Translating Feminism in 'Systems': The Representation of Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Chinese Translation of Our Bodies, Ourselves

This thesis examines the trans-border circulation and production of feminist knowledge through translation. More specifically, my research focuses the translation of the U.S. women’s health book, Our Bodies, Ourselves, by a Chinese feminist NGO in 1998. My dissertation studies the social, cultural a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Li, Boya
Other Authors: Von Flotow, Luise
Format: Others
Language:en
Published: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37813
http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-22073
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spelling ndltd-uottawa.ca-oai-ruor.uottawa.ca-10393-378132018-07-09T20:08:41Z Translating Feminism in 'Systems': The Representation of Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Chinese Translation of Our Bodies, Ourselves Li, Boya Von Flotow, Luise Translating and Interpreting -- English into Chinese -- Socio-cultural Aspects Women -- Health and Hygiene -- China -- 20th Century Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) Feminism -- Women's Health Movement -- Cross-cultural Studies Multi-method Research -- Qualitative Data Analysis -- Triangulation This thesis examines the trans-border circulation and production of feminist knowledge through translation. More specifically, my research focuses the translation of the U.S. women’s health book, Our Bodies, Ourselves, by a Chinese feminist NGO in 1998. My dissertation studies the social, cultural and political aspects of feminist translation, and examines the relation between translation and feminist praxis. Through the lens of gender and (feminist) health politics in 1990s China, I examine how the 1998 Chinese translation conveys the book’s message about how women should relate to their bodies. Set in the context of Chinese society opening up during the late 1970s, my research outlines the emergence of gender awareness in China with the influx of translated feminist texts, especially in the realm of women’s health research. Medical discourses were then assigned a privileged position in the studies of women’s sexual and reproductive health. However, with increased communications between Chinese and foreign feminists, Chinese women scholars developed new ideas around women’s sexual and reproductive health. The Chinese translation of OBOS addresses the lack of gender awareness in local discussions about women’s health. With a multi-method study, I emphasize the social and linguistic dimensions of translating a feminist health project into post-reform China. This study is based on both interview and comparative textual analysis data. Using feminist translation theories, I examine how the Chinese translators handled the book’s presentation of women’s sexuality and reproductive health. This thesis also highlights the constraints on translating feminism from the local context. This raises questions about the power of (feminist) translation, and emphasizes the need to examine the social-political context of translation practices. 2018-07-03T18:55:54Z 2018-07-03T18:55:54Z 2018-07-03 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37813 http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-22073 en application/pdf Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
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language en
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topic Translating and Interpreting -- English into Chinese -- Socio-cultural Aspects
Women -- Health and Hygiene -- China -- 20th Century
Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS)
Feminism -- Women's Health Movement -- Cross-cultural Studies
Multi-method Research -- Qualitative Data Analysis -- Triangulation
spellingShingle Translating and Interpreting -- English into Chinese -- Socio-cultural Aspects
Women -- Health and Hygiene -- China -- 20th Century
Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS)
Feminism -- Women's Health Movement -- Cross-cultural Studies
Multi-method Research -- Qualitative Data Analysis -- Triangulation
Li, Boya
Translating Feminism in 'Systems': The Representation of Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Chinese Translation of Our Bodies, Ourselves
description This thesis examines the trans-border circulation and production of feminist knowledge through translation. More specifically, my research focuses the translation of the U.S. women’s health book, Our Bodies, Ourselves, by a Chinese feminist NGO in 1998. My dissertation studies the social, cultural and political aspects of feminist translation, and examines the relation between translation and feminist praxis. Through the lens of gender and (feminist) health politics in 1990s China, I examine how the 1998 Chinese translation conveys the book’s message about how women should relate to their bodies. Set in the context of Chinese society opening up during the late 1970s, my research outlines the emergence of gender awareness in China with the influx of translated feminist texts, especially in the realm of women’s health research. Medical discourses were then assigned a privileged position in the studies of women’s sexual and reproductive health. However, with increased communications between Chinese and foreign feminists, Chinese women scholars developed new ideas around women’s sexual and reproductive health. The Chinese translation of OBOS addresses the lack of gender awareness in local discussions about women’s health. With a multi-method study, I emphasize the social and linguistic dimensions of translating a feminist health project into post-reform China. This study is based on both interview and comparative textual analysis data. Using feminist translation theories, I examine how the Chinese translators handled the book’s presentation of women’s sexuality and reproductive health. This thesis also highlights the constraints on translating feminism from the local context. This raises questions about the power of (feminist) translation, and emphasizes the need to examine the social-political context of translation practices.
author2 Von Flotow, Luise
author_facet Von Flotow, Luise
Li, Boya
author Li, Boya
author_sort Li, Boya
title Translating Feminism in 'Systems': The Representation of Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Chinese Translation of Our Bodies, Ourselves
title_short Translating Feminism in 'Systems': The Representation of Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Chinese Translation of Our Bodies, Ourselves
title_full Translating Feminism in 'Systems': The Representation of Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Chinese Translation of Our Bodies, Ourselves
title_fullStr Translating Feminism in 'Systems': The Representation of Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Chinese Translation of Our Bodies, Ourselves
title_full_unstemmed Translating Feminism in 'Systems': The Representation of Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Chinese Translation of Our Bodies, Ourselves
title_sort translating feminism in 'systems': the representation of women's sexual and reproductive health and rights in the chinese translation of our bodies, ourselves
publisher Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
publishDate 2018
url http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37813
http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-22073
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