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The Dominant Cognitive Processing Route in Literary and Subtitle Translation: A Case Study of Wolf Totem

Received: 8 September 2020    Accepted: 19 September 2020    Published: 30 September 2020
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Abstract

This article draws on a neurofunctional theory of bilingual processing and its application to translation to investigate the dominant cognitive processing route in the literary and subtitle translation and also differences of the dominant patterns between the two translation modes, specifically those involving Chinese-English language pairs. This general investigation has two specific aims: 1) to extract the translation strategy patterns at the textual level and 2) to determine the dominant processing route at the cognitive level by linking the strategies to processing routes. Building on naturalistic translational data, a bilingual corpus was self-built; the linguistic features of the translated products were analyzed. The current study analyzes the renderings of Chinese culture-specific items into English. The results suggest that the dominant processing pattern can be identified in both the literary and subtitle translation. Moreover, based on the empirical evidence, it is found that the meaning-based processing route dominates both literary and subtitle translation. This article concludes that the contextual-intentional-conceptual system handles culture-specific concepts through conceptual mediation, which is required in the translation process due to contextual and pragmatic factors. The issue of cognitive processing routes that may take place in the translator’s brain is of significance to translation process research specifically and translation studies in general.

Published in International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation (Volume 6, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.17
Page(s) 96-102
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Culture-Specific Items, Wolf Totem, Meaning-Based Processing Route, Form-Based Processing Route

References
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[3] Barik, H. C. (1975). Simultaneous interpretation: Qualitative and linguistic data. Language and Speech, 18 (3), 272–297.
[4] Chou, I. C., Lei, V. L. C., Li, D., & He, Y. (2016). Translational ethics from a cognitive perspective: A corpus-assisted study on multiple English-Chinese translations. In T. Seruya & J. M. Justo (Eds.), Rereading schleiermacher: translation, cognition and culture (pp. 159–173). Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer.
[5] Chomsky, N. (2000). New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind. Cambridge: CUP.
[6] Christoffels, I. K., & de Groot, A. M. B. (2005). Simultaneous interpreting: A cognitive perspective. In J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. De Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches (pp. 454–479). Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.
[7] Dam, H. V. (1998). Lexical similarity vs lexical dissimilarity in consecutive interpreting: A product-oriented study of form-based vs meaning-based interpreting. The Translator, 4 (1), 49–68.
[8] Dam, H. V. (2001). On the option between form-based and meaning-based interpreting: The effect of source text difficulty on lexical target text form in simultaneous interpreting. The Interpreters’ Newsletter, 11, 27–55.
[9] De Groot, A. M. B. (1997). The cognitive study of translation and interpretation: Three approaches. In J. H. Danks, G. M. Shreve, S. B. Fountain, & M. K. McBeath (Eds.), Cognitive processes in translation and interpreting (pp. 25–56). Thousand Oaks/ London/New Delhi: Sage.
[10] De Groot, A. M. B. (2011). Language and cognition in bilinguals and multilinguals: An introduction. New York: Psychology Press.
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[13] Ge, L. (2011). A corpus-based study on translating humorous texts: A case study on the English translation of the Chinese novel “Fortress Besieged” by Ch’ien Chung-shu (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
[14] He, Y. (2004). Mapping culturally indigenous concepts in the translation process: A cognitive perspective. Journal of Translation Studies, 9, 33-50.
[15] He, Y. (2009). Translating alien sources from and into Chinese: What does the translator do, and why? In X. Luo & Y. He (Eds.), Translating China (pp. 207–232). Manchester: Multilingual Matters.
[16] He, Y. (2019). Translating and interpreting as bilingual processing: The theoretical framework. In Li, D., Victoria. Lei, & He. Y (eds.), Researching cognitive processes of translation (pp. 15-48). Singapore: Springer.
[17] Liu, X. (2018). How Do Interpreting Patterns Implicate Cognitive Processing Routes? Evidence from English vs Chinese Consecutive Interpreting, unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Macau, Macao, China.
[18] Liu, X., Li, D & He, Y. (Forthcoming). Form-based or Meaning-based: A Corpus-assisted Study of Processing Routes in Consecutive Interpreting.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Xiaodong Liu, Xiangyan Zhou. (2020). The Dominant Cognitive Processing Route in Literary and Subtitle Translation: A Case Study of Wolf Totem. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 6(3), 96-102. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.17

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    ACS Style

    Xiaodong Liu; Xiangyan Zhou. The Dominant Cognitive Processing Route in Literary and Subtitle Translation: A Case Study of Wolf Totem. Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Transl. 2020, 6(3), 96-102. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.17

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    AMA Style

    Xiaodong Liu, Xiangyan Zhou. The Dominant Cognitive Processing Route in Literary and Subtitle Translation: A Case Study of Wolf Totem. Int J Appl Linguist Transl. 2020;6(3):96-102. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.17,
      author = {Xiaodong Liu and Xiangyan Zhou},
      title = {The Dominant Cognitive Processing Route in Literary and Subtitle Translation: A Case Study of Wolf Totem},
      journal = {International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation},
      volume = {6},
      number = {3},
      pages = {96-102},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijalt.20200603.17},
      abstract = {This article draws on a neurofunctional theory of bilingual processing and its application to translation to investigate the dominant cognitive processing route in the literary and subtitle translation and also differences of the dominant patterns between the two translation modes, specifically those involving Chinese-English language pairs. This general investigation has two specific aims: 1) to extract the translation strategy patterns at the textual level and 2) to determine the dominant processing route at the cognitive level by linking the strategies to processing routes. Building on naturalistic translational data, a bilingual corpus was self-built; the linguistic features of the translated products were analyzed. The current study analyzes the renderings of Chinese culture-specific items into English. The results suggest that the dominant processing pattern can be identified in both the literary and subtitle translation. Moreover, based on the empirical evidence, it is found that the meaning-based processing route dominates both literary and subtitle translation. This article concludes that the contextual-intentional-conceptual system handles culture-specific concepts through conceptual mediation, which is required in the translation process due to contextual and pragmatic factors. The issue of cognitive processing routes that may take place in the translator’s brain is of significance to translation process research specifically and translation studies in general.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    T1  - The Dominant Cognitive Processing Route in Literary and Subtitle Translation: A Case Study of Wolf Totem
    AU  - Xiaodong Liu
    AU  - Xiangyan Zhou
    Y1  - 2020/09/30
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.17
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    JF  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
    JO  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
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    EP  - 102
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2472-1271
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.17
    AB  - This article draws on a neurofunctional theory of bilingual processing and its application to translation to investigate the dominant cognitive processing route in the literary and subtitle translation and also differences of the dominant patterns between the two translation modes, specifically those involving Chinese-English language pairs. This general investigation has two specific aims: 1) to extract the translation strategy patterns at the textual level and 2) to determine the dominant processing route at the cognitive level by linking the strategies to processing routes. Building on naturalistic translational data, a bilingual corpus was self-built; the linguistic features of the translated products were analyzed. The current study analyzes the renderings of Chinese culture-specific items into English. The results suggest that the dominant processing pattern can be identified in both the literary and subtitle translation. Moreover, based on the empirical evidence, it is found that the meaning-based processing route dominates both literary and subtitle translation. This article concludes that the contextual-intentional-conceptual system handles culture-specific concepts through conceptual mediation, which is required in the translation process due to contextual and pragmatic factors. The issue of cognitive processing routes that may take place in the translator’s brain is of significance to translation process research specifically and translation studies in general.
    VL  - 6
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Author Information
  • School of Foreign Studies, Hunan University of Humanities, Science and Technology, Loudi, China

  • School of Foreign Studies, Hunan University of Humanities, Science and Technology, Loudi, China

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