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  • © 2016

Surviving in Violent Conflicts

Chinese Interpreters in the Second Sino-Japanese War 1931–1945

Palgrave Macmillan

Authors:

  1. Ting Guo

    1. Department of Modern Languages, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom

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  • Offers a balanced and dispassionate analysis of a range of sources such as archives, personal interviews and personal memoirs of interpreters working in violent conflict zones
  • Traces the social trajectory of the interpreters who worked within China during the Second Sino-Japanese War
  • Argues that interpreting history in China has been simplified and idealized to fit the larger cultural discourse of nationalism

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Languages at War (PASLW)

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
    PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Ting Guo
    Pages 1-22

  7. Conclusion

    • Ting Guo
    Pages 169-174

  8. Back Matter

    Pages 175-200
    PDF
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About this book

This book examines the relatively little-known history of interpreting in the Second Sino-Japanese War (1931-45). Chapters within explore how Chinese interpreters were trained and deployed as an important military and political asset by competing domestic and international powers, including the Chinese Nationalist Government (Kuomingtang), the Chinese Communist Party and Japanese forces. Drawing from a wide range of sources, including archives in mainland China and Taiwan, memoirs and interviews with former military interpreters, it discusses how the interpreting profession was affected by shifts of foreign policy and how interpreters’ professional habitus was formed through their training and interaction with other social agents and institutions. By investigating individual interpreters’ career development and border-crossing strategies, it questions the assumption of interpreting as an exclusive profession and highlights interpreters’ active position-taking as a strategy of self-protection, a route to power, or just a chance of a better life.
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Keywords

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Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Modern Languages, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom

    Ting Guo

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About the author

Ting Guo is Lecturer in the Department of Modern Languages, University of Exeter, UK. A specialist in translation history, she has written widely on the roles of Chinese translators and interpreters in twentieth century China. She has published articles in journals such as Literature Compass, Translation Studies, and Translation Quarterly.
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Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Surviving in Violent Conflicts

  • Book Subtitle: Chinese Interpreters in the Second Sino-Japanese War 1931–1945

  • Authors: Ting Guo

  • Series Title: Palgrave Studies in Languages at War

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46119-3

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-46118-6Published: 18 October 2016

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-46119-3Published: 23 September 2016

  • Series ISSN: 2947-5902

  • Series E-ISSN: 2947-5910

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 200

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Translation, Asian History, History of Military, Modern History, Translation Studies

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Buy it now

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

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