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Translation and Interpreting Studies: Online-First Articles

How a translation impacts its translator

A case study of Timothy Richard’s Chinese translation of Looking Backward

ORCID logo | Southwest Minzu University | University of Leeds
The present article is a function-oriented case study within the framework of Descriptive Translation Studies, as developed by Gideon Toury, which posits translations as facts in the target culture where they interact with other works and influence them. The present article argues that a translation can have an impact on its translator whose relationship with the target culture is ambivalent. The British missionary Timothy Richard and his Chinese translation of Looking Backward is the case under investigation. Richard played multiple roles in late Qing China. He was a reformer as well as a missionary. His translation of Looking Backward influenced his own reform ideas, which in turn influenced the reformists in late Qing China.
Keywords: Timothy Richard, Looking Backward , Productive and Non-Productive Labor, The Historical Evidences of Christianity
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Richard’s major activities
    • Change of missionary strategies
    • Development of reform ideas
    • Change of source texts
  • The Historical Evidences of Christianity and Looking Backward
    • Reform ideas in The Historical Evidences of Christianity
    • Richard’s note
    • The influence of Looking Backward
  • The impact of Looking Backward on Productive and Non-Productive Labor
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
Published online: 1 December 2023
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.20044.guo
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