Publications

Publication details [#33724]

Publication type
Article in Special issue
Publication language
English
Title as subject

Abstract

This paper calls for a reconsideration of transitivity as a useful analytical tool in descriptive translation studies, especially for the investigation of the translation of agency. This paper returns to transitivity analysis for its continued relevance to TS, especially for those interested in uncovering the way agency, ideology, characterization and narrative are manifested in text. This paper incorporates new linguistic methodologies of analysing transitivity in combination with additional linguistic systems of voice, theme, and modality because this combination allows for a more holistic view of transitivity. Focusing on the translation of Mao’s agency at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in Chang’s politically volatile autobiography, Wild Swans, it has found dramatic shifts in the characterization of Mao in the Chinese translation by Pu Zhang, published in Taiwan, which alters the overall narrative. This paper proposes a categorization of equivalences and shifts of linguistic agency based on a text-based analysis, thus contributing to a more systematic categorisation of the translation of agency.
Source : Based on abstract in journal