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Title: Can one translate without knowing the SL? A study on the English translation of Daomu Biji
Vol. 13(2), 2025, pp. 96-114.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46687/ZPZF2405
Author: Tan Ying Yee
About the author: Tan Ying Yee is a postgraduate student at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, enrolled in the Master of Arts (Linguistics) program. Her current dissertation research focuses on Audiovisual Translation, specifically subtitling between Chinese and Malay.
E-mail: 22054912@siswa.um.edu.my
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4779-4709.
Author: Amin Amirdabbaghian
About the author: Amin Amirdabbaghian (PhD) is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, where he teaches and mentors Master’s and PhD students conducting research in Translation Studies. His main areas of research interest include socio-ideological aspects of translation as well as audiovisual translation. Dr. Amin Amirdabbaghian is the corresponding author for this paper.
E-mail: amirdabbaghian@um.edu.my
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6503-8446
Author: Yeo Siang Lee
About the author: Yeo Siang Lee (PhD) is a senior lecturer at the English Language Department, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, where he teaches copyediting and academic writing courses. Always eager to hone his translating skills, he has translated a wide range of materials from academic papers and official documents to literary works in the past three decades. His main research areas are human communication disorders, disability studies, and the interaction of individuals with autism.
E-mail: yeosl@um.edu.my
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1423-8063
Link: http://silc.fhn-shu.com/issues/2025-2/SILC_2025_Vol_13_Issue_2_096-114_19.pdf
Citation (APA): Yee, T. Y., Amirdabbaghian, A., & Lee, Y. S. (2025). Can one translate without knowing the SL? A study on the English translation of Daomu Biji. Studies in Linguistics, Culture, and FLT, 13(2), 96-114. https://doi.org/10.46687/ZPZF2405.
Abstract: The publication and international circulation of Chinese Internet Literature (CIL) translations have recently garnered considerable attention. However, a notable gap exists in the comprehensive examination of the translations, both at the process and product levels. Notably, the translation of Chinese Internet Literature significantly influences the exposure of the said literary works to an international readership. To address this gap, the study aims to investigate the translation process of “Daomu Biji” (Grave Robbers’ Chronicles), a Chinese web novel series within the supernatural genre by Xu Lei. The book is written in eleven volumes, and six volumes were officially translated by Kathy Mok in 2011. On the other hand, a fan translation was released on the MereBear474765851 weblog, where the translator claims no knowledge of the source text. Essentially, the translator translates the source text using a machine, reads the official translation (indirect intralingual translation), heavily edits the translated text, and checks it with two specific users (native Chinese speakers) before publishing it on the blog. The readers are then free to comment on the translated text, and the translator would revise the text constantly. Surprisingly, most readers familiar with official and fan translations prefer the latter in their comments about the book. This study conducted an interview, where the identity of the translators are kept anonymous and confidential (as requested by them) to gain a deeper understanding of the motivations and procedures in the process of translating. The outcome may contradict the fact that to translate, one needs to master at least two languages.
Keywords: Chinese Internet Literature, translation process, crowdsourcing, indirect translation, Daomu Biji
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