Abstract
This study investigates how “China” and “the Chinese people” are represented in two Chinese translations of Peter Hessler’s River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (2001) from an imagological perspective. The research integrates imagology and translation studies to examine how translation mediates the reconstruction of national images when a Western-authored text about China is reintroduced to Chinese readers. Specifically, it compares 江城 (Li Xueshun, 2011) and 消失中的江城 (Wu Meizhen, 2006), produced in distinct cultural and political contexts across the Taiwan Strait. Drawing upon Tan Zaixi’s theory of back-translation and the imagological frameworks of Daniel-Henri Pageaux and Joep Leerssen, the study employs a threefold analytical model encompassing textual, intertextual, and contextual dimensions. The textual analysis focuses on linguistic and stylistic choices that shape the portrayal of China and its people; the intertextual analysis examines paratextual elements such as translators’ prefaces and reviews; and the contextual analysis explores external factors including censorship, publishing norms, and audience expectations. By combining these approaches, the study reveals how translation strategies—such as restoration and reconstruction—mediate the transformation of China’s image between the source and target cultures. It argues that each translation reflects differing ideological and cultural positions, resulting in distinct representations of China’s national image. The research contributes to interdisciplinary dialogue between imagology and translation studies, highlighting translation as a critical site of cultural negotiation and image construction in cross-cultural communication.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2026 Special Focus—The Image as Advocate: Shaping Cultural Conversations
KEYWORDS
Keywords: Imagology; Translation Studies; River Town; National Image; Back Translation
