Translating Nations Culture, Soft Power, and the Belt and Road Initiative

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction        

0.1 Purpose 

0.2 Main thesis of the book     

0.3 Chapter overview     

Chapter 1 Map-Sketching as an Interdisciplinary Method: Against Map, Linearity, and Mastery  

1.1     Map and power: Inspirations from critical cartography

1.1.1 Critical cartography, maps, and power

1.1.2 The map of TS and its problems

1.2 Sketch map as a method: Line, meshwork, and rhizomatic epistemology         

1.2.1 Sketch map and lines of a meshwork  

1.2.2 Rhizome      

1.2.3 Serendipity and translation       

1.3 Conclusion      

Part I: Culture as Defined by Translation

Chapter 2 Culture as Meaning Making    

2.1 Culture as a lifestyle

2.2 Culture as a system   

2.3 Culture as signs and meanings      

Chapter 3 Culture function and translation       

3.1 Culture differentiates

3.1.1 An anthropological account       

3.1.2 A sociological account     

3.2 Culture assimilates    

3.2.1 Cultural assimilation        

3.2.2 Deculturation and acculturation 

3.2.3 Cultural fusion       

3.3 Overview of culture function: Re-examining globalisation, deculturation, and glocalisation        

3.3.1 Globalisation as cosmopolitanism        

3.3.2 Globalisation as deculturation    

Entanglement 1: Culture and Translation

Part II: Soft Power, Nation Branding, and Translation

Chapter 4 Power and Translation   

4.1 Defining power         

4.2 Soft power and translation

4.2.l Culture as the resource for soft power   

4.2.2. Instruments of soft power

4.2.3 Overview: soft power and translation   

Chapter 5 Nation Branding as Translation         

5.1 Constructability of national identity        

5.2 Branding         

5.3 Nation branding        

5.3.1 Nation branding compared with commercial branding      

5.3.2 Nation branding conveying national identity: Nation branding as touching 

5.3.3 Soft power as a resource for nation branding: Nation branding as communication and development   

Entanglement 2: Translation, Power, and Branding   

Part III: China’s Nation Branding as Translation       

Chapter 6 Introduction to the BRI: A Geo-Economic, Geo-Political, Geo-Cultural, or Interconnective Initiative?  

6.1 The BRI as a geo-economic initiative     

6.2 The BRI as a geo-political initiative        

6.3 The BRI as a geo-cultural initiative        

6.3.1 The BRI and the concept of He: The peace-building and interconnectivity outlook of the BRI       

6.3.2 The BRI as eco-translation         

Chapter 7 The “What” Question: Framing, Reframing, and Stereotypes   

7.1 Translation as framing        

7.2 Framing in nation branding 

7.2.1 Framing as stereotyping   

7.2.2 Framing as selecting information         

7.2.3 Framing in the BRI: Framing history as an example 

7.3 Conclusion: Framing the Silk Road as translatio studii et imperii     

Chapter 8 The “Who” Question: Translation and Identity in China’s Nation Branding         

8.1 Self and otherness     

8.2 The self and otherness in TS         

8.3 The self and otherness for China   

8.3.1 A philosophical exploration       

8.3.2 An anthropological exploration  

8.4 The self and otherness in BRI branding  

8.4.1 From the periphery to the centre

8.4.2  Who is allowed to translate?     

8.5 Conclusion: Choose translators with otherness in mind 

Chapter 9 The “How” Question: How do Nations Communicate their Brands to Others?     

9.1 Development communication: An overview      

9.1.1 Empowerment        

9.1.2 Participatory development

9.2 Development communication and nation branding         

9.3 Development communication in the BRI

9.3.1 China’s communication for development: The case of Confucius Institute  

9.3.2 China’s communication about development         

9.3.3 China’s communication of development         

9.4 Conclusion: Development translation     

Entanglement 3: Who, what, and how to brand a nation from a translational perspective      

Chapter 10 Translation Studies as Knowledge, Method, and Meta-Discipline

10.1 Revisiting research questions    

10.1.1 Translation as connection         

10.1.2 Translation as differentiation and assimilation

10.1.3 Translation as criticism of authority   

10.1.4 Translation as a process rather than a product       

10.2 Implications  

10.2.1 Translation knowledge   

10.2.2 Translation as a method 

10.2.3 TS as a meta-discipline  

10.3 Potential for future research        

Bibliography

Index

Biography

Ye Tian is a scholar in translation studies. He taught and worked at the University of Manchester before becoming a visiting scholar at Durham University.