Visiting elements thought to be “inactive”: non-human actors in Arthur Waley’s translation of Journey to the West

Luo, Wenyan; Zheng, Binghan

Abstract

This paper applies actor–network theory (ANT) to study the non-human agents that participate in the translation and publication process of Monkey, an English translation of the Chinese classic Xi You Ji. The materials used consist mainly of the letters exchanged between the publisher George Allen & Unwin, the translator Arthur Waley, and the jacket and title page designer Duncan Grant. Moreover, the “Preface” of the translation written by the translator himself and the publisher’s autobiography are referenced as additional sources of information. The research reveals two groups of entities which act as what ANT scholars term as “non-human actors”. The first group consists of texts, more specifically, the “Preface” to Monkey and some letters exchanged between Waley as a translator and Unwin as a publisher, which reveals the reasons of re-translating Monkey and the translation strategy used. The second group includes the Second World War and the influenza epidemic in the 1940s that impeded the reprinting of Monkey. The paper concludes that, in addition to human actors, non-human actors that have also actively exerted influences on both the process and the outcome of a major translation project deserve to receive more attention when looking at translation as a social activity.

Citation

Luo, W., & Zheng, B. (2017). Visiting elements thought to be “inactive”: non-human actors in Arthur Waley’s translation of Journey to the West. Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies, 4(3), 253-265. https://doi.org/10.1080/23306343.2017.1370060

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 18, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Sep 14, 2017
• Publication Date: 2017
• Deposit Date: Sep 14, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 14, 2019
• Journal: Asia Pacific translation & intercultural studies : official journal of the Asia-Pacific forum on translation and intercultural studies.
• Print ISSN: 2330-6343
• Electronic ISSN: 2330-6351
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 253-265
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23306343.2017.1370060
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1349127