Occidentalism and translation studies as academic discourse

This study aims la explore Occidentalism - the essentialist renderings of the West - as an intellectual and (or) political trend in modem Chinese society, and in particular to investigate whether, and if so, how, to what extent, and why stylised images of the West in contrast with those of China are manifested in Chinese translation scholars' theoretical discourses. I have answered these questions by doing case studies on some translation scholars and analysing their theoretical discourses produced in certain soda-political and historical circumstances. This thesis argues that what these scholars think and write about the West and how they visualize the Chinese-Western cultural relationship are at the hcal1 of their discourses, and various notions of the West vs. China in the antagonistic debates in Chinese translation studi.es are often employed to accomplish certain tasks. Among these are: to preserve tradition and assert identity against the West; to resonate with the state doctrines; to adopt the Western mode of producing knowledge clue to a strong sense of "self-insufficiency"; to win power by engaging with their Western counterparts; or to be a way of asserting other positions vis-a.-vis the Chinese- Western cultural relationship. This thesis also argues that dialectical and essentialist definitions of the West and China are to a greater or lesser extent shaped by socio-political complexities, and more or less driven by a range of local elite interests. Occidentalism in its various forms suggests different power relations between Chinese society and the outside world; it is also part of a critique of internal differences a'1d conflicts within Chinese society, and within Chinese translation studies. Using the theoretical framework of Occidentalism, this thesis hopes to illustrate the connections between discourse, society and history, and the dynamic exchange between individual scholar's academic endeavour and the broad so cia-political concerns. This study aims la explore Occidentalism - the essentialist renderings of the West - as an intellectual and (or) political trend in modem Chinese society, and in particular to investigate whether, and if so, how, to what extent, and why stylised images of the West in contrast with those of China are manifested in Chinese translation scholars' theoretical discourses. I have answered these questions by doing case studies on some translation scholars and analysing their theoretical discourses produced in certain soda-political and historical circumstances. This thesis argues that what these scholars think and write about the West and how they visualize the Chinese-Western cultural relationship are at the hcal1 of their discourses, and various notions of the West vs. China in the antagonistic debates in Chinese translation studi.es are often employed to accomplish certain tasks. Among these are: to preserve tradition and assert identity against the West; to resonate with the state doctrines; to adopt the Western mode of producing knowledge clue to a strong sense of "self-insufficiency"; to win power by engaging with their Western counterparts; or to be a way of asserting other positions vis-a.-vis the Chinese- Western cultural relationship. This thesis also argues that dialectical and essentialist definitions of the West and China are to a greater or lesser extent shaped by socio-political complexities, and more or less driven by a range of local elite interests. Occidentalism in its various forms suggests different power relations between Chinese society and the outside world; it is also part of a critique of internal differences a'1d conflicts within Chinese society, and within Chinese translation studies. Using the theoretical framework of Occidentalism, this thesis hopes to illustrate the connections between discourse, society and history, and the dynamic exchange between individual scholar's academic endeavour and the broad socia-political concerns.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo