Translating 'Nation' in Late Qing China: The Discourse and Power of Nation in the Remaking of Chinese Society, 1895-1911

Cao, Qing

Abstract

Nation as a translated concept must be understood within this backdrop of rapid, volatile and often violent changes around the turn of the 20th century in the last decade of the Qing Empire. There were two major phases of translation in late Qing, paralleling two waves of external conflicts. The first was the 1860–1900 period, in which a total of 555 books were translated—five times more than the first half of the century. The second phase of translation occurred during the last decade of the Qing Dynasty, from 1900 to the 1911 Xinhai Revolution. It is important to note the conceptual transfer from the West to China, however, is different from other Asian countries. Late Qing anti-establishment forces did not overlook the idea of guomin. Richter argues that the understanding of translation as intercultural communication is flawed by inequalities of power in colonial or semi-colonial settings.

Citation

Cao, Q. (2021). Translating 'Nation' in Late Qing China: The Discourse and Power of Nation in the Remaking of Chinese Society, 1895-1911. In A. Almanna, & C. Gu (Eds.), Translation as a Set of Frames: Ideology, Power, Discourse, Identity & Representation (193-208). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003024828

• Online Publication Date: Jul 15, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Nov 14, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 15, 2023
• Publisher: Routledge
• Pages: 193-208
• Series Title: Routledge Studies in Language and Identity
• Edition: 1st
• Book Title: Translation as a Set of Frames: Ideology, Power, Discourse, Identity & Representation
• Chapter Number: 13
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003024828
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1626962
• Publisher URL: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003024828-13/translating-nation-late-qing-china-qing-cao
• Contract Date: Nov 14, 2020