Reviewed by Taras Shmiher, Ivan Franko National University, Ukraine

This collection presents a selection of papers from the International Conference on Culture and Translation in Beijing in 1999. Eight of the eleven papers pay tribute to translation in the host cultures of China and Japan.

In Part 1, translation is viewed as an agent of culture. Gideon Toury, ‘Enhancing cultural changes by means of fictitious translations’ (3–17), investigates how fictitious translations (e.g. Papa Hamlet by Bjarne P. Holmsen, Book of Mormon, and Dzhambul Dzhabayev’s poetry) that are examples of cultural planning can serve specific functions in cultural and historical contexts. In ‘Translation and cultural transformation: The case of the Afrikaans Bible translations’ (19–41), Jacobus A. Naudé examines the relationship between translation and culture as motivated by Afrikaans Bible translations. In ‘Cultural borderlands in China’s translation history’ (43–64), Eva Hung deals with different types of bi- or multicultural communities that influenced culturally-oriented translation activities in China from the second to the late nineteenth century.

Part 2 contains studies of translations in specific cultural contexts. The representation of translation is the focus of ‘Translating China to the American South: Baptist missionaries and Imperial China, 1845–1911’ (67–89) by Ray Granade and Tom Greer. Granade and Greer discuss Baptist missionaries’ attempts to translate Chinese culture for the American South. Eva Richter and Bailin Song explore the concepts of identity and self in ‘Translating the concept of “identity”’ (91–110). They note that these concepts are culturally specific and, therefore, incomprehensible for Chinese speakers. In ‘Translation and national cultures: A case study in theatrical translation’ (111–18), Alain Piette examines linguistic and cultural obstacles to the perception of an author in the literature. A vivid example is the unpopularity of Belgian farcical genius Fernand Crommenlynck in the English-speaking world.

Part 3 is devoted to Japanese translation experience. Judy Wakabayashi, ‘The reconceptualization of translation from Chinese in 18th century Japan’ (121–45), is interested in applying translation norms to kambun kundoku, a special way of reading and noting Chinese texts according to Japanese syntax that allows Japanese nonspeakers of Chinese to read the texts. In ‘Translationese in Japan’ (147–60), Yuri Furuno compares the adequacy versus acceptability opposition in translationese and notes a shift to the pursuit of acceptability in recent Japanese translation. In ‘The selection of texts for translation in postwar Japan: An examination of one aspect of polysystem theory’ (161–73), Noriko Matsunaga-Watson examines one aspect of Japan’s polysystem: the selection of texts for translation into Japanese after World War II.

Part 4 consists of two case studies from China. Suggesting a short overview of the current trends in the translation and interpreting professions in China, Lin Wusun, ‘Translation in transition: Variables and invariables’ (177–81), concludes that the study of translation theories should come after translation practice and not before. In ‘On annotation in translation’ (183–90), Han Jiaming emphasizes the importance of annotation in translation, which can engage translators in more research and improve translations.

Indexes of concepts, names, and titles as well as the editor’s preface help to complete this valuable contribution to the research in the cultural background of translation.