Translation as Actor-Networking: Actors, Agencies, and Networks in the Making of Arthur Waley's English Translation of the Chinese 'journey to the West'

261 Pages·2020·3.123 MB·English

by  Wenyan Luo

Translation as Actor-Networking
This book employs actor-network theory (ANT) to explore the making
of the English translation of a work of Chinese canonical fction, Journey
to the West, demonstrating how ANT, as applied to Translation Studies,
can contribute to a richer understanding of the translation process.
The volume builds on previous research to apply ANT to Translation
Studies by looking in-depth at a single work, highlighting the unique
factors underpinning the making of Monkey, Arthur Waley’s English
translation of the Chinese classic Journey to the West, which make the
work an ideal candidate for showing ANT in practice in translation. Luo
uses an in-depth exploration of the work to examine the ways in which
both human and nonhuman translation actors and agents interact in
different ways in the publication of this translation, showcasing them
as dynamic, changing, and active participants whose roles shifted over
the course of the translation process, rather than as fxed entities as
traditionally categorized in existing research. The book moves beyond
a descriptive account of an ANT-based case study toward offering a
systematic theoretical and methodological framework of ANT-based
Translation Studies, using the conclusions drawn from its application to
a single work to suggest a way forward for applying ANT in translation
production on a wider scale.
This book will be of interest to scholars in Translation Studies,
sociology, and comparative literature, particularly those interested in
actor-network theory or network studies and their application to related
disciplinary felds.
Wenyan Luo received her PhD in 2019 from Durham University, UK. Her
research interests lie in text analysis in translation, history of translation
between English and Chinese, translation ethics, translator studies, and
sociology of translation, in particular actor-network theory-approached
Translation Studies.
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Translation as Actor-Networking
Actors, Agencies, and Networks in the Making of Arthur Waley’s
English Translation of the Chinese Journey to the West
Wenyan Luo
For more information about this series, please visit www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Advances-in-Translation-and-Interpreting-Studies/book-series/RTS
Translation as
Actor-Networking
Actors, Agencies, and Networks
in the Making of Arthur Waley’s
English Translation of the Chinese
Journey to the West
Wenyan Luo
First published 2020
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Taylor & Francis
The right of Wenyan Luo to be identifed as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
LCCN: 2020932220
ISBN: 978-0-367-37502-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-81581-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To my parents.

Contents
List of Figures x
List of Tables xi
List of Abbreviations xii
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction 1
1 Actor-Network Theory 8
1.1 Basic Clarifcations of the Name and Nature of
Actor-Network Theory 9
1.2 Nonhuman Actor 14
1.3 Long Distance Control 18
1.4 The Black Box 21
1.5 TranslationANT 23
1.6 Obligatory Passage Point 32
1.7 Immutable Mobiles, Inscriptions, and Centres of
Calculation 33
2 Research Context 36
2.1 Journey to the West: The Novel 36
2.2 The Many English Translations of Journey to the
West 39
2.3 Monkey Translated by Waley: Focus of the Present
Study 44
2.4 Monkey: A Unique Translation of Popularity and
Fame 46
2.5 Positioning the Research: From Literature to the
Present Study 49
2.6 Approaches to Data Selection and Analysis 58
viii Contents
3 The Monkey Project: A Translation in Production 62
3.1 The Monkey Project: A Translation Under Production
(1941–1942) 67
3.2 The Monkey Project: From Slow to Accelerated
Expansion 79
4 All About People: Multiple Human Actors, Multiplied
Roles 90
4.0 Prelude: More Actors, but Not Overwhelmingly
More 90
4.1 Arthur Waley: More Than the Translator of
Monkey 93
4.2 Duncan Grant: The Designer Being Controlled and
Resisted 111
4.3 Stanley Unwin: The Publisher as an Evaluator,
Initiator, Project Manager, and Literary Agent 119
5 All About Resources: Multiple Nonhuman Actors,
Multiple Trials and Traces 124
5.0 Prelude: Nonhumans or Nonhuman Actors 124
5.1 Amidst the War and Flu, We Need Luck 128
5.2 The Things ANT Researchers Can Deduce From
Texts 139
5.3 Letters: Making Everyone and Everything Mobile
and Immutable 149
6 The TranslationsANT That Comprise the Translation
Project 163
6.0 Prelude: Grouping the TranslationsANT 163
6.1 TranslationANT One (T ANT): TranslatingANT Journey
1
to the West Into Monkey 166
6.2 TranslationANT Two (T ANT): The Initiation of the
2
Monkey Project 169
6.3 TranslationANT Three (T ANT): The Designs 175
3
6.4 TranslationANT Four (T ANT): Previous Terms
4
Transformed Into a New Agreement 180
6.5 TranslationANT Five (T ANT): The Jacket Proofs
5
Agreement 182
6.6 TranslationANT Six (T ANT): Producing Advertisements
6
and Book Reviews 188
Contents ix
6.7 TranslationANT Seven (T ANT): Monkey’s Journey to
7
the US 190
6.8 More TranslationsANT 197
Conclusion 202
Bibliography 221
Appendix I: Versions of Journey to the West, Based on
Cao (2010) 233
Appendix II: The Phases of the Monkey Project 234
Appendix III: Letter From Stanley Unwin to Arthur Waley,
22 October 1941 (UoR AUC 127/7) 236
Appendix IV: Letter From David Unwin to Duncan Grant,
6 January 1942 (UoR AUC 138/5) 237
Appendix V: Letter From Stanley Unwin to Arthur Waley,
8 September 1943 (UoR AUC 181/1) 238
Appendix VI: Letter From Stanley Unwin to Arthur Waley,
21 September 1943 (UoR AUC 181/1) 239
Appendix VII: Letter From Arthur Waley to Stanley Unwin,
22 December 1943 (UoR AUC 181/1) 240
Appendix VIII: Jacket Page of Monkey: A Folk-Tale of
China (Seventh Impression, 1965), Designed by
Duncan Grant 241
Index 243