in postmodernism, the subjectivity concerning translation is to be reconsidered. And (4), as epistemology is not what Chinese philosophy is good at, abiding by Western thought, the school is expected to cope with the above problems. As for the book compiled by Cheung, as it also does not go by Chinese thought, it is perennially undecided on whether the Pre-Qin discourse on translation is “fundamental ideas” of translation studies. This paper, with these issues taken into consideration, attempts to reveal, with a corresponding analysis that Chinese thought as the source of translation theory can be verified only when we return to Ruism. The way to realize it is to enlarge the notion of translation as to bring in the idea of hearted-communication (通tong) to promote meta-translation in its direction. And the paper expounds the notion centering on the statement of Master Kong: “I can reach above though I learn below.”

    References | Related Articles | Metrics
    An Analysis of the Multi-Dimensional Roles and Impacts of the Translator from the Perspective of Transknowletology
    LIANG Linxin, WANG Di
    2023, 23 (2):  40-48.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.003
    Abstract ( 291 )   HTML ( 7 )   PDF (1296KB) ( 206 )  

    Knowledge is generated based on human beings’ understanding of things. Through translation, local knowledge is shared among all mankind. Under the innovative integration of translation and knowledge, Transknowletology reshapes translation through the lens of knowledge. From the perspective of Transknowletology, local knowledge becomes international via translation. As the medium that internationalizes local knowledge and accelerates the integration between knowledge and translation, translator plays multi-dimensional roles, including the receptor, owner, digger, processor and developer, in the entire process of knowledge translation. Under the intertwined functions of these roles, knowledge is spread across country borders, expanded beyond its original systems and engaged into the interaction with society. As a result, knowledge is broadened, enriched and transformed. Translator is the carrier of knowledge sharing. As knowledge is absorbed, evaluated and elucidated through translation, it also evolves.

    References | Related Articles | Metrics
    Differentiating Translated Knowledge and Reconstructed Culture in Figurists’ Translation of Yijing in the Light of Transknowletology
    LIN Feng, YUE Feng
    2023, 23 (2):  49-57.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.004
    Abstract ( 179 )   HTML ( 2 )   PDF (1495KB) ( 120 )  

    According to Transknowletology proposed by Professor Yang Feng, in the translated text cultural messages may have been added by the translator and put in the place supposed to be solely occupied by translated knowledge, which hides the nature of knowledge transference of translation from view. This point of view exposes the fact that what is expected to be translated in the source text is knowledge, but the way the translator treats knowledge may be cultural reconstruction. This throws light on the difference between translated knowledge and reconstructed cultural messages. In this article, studies on cases of Figurism show how Jesuits reconstructed culture while translating knowledge to serve their purpose. They decomposed Chinese characters into separate parts and imagined their symbolic meanings, compared Chinese sages to Christian prophets, associated images of the hexagrams with biblical revelations, and rendered the texts of Chinese classics through paraphrase.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics
    A Study on the Early Russian Translation of “Composed on My Boat on Little Cold Food Festival” from the Perspective of Transknowletology
    JING Ruge
    2023, 23 (2):  58-66.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.005
    Abstract ( 162 )   HTML ( 5 )   PDF (1346KB) ( 140 )  

    The introduction of Chinese poetic culture into Russia began with Tang poetry, and Du Fu was among the first Tang poets to be translated into Russia. Russian poets’ translation and assimilation of Du Fu’s poems are essentially transferring, migrating and reconstructing Chinese knowledge in the Russian cultural context. From the perspective of transknowletology, the paper, through a comparison between the early Russian translation of Du Fu’s “Composed on My Boat on Little Cold Food Festival” with its back translation, analyzes the transknowletological approach adopted by Russian poets in translating Du Fu's poems in the early 20th century, and discusses the peculiarities of the dissemination of Du Fu’s poetry in Russia as local knowledge so as to gain a deep understanding of the important role of knowledge globalization.

    References | Related Articles | Metrics
    Philosophy Inheritance: The Language Engineering Path of Translation Conception of Zhang Boran
    ZHANG Di, CHENG Lulu
    2023, 23 (2):  74-81.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.006
    Abstract ( 197 )   HTML ( 6 )   PDF (1310KB) ( 119 )  

    On the basis of the research of linguistic theory, it is the mission of language engineering to develop an information system taking natural language as medium, which is exactly the language engineering vision of translation put forward by Professor Zhang Boran. First, we deeply explore the speech recognition and discuss the semantic disambiguation by introducing phonetic chunking to improve the accuracy of speech recognition. Second, we propose a scheme to construct a terminology corpus and discuss the path of terminology corpus assisting translation. From the perspective of linguistics, AI machine translation is explored to provide enlightenment for the study of language engineering path and directions for the study of AI interpretation and translation.

    References | Related Articles | Metrics
    Translation of Shanghai Culture Terms from Chinese to English in the Light of “Going Global”
    ZHANG Caidi, SHANG Xin
    2023, 23 (2):  82-89.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.007
    Abstract ( 337 )   HTML ( 10 )   PDF (1332KB) ( 187 )  

    In the context of “Chinese culture going global”, the translation of Shanghai cultural terms will promote the dissemination of Shanghai culture, enhance the cultural soft power and discursive power of Shanghai and even China. There are a lot of varieties of Shanghai cultural terms, most of them are culturally loaded words. But it doesn’t have a huge scale and a standardized system, and lacks cultural features. Therefore, Chinese translators should transform from “translating the world” to “translating China”, and adopt the macro-level principle of “Foreignization Dominant and Domestication Auxiliary” and the micro-level principle of “Domestication in Language and Foreignization in Culture”. They mean foreignization is the main factor, supplemented by domestication. Language dimension applies domestication principle and cultural dimension applies foreignization principle. According to the translation criteria of “Five Conveyances”, respectively and jointly usage of four translation methods of literal translation, transliteration, paraphrase and free translation, three translation techniques of addition, shift and combination, it provides a guidance for the translation practice of Shanghai cultural terms, thus effectively disseminating Shanghai culture.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics
    Nature of Translation from the Perspective of Machine Translation
    HU Jian, FAN Zirui
    2023, 23 (2):  90-96.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.008
    Abstract ( 353 )   HTML ( 19 )   PDF (1168KB) ( 216 )  

    The development and application of machine translation provides a machine-translation perspective to reflect and shed light on the three key questions of translation in nature, i.e. translator, process, and product. In this weak AI era, as the translator overlaps between machine and human, machine translation facilitates the division of labour in translation but generalizes the translator’s identity, proving the great value of human translation; as translation process dichotomizes between human translation’s multiple transformation and machine translation’s probabilistic matching, their differences may be rooted in their different translation views: the former holds a dynamic outside-inside view of translation, while the latter adopts a static inside-outside view of translation; as translation products serve functionally and connotationally, machine translation can achieve the intratextual functions, but not necessarily convey extratextual connotations. Too much attention paid to the function of machine translation at the cost of human translation’s connotations can result in linguistic “pollution” and language sense “lossing”.

    References | Related Articles | Metrics
    Pursuing the Great Harmony in Aesthetic Appreciation: Foreign Literature Education and Chinese National Consciousness Cultivation
    LI Yun, ZHOU Pingdi
    2023, 23 (2):  97-105.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.009
    Abstract ( 151 )   HTML ( 7 )   PDF (1339KB) ( 170 )  

    How can foreign literature education impose the cultivation of Chinese national consciousness? Will it endanger literary autonomy, academic independence, and the development of foreign language disciplines? These doubts are probably the underlying reasons for the silence of the foreign literary community on the issue of national consciousness. However, we should realize that the Western autonomy theory arises because its limited national consciousness limits the ideal of literature to the vast. Chinese national consciousness, on the contrary, contains the consciousness of human community and seeks the Great Harmony of the world, which is consistent with the infinity of the literary ideal. In this regard, foreign literature teaching naturally includes the cultivation of Chinese national consciousness, because it stimulates the aesthetic sensus communis and promotes the dialogue between aesthetic and ethical ideals, searching for the ethical foundation of the future human community. In short, it seeks the Great Harmony in aesthetic appreciation.

    References | Related Articles | Metrics
    Constructing an Integrated Teaching Mode of Moral and Political Education in Translation Courses
    ZHANG Jing
    2023, 23 (2):  106-112.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.010
    Abstract ( 287 )   HTML ( 2 )   PDF (1657KB) ( 323 )  

    The research on moral and political education in translation course has been an emerging hotspot in recent years, but the mature teaching mode or teaching design has not yet been formed. By sorting out the requirements,this paper states that in order to implement high-quality moral and political education in translation course, it is essential to clarify the integrated relationship between value guidance and skill training, content learning and language learning, course resource and information technology. Based on the Content and Language Integrated Learning theory, this paper subdivides the teaching elements and process of moral and political education in translation course, and uses the Multilingual Database Platform of Xi Jinping on Governance as the teaching resource to construct the integrated teaching mode, then illustrates the specific teaching process and methods of this mode in the hope of providing a practical way for moral and political education in translation courses.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics
    A Comparative Analysis of Empirical Studies on Foreign Language Education at Home and Abroad
    XU Jinfen, YANG Jiaqi
    2023, 23 (2):  113-123.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.011
    Abstract ( 599 )   HTML ( 20 )   PDF (1768KB) ( 344 )  

    The present paper reviews the empirical studies on foreign language education published in SSCI and CSSCI journals from 2009 to 2022 using the bibliometric analysis tool CiteSpace. After giving an overview of this research area based on the annual publication status, the paper first examines the research subjects, contexts, topics, methods, and theoretical perspectives of the field in China and abroad, and then reveals the research hotspots and deduces the future trends for the field based on the data in the past five years. The findings are as follows: (1) Fruitful results have been achieved both at home and abroad in terms of the empirical investigations into foreign language education, but the research in China is currently lagging behind; (2) Insufficient attention has been paid to primary school students and foreign languages other than English (LOTEs) by both domestic and international researchers; (3) Empirical studies in SSCI and CSSCI journals have focused on various microscopical issues, their research methods and data collection tools are diversified, and they tend to employ similar theoretical frameworks; (4) With the continuous development of information technology, both domestic and foreign scholars are paying increasing attention to technology-empowered foreign language education. Based on the above findings, suggestions on future research are put forward.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics
    On the Path and Motivation of Talent Cultivation Goals of English Majors at Foreign Language Universities During the Past 70 Years
    XIU Wei, WANG Xuemei
    2023, 23 (2):  124-134.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.012
    Abstract ( 274 )   HTML ( 3 )   PDF (1701KB) ( 179 )  

    This paper, based on the theory of foreign language education planning, reviews and analyzes the diachronic changes of the BA English majors’ programme goals in foreign language universities at the national and school level in the past 70 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The findings illustrate that the programme goals vary from instrumental goals dominated by language knowledge and skills, to compound goals which emphasized knowledge and abilities equally, and then to a diversified and integrated goals focusing on competence; the paradigm of planning presents a trajectory from language instrumental orientation to cultural orientation and then to resource orientation; the focused competence shows the characteristics of transition change from static to dynamic, from the present to life-long, and from one dimension to multiple dimensions. The orientation of the language education planning is always to serve the country’s economic and social development and to safeguard national interests; and it also reveals the planners’ changes in understanding the pragmatic values and integrating humanistic values, and shows various motivations, such as communication, instrumentality, identity, economy, and image.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics
    An Embodied-Cognitive Blending Interpretation to Possible World Semantics
    WANG Tianyi
    2023, 23 (2):  135-143.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.013
    Abstract ( 233 )   HTML ( 10 )   PDF (1360KB) ( 82 )  

    “Possible World Semantics”, the core of Intensional Semantics, has greatly expanded the philosopher’s vision, thus drawing widespread attentions of academic field, but Kripke has not explained its cognitive origin. From the perspective of Embodied-Cognitive Linguistics, this paper tries to explain the cognitive motivation of Possible World Semantics theoretically by combining Embodied-Cognitive View of Language and Conceptual Blending Theory. Conceptual Blending Theory has been designed to explain the linguistic phenomenon of “1+1> 2”, but this paper tries to use it for interpreting the cognitive mechanism of Possible World Semantics by revising Conceptual Blending Theory from three aspects: the experientism of input spaces, the multiplicity of the input spaces and the times of blending.

    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics
    A Contextualist Account of Contemporary Philosophy of Language: A Case Study of Investigation into François Recanatis Philosophy of Language
    ZHU Xiaozhen, LI Jincai
    2023, 23 (2):  147-153.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.014
    Abstract ( 244 )   HTML ( 5 )   PDF (1114KB) ( 160 )  

    French philosopher François Recanati enjoys a high academic status in the field of philosophy of language and philosophy of mind. His philosophical thoughts are broad and profound, exerting strong influence in the fields. As an internationally recognized representative of contextualism, Recanati’s contextualist stance permeates his interpretations of various philosophical topics and linguistic phenomena. Liu Longgen and Mei Xuan’s monograph, Investigation into François Recanatis Philosophy of Language (2021), is a systematic introduction and discussion of Recanati’s major theoretical contributions to the philosophy of language and philosophy of mind from both diachronic and synchronic dimensions. This paper expounds Recanati’s innovations on the classic philosophical theories and his explorations of the core issues in philosophy of language and mind from the perspective of contextualism, and thus portrays the landscape of contemporary philosophy of language.

    References | Related Articles | Metrics
    Symbolist Threefold Scenes : A Case Study of The Study of Western Literary Trends in the 19th Century
    HUANG Wei
    2023, 23 (2):  154-158.  DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2023.02.015
    Abstract ( 242 )   HTML ( 3 )   PDF (748KB) ( 77 )  

    The study of Symbolist literature has endured for a long time, but a complete history of Symbolist literary thoughts is still in absence in domestic researches of this field. The book Symbolism, the fifth volume of The Study of Western Literary Trends in the 19th Century, edited by Jiang Chengyong, comprehensively presents the historical evolution of symbolist literary groups, puts the history of Symbolist literature in depth from the perspectives of cosmopolitanism and nationalism, and reveals both the destructive and reconstructive attributes of Symbolism. This paper mainly analyzes the Symbolist threefold scenes presented in this monograph, and thus discusses the new research basis and research trend of Symbolist literary thoughts.

    References | Related Articles | Metrics