Academic Forum on the Functional Linguistics Approach to Translation Studies Closed Successfully
On November 6th-8th, 2020, the Academic Forum on the Functional Linguistics Approach to Translation Studies was held in No.6 Haiqin Building, Zhuhai Campus of Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU). Among the invited guests were Professor Huang Guowen, a well-known scholar of Systemic Functional Linguistics and Professor Zhang Meifang, a well-known scholar of Translation Studies. Scholars of Functional Linguistics and Translation Studies from major universities in China gathered here and carried out in-depth exchanges on translation studies from the viewpoint of Functional Linguistics Approach.
I. Review of the Opening Ceremony
At the beginning of the opening ceremony, Professor Chang Chenguang, Dean of School of International Studies (SIS) of SYSU, gave a speech and extended a warm welcome to the present teachers and students. “It is a very precious opportunity, in the post-epidemic era, for scholars from all over the country to gather here today for an academic exchange,” said Professor Chang. “I hope that we could learn from each other and grow together in a relaxed atmosphere.”
Then Professor Si Xianzhu, Dean of School of Interpreting and Translation, Beijing International Studies University (BISU), the co-organizer, also delivered an opening speech. He expressed gratitude to all the teachers who have guided and helped him. He also said that he cherished this opportunity and wished everyone could learn something from this forum.
In the end, Professor Chang Chenguang announced an official opening of this two-day academic forum in the warm applause.
Dean Chang Chenguang Delivering an Opening Speech
Professor Si Xianzhu Delivering an Opening Speech
Guests and Audience in the Opening Ceremony
II. Review of the Lectures and Presentations on Nov. 11th
Panel Ⅰ: Implications of Systemic Functional Linguistics for Translation Studies
The first speaker was Professor Huang Guowen from South China Agricultural University (SCAU). He delivered a keynote speech titled “My Pursuit of Translation Studies”. Professor Huang began by citing Hanyu’s well-known saying on learning and specialty, that is, “In pursuit of Truth, some may succeed earlier and others later, but specialized in different fields all shall have their own worth to be learnt from”. Professor Huang continued to elaborate on the “Truth” in foreign language studies and of the “specialty” in translation studies. With his efforts to integrate Systemic Functional Linguistics and Translation Studies over the past 20 years as examples, he showcased the influence of “Truth” and “specialty” on foreign language researchers. As widely acknowledge, Professor Huang’s unremitting efforts and achievements in academic research have been of great significance for the development of linguistics in China. Pointing out that “No man is an island entire of itself,” Professor Huang concluded his presentation by expressing his heartfelt gratitude to his instructors, colleagues and all those who had helped him.
Professor Huang Delivering a Keynote Speech
Next speaker was Professor Zhang Meifang from University of Macau (UM) who delivered a keynote speech entitled “Systemic Functional Linguistics in Translation Studies”. She pointed out that translatology is an interdisciplinary discipline which requires translators to respond flexibly to different situations using various methods. In her speech, she reviewed the major applications of systemic functional linguistics in translation over the past few decades and explored their relationship and their impact on foreign language teaching and society. Vivid examples were given timely to facilitate the understanding of relevant concepts. At the end, Professor Zhang reviewed her past efforts with gratitude and expressed a hope for more opportunities to communicate and cooperate with other scholars for common growth in the future.
Professor Zhang Delivering a Keynote Speech
Professor Si Xianzhu from BISU followed to give a report entitled “Translation Criticism: A Systemic Functional Linguistics Perspective”. He stated that translation, as a form of language use, complies with the theory of systemic functional linguistics and advocated that researchers carry out translation criticism and translation quality assessment within this theoretical framework.
Then, Professor Yu Hui from Beijing Normal University (BNU) delivered a report entitled “The Inspiration of Genre Research on Translation”. Guided by the theory of logical-semantic relations in clause complex in systemic functional linguistics, she put forward the concept of text-genre complex to explore the complex semantic relations in real discourse.
Professor Yang Bingjun from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) presented a report entitled “The English Translation of Specific Chinese Elements and Its Implications for Controversy over Non-Finiteness”. With the aid of corpus tools, Professor Yang made in-depth analysis of bilingual data in English and Chinese and found that the translator would unconsciously use English non-finite elements in their translation. The finding indicated that the corresponding elements in the original Chinese text also have the basic characteristics of non-finiteness.
Finally, Professor Wang Yong from Central China Normal University (CCNU) gave a report entitled “Several Issues in Academic Translation: Taking the English Translation of Modern Chinese Grammar as an Example”. Taking the English translation of Modern Chinese Grammar as an example, he discussed issues concerning how Chinese academic works are to be introduced to the world, including the choice of source texts, cooperation between translators of the native and the target languages, potential readers, and translation strategies.
Panel Ⅱ: Systemic Functional Linguistics and Translation Criticism
PanelⅡof the academic forum entitled “Systemic Functional Linguistics and Translation Criticism” was held as scheduled.
The first speaker of this panel was Professor Chen Yang from SCAU who delivered a report entitled “Functional Discourse Analysis and the Research of English Translation of The Analects of Confucius”. Using the framework of functional discourse analysis, Professor Chen analyzed the English translation of The Analects of Confucius and pointed out the problems that translators should pay attention to in the process of translation.
Next, a speech on “Concepts of ‘Function’ in Translation Studies” was presented by UM’s Professor Zhang Meifang and Dr. Qian Hong of Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC). They traced back to the origin and development of the concepts of “function” in translation, analyzed the similarities and differences of these concepts, and provided a clearer definition of “function” for researchers of translation studies.
Professor Pan Li of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GUFS) followed to give a report entitled “Mediation of Political Speeches in Media Translation: Discourse Analysis of Quotation and Evaluation of Chinese Political Metaphor in English Reports”. The report explored how metaphors in political speeches are mediated and accommodated in media translation and provided a reference for the future discourse analysis of media translation and the contextualized study of political metaphors and speech in media.
Dr. Wang Bo of SYSU and Dr. Ma Yuanyi of Guangdong Polytechnic of Science and Technology (GPST) jointly delivered a report entitled “Christian Matthiessen and Translation Viewed in Terms of Systemic Functional Linguistics”. This report introduced the application of Matthiessen’s “environment of translation” in translation and provided a variety of possibilities for future translation studies based on the authors’ interview with Matthiessen.
Panel Ⅲ: Multimodal Translation Research
Panel Ⅲ on the theme of “Multimodal Translation Research” was hosted by GUFS’s Professor Pan Li. Professor Zeng Lei from SYSU presented a report entitled “The Representational Meaning of Intersemiotic Translation of Projection in Sinology Comics: Taking the Comic Version of the Analects of Confucius as an Example”. Based on the theory of functional grammar and visual grammar, Professor Zeng discussed the representational meaning of the projected inter-semiotic translation with examples.
In his report entitled “Multimodal Translation of The Art of War: A Genre Perspective”, Professor Luo Tian from Chongqing Jiaotong University reported his case study on the translation of the Chinese military classic The Art of War. He reminded us of the influence of targets, potential readers, and cultural differences on the realization of multimodal commonality.
Dr. Xie Guixia from SYSU presented a report entitled “A Study on the Reception of Two Chinese Hamlet: A Paratextual and Multimodal Combined Approach”. Dr. Xie discussed the earliest full-text Chinese translation of Hamlet by means of paratextual and multimodal combined approach and proposed two possible approaches to the early reception of Shakespeare’s plays in China.
III. Review of the Parallel Sub-forums on Nov. 7th
Sub-forum I：Systemic Functional Linguistics and Interpretation & Translation Studies
Sub-forum I was focused on the topic of “Systemic Functional Linguistics and Interpretation and Translation Studies”. Associate Professor Yang Shu from SCAU gave a speech entitled “A Comparative Study of the Realization of Chinese and English Modality System from the Perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistics”. She made a comparative analysis of Chinese and English from the perspective of modal orientation system and modal system.
Associate Professor Fan Ruoen of SYSU gave a report entitled “Deviating from Treason/Spreading Inheritance: The Historical Semantic Meaning of Creative Treason and the Affiliation of Translated Literature”. The report pointed out that the actual meaning of “creative treason”, proposed by French scholar in Sociology of literature Robert Escarpit, is quite different from its literal meaning. In fact, the “creative treason” has double meanings”, namely “deviating from treason and spreading inheritance”.
The report by Deng Renhua, Associate Professor of South China University of Technology, was entitled “The Evaluation of The Translation of Everlasting Longings from the Systemic-Functional Perspective”. This report evaluated three translations of Bai Juyi’s Everlasting Longings from the perspective of three meta-functions and proposed a new translation version.
The presentation by Dr. Wang Bo of SYSU and Dr. Ma Yuanyi of GPST was entitled “Analysis and Description of Poetry Translation: Application of a Systemic Functional Linguistic Model”. Through case analysis, the report proved systemic functional linguistics to be a powerful analytical tool in poetry translation, which provides a new possibility for translation studies.
Dr. Pan Hanting of SYSU gave a report entitled “Wonton, Jiao’zi or Dumpling: Macao Identity as Constructed in Food Translation”, which aimed to explore the identity of Macanese in terms of food and the role of different translations in identity construction.
The report by Dr. Ouyang Qianhua from GUFS was entitled “The Influence of Interpersonal Meaning Training on Interpersonal Ability of Interpreting”. This is a study on the influence of a three-week teaching about the interpersonal meaning of functional linguistics on the interpreting performance of first-year MTI students. Some useful implications were drawn.
Sub-forum II: Translation Studies from a Multimodal Perspective
The sub-forum on the topic of “Translation Studies from a Multimodal Perspective” was held at the Research Center for East Asian Studies in No.6 Haiqin Building. The first presenter was Chen Xi from Macau University of Science and Technology. Her topic was “Multimodal Turn in Translation Studies: Present and Prospect”. She traced back to the intervention and development of multimodal concepts in translation studies, reviewed the current research status of multimodal translation at home and abroad, pointed out the existing problems of research in this field and put forward suggestions for improvement.
Then, Yang Muwen, a doctoral student from SYSU, gave a report entitled “From Ontology to Multimodal Discourse Analysis: The Multimodal Construction of the Empirical Meaning in the Comic Version of Tang Poetry”. In this study, integrating the noumenon study of Tang poetry into systemic functional linguistics, she constructed a multimodal framework for the analysis of experiential meaning in the comic version of Tang poetry. Finally, she provided a concrete and easy-to-use reference for the analysis and creation of the comic version of Tang poetry based on the analysis of the examples from On the Tang Poetry.
Zhu Xinyu, also a doctoral student from SYSU, conducted a report on “The Multimodal Construction of the Compositional Meaning in the Projection of Chinese Comics: Taking the Translation of the Caricature of The Doctrine of the Mean as an Example”. Taking projection in The Doctrine of the Mean as an example, she explained the realization mechanism of the compositional meaning of projection in the discourses of Chinese comics by comparing and analyzing the similarities and differences between the projection mechanism in the original text and the comic version. She also pointed out that the compositional meaning of projection in the comic version of The Doctrine of the Mean not only achieves a relative equivalence with the textual function of the original text, but also demonstrates a more unique and complex multimodal grammatical-semantic mechanism.
Dr. Hong Dan from SYSU presented a study on “E-C Translation of Coco from the Perspective of Adaptation and Selection in Eco-translatology”. The three translated versions of Coco in China’s Mainland, Taiwan and Hongkong were compared in order to illustrate that different translated titles reflect the translator’s flexible adaptation to the language and culture of, and communication with the target audience. Meanwhile, the study found that the content of movies should be taken into account when translating movie titles.
Professor Hu Honghui from Guangdong University of Finance and Economics delivered a report titled “A Brief Exploration of the Modernized Approach to the English Translation of Classical Books from the Perspective of Functional Discourse Analysis: A Case Study of Xu Yuanchong’s The Analects of Confucius”. Through the analysis of The Analects of Confucius, she discussed how the cultural context was reconstructed in the translated text so that a modernized English version of The Analects of Confucius was produced in an attempt to promote the modern communication between Chinese and Western cultures.
Professor Liang Hongyan from Shanxi University gave a report entitled “A Study on the Cognition Deviation of the Audience in Translations of Local Cultures from the Perspective of Intercultural Communication”. By studying the translation of the local culture, she found that a comparative analysis of the experiential function of the source and the target texts can effectively reveal the effect of the translation of Chinese texts in the process of cross-cultural communication, which is of great significance for more effective introduction of local cultures to the world.
Sub-forum III: Different Approaches to Translation Studies
At the Research Center for European Studies, the parallel sub-forum on “Different Approaches to Translation Studies” began with a presentation entitled “A Heteroglossic Study of the Translation of Ethnography: Taking the Examples of Hanvueng: The Goose King and the Ancestral King as an Example” by Professor Chen Shukun and Professor Huang Zhongxi from Guangdong University of Finance. By using the ethnographic annotations of Hanvueng: The Goose King and the Ancestral King as for the object of research, they discovered that the ethnographic annotations, with special academic norms and ethnographic characteristics, have a distinct heteroglossic nature.
Cai Biqiong and Chen Xiangxu from SYSU reported on “A Comparative Study of the English-Russian Translation of Food Vocabulary in Chaoshan Area of Guangdong from the Perspective of Linguistic Culture (Taking the Names of Dishes in Chaoshan Area of Guangdong as an Example). From the perspective of linguistic culturology, they explored the regional culture in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong by doing cognitive semantic analysis and interpretation of the language and culture. This research produced new data for such fields as intercultural communication and linguistic culturology.
A report entitled “Comparative Analysis of Human Translation and Post-editing in Newspaper Texts: An Eye-Tracking, Keystroke Logging and Think-aloud Study” was delivered by Zou Hui and Huang Jianghui, PhD students from SYSU. They explored the differences among the machine translation output, the manual translation, and the post-editing translation of the same newspaper texts.
Finally, Professor Li Zhonghua from Dongguan University of Technology made a report on his study entitled “The Writing and Translation of Ancient Chinese Mythologies under the Perspective of Re-instantiating: Taking Kuafu Chasing the Sun as an Example”. From the perspective of the reimplementation theory of systemic functional linguistics, he analyzed the different writing, translation and changes of ancient Chinese mythologies in the process of transmission.
IV. Review of Report on Nov.8th
Topic: Context and Translation
At the beginning of the sub-forum, Professor Liu Yi of Shenzhen University delivered a report entitled “Translating Technical Terms as Cross-cultural Re-instantiation and Recontextualization”. He discussed the process of recontextualization of technical terms from the source language to the target language in. He took the “legitimation” from the “Legitimation Code Theory” proposed by Maton as an example to explain the model and its embodied different patterns and hence provided a new perspective for the study on translation of the technological terms of social science.
Subsequently, Professor Xiao Haozhang from SCAU delivered a report entitled “The Study of Translation Context from the Perspective of Ecological Interaction Context”. From the perspective of ecological interactive context, he made an eco-linguistic analysis of the main schools of translation context studies and their differences.
Then, Professor Li Fagen from Nanchang Institute of Technology gave a report on “the Translation of an Ecological Poems of Object-chanting in Tang Dynasty A Poem about a Cicada Written in Prison based on Genre”. He emphasized the importance of ecological discourse translation in the context of promoting the harmonious development of human society and ecological environment. By conducting a comparative analysis of the content, form, and tone of two English versions of A Poem about a Cicada Written in Prison, Professor Li concluded that genre-based translation is the best approach to meeting the translation requirements and standards.
Professor Chang Chenguang delivered a report entitled “Contextual Factors in Translation”. Based on the view that “meaning” is the “function of context”, he proposed that the equivalence of meaning in translation is actually the equivalence of function in context and expounded the dialectical relationship between context theory and translation practice.
Topic: New Trends in Translation Studies
First Professor Dai Fan from SYSU shared a report entitled “Creative Writing and Self-Translation”. The report focused on how to cultivate the awareness of cultural differences in English creative writing and how to integrate the interpretation of cultural differences in the story writing organically by creative writing skills, providing a useful reference for future cultural exchanges between China and other countries.
Subsequently, Professor Kang Zhifeng and Dr. Li Xiaqing from Fudan University jointly delivered a report entitled “Research on the Performance of Morpheme Point Positioning and Simultaneous Interpreting with Scripts Based on Eye Movement Experiment”. This study not only contributes to the construction of morpheme theory, but also enriches the research methodology of cognitive interpretation, providing some implications for the eye movement experiments on simultaneous interpreting with scripts and interpretation teaching research.
Finally, Professor He Wei from Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) published an online report titled “Themes and Their Inspirations for Translation Studies from the Perspective of Eco-linguistics”. From the perspective of eco-linguistics, this study defined the topic theme and its division and elaborated on the ecological and non-ecological characteristics of different types of participants acting as topic themes and different thematic markers based on the ecological philosophy of “Diversity and Harmony, Interaction and Co-existence”, providing a theoretical basis for the analysis of ecological discourse in terms of the textual function.
At the closing ceremony that ensues, Professor Huang Guowen, Professor Zhang Meifang and Professor Chang Chenguang made a summary respectively. Professor Huang Guowen pointed out, “This forum is a good platform for academic exploration and exchanges. Translation studies bear the mission of ‘telling China’s stories well’, which is of profound significance in the modern context. We hope to see more innovative research that adds new momentum to the development of the English discipline.” “This event provides us an opportunity to recall the happy past and make new friends. We share the same dreams and academic pursuits. Through sharing and discussing, we learn from each other and gain experience, which will broaden our academic and even life views in the future. There is ‘no end to translation’ and everyone should keep learning and moving forward,” said Professor Zhang Meifang. Professor Chang Chenguang followed to express his gratitude to all the professors for coming from afar and his hope for the next meeting.
Academic Forum on the Functional Linguistics Approach to Translation Studies brought together experts and scholars in the field of functional linguistics and translation studies and presented wonderful cutting-edge research achievements. It is a wonderful academic feast. The event has strengthened academic exchanges in relevant fields, promoted academic communication between universities, and promoted the construction and development of Systematic Functional Linguistics and Translation Studies.
Scholars at the Forum
