Transletters. International Journal of Translation and Interpreting 7 Vol. 1 (2023), pp. 35-56 ISSN 2605-2954

Special Issue New Trends in the Theory and Practice of Translation and Interpreting

Tourism Translation in the Light of Eco-Translatology and

Existing Translation Theories

Mingshu Liu

Autonomous University of Barcelona

Received: 09/03/2022

Accepted: 18/07/2022

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to introduce the concept of Eco-Translatology raised by

Gengshen Hu (2013) and reveal its relationship with the following translation theories:

Michael Cronin’s (2017) eco-translation, the Polysystem theory developed by Even-

Zohar (1979/1990) and Toury (1995), contextual dimensions proposed by Hatim and

Mason (1990), and functional approaches studied by Reiss & Vermeer (1984) and

Christiane Nord (1991/2005). These different approaches are then adopted to analyze

Spain's official tourism website for Cordoba in the Spanish language and its translation

into Chinese. Through comparison, we find that despite the similarities, the main

difference between Hu and other Western translation theories is the object of study.

For Hu, it is the translator, and for the analyzed Western scholars, it is the translated

text.

Keywords

Eco-Translatology, eco-translation, theory comparison, Spanish-Chinese, tourism

translation, online promotion.

 

Introduction

Together with the awakening of ecological awareness and the construction of

ecological civilizations, the ecological perspective has gradually entered the

world of academic research. “Ecological notions have been incorporated into

the fields of humanities, including linguistics, comparative literature, liberal arts

and cultural studies, and media and communication studies, and accordingly,

‘interdisciplinary’ or ‘multidisciplinary’ studies have vigorously expanded” (Hu,

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2020: xiii). In translation studies, some interdisciplinary research also links

ecological approaches, and in this article, we aim to introduce a systematic and

holistic Chinese theory – Eco-Translatology – and discuss its relationships with

the existing notions of eco-translation and some influential Western translation

schools.

Another topic that we will focus on is the promotion of tourism online and the

role played by translation therein. In today’s era of network information, online

travel advertising plays an important role in promoting the tourist product,

attracting visitors, and establishing the tourist image of the destination. China

was a particularly important strategic market for Spain prior to the Covid-19

pandemic. Therefore, the translation into Chinese of online tourism resources

will be crucial to revive tourism and attract international tourists. Moreover, due

to cultural and linguistic distance, there will be many variations in the promotion

of tourism between China and Spain. Therefore, in our study, in addition to the

theoretical discussion, we will also focus on Chinese-Spanish translation in the

online promotion of tourism.

1. Eco-Translatology

The first step in exploring the approach to Translation as Adaptation and

Selection (TAS) was the lecture given by Professor Gengshen Hu in 2001

entitled From the Darwinian Principle of Adaptation and Selection to Translation Studies

at Hong Kong Baptist University. Then in 2006, the presentation Understanding

Eco-Translatology signaled the integration of this academic proposal and the

coining of its official name. During its development over the past twenty years,

a constant stream of researchers (Xu, 2009; Xu: 2010, Guo: 2011, Dollerup,

2013; Luo, 2017, etc.) has contributed to this theory that originated in China and

has since spread worldwide.

It is striking that, when discussing the original point of departure, Hu shows a

very practical way of thinking: he believes that “translators work because they

need to make money for food, clothes, and housing, or, in other words, to

physically survive” (Hu, 2003: 290). All these “natural needs” (Ibid.) and their

professional instincts motivate them to improve their skills to survive in the

translation industry. Certainly, Eco-Translatology theory is not only based on his

own thoughts but is also deeply rooted in Chinese culture. The classical precepts

of ancient Chinese philosophy, such as the integration of nature and the human and

Eco-translatology and Existing Translation Theories

follow Nature’s course of Daoism and peace and harmony in Confucianism have had a

profound influence on Eco-translatological discourse.

Eco-Translatology is an eco-paradigm of translation studies from an ecological

perspective. Specifically, it makes “metaphorical analogies” (Hu, 2020: 62)

between the translational ecosystem and the natural ecosystem. Inspired by

Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory of survival of the fittest, Hu (2003) proposes

that the translator lives in a translational eco-environment, which is formed by “the

worlds of the source text and the source and target languages, the linguistic,

cultural, and social aspects of translating, as well as the author, client, and

readers” (Hu, 2003: 283). To survive in their translation environment, the

translator must be able to make rational choices and adaptations. Adaptation and

selection are the research foci of Eco-Translatology. Adaptation is a result of natural

selection from the source text (ST). That is to say, the translator needs to adjust

their behavior in accordance with the requirements of the task. Selection refers to

the translator’s decision-making that determines the final target text (TT). At a

macro-level, this includes the general translation strategy, e.g., literal vs. free

rendition or domestication and foreignization; at a micro level, the translator

may be concerned about the style, grammar and register, among other features.

Taking the translation of tourism advertising as an example, the publisher of the

advertisement should choose an experienced translator who is highly familiar

both with travel products and their target market. When translating, the

translator has to choose which strategies, linguistic register and vocabulary will

be used. Of course, this choice needs to be informed by taking into consideration

both the promotional effects and the linguistic and cultural customs of the target

group(s).

To help clarify these concepts, Figure 1 shows the components of the holistic

translation ecosystem.

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Figure 1. Translational eco-environment (Prepared by the author based on Hu, 2003)

The translational eco-environment includes two parts: the source language (SL)

world and the target language (TL) world. Each ecosystem contains different

translation communities, which interact and interplay with each other, such as the

author, the reader, the donor, the publisher, and the translation critic. The

translator must adapt their work to these two environments and make their own

decision as to how to create a target text that meets the needs of those translation

communities. When they make the adaptive selection, they need to perform a

three-dimensional transformation: “The linguistic dimension refers to the concern for

the lingual expression of the translated target text; the cultural dimension, for

the contextual effect of translation; and the communicative dimension, for the

interpersonal intention of translation” (Hu, 2020: 161-162).

In summary, as Fang (2019: x) comments, “the ecological approach is a

transdisciplinary and holistic approach, ecology, as a methodology that

dominates the universal social thinking mode, is a discipline that not only has an

extensive impact on society but also is of ultimate significance to human

existence and development”.

Eco-translatology and Existing Translation Theories

2. Comparison with Western theories

Eco-Translatology is not only based on ancient Chinese thinking; it is also related

to influential Western schools. Of all the translation theories developed in

western countries in the last 60 years, four that share similar elements of analysis

to those present in Hu's theory have been chosen for further discussion.

2.1 Michael Cronin’s Eco-translation

In Translation and Globalization (2003), Michael Cronin proposed the concept of

“translation ecology” (Cronin, 2003: 167). In a subsequent book, Eco-Translation:

Translation and Ecology in the Age of the Anthropocene (2017), he researches the impact

of the ecological crisis on translation studies and discusses how translation can

help to solve these problems. He also developed the notion of eco-translation as

employed by Clive Scott (2015) and re-defined it as “all forms of translation

thinking and practice that knowingly engage with the challenges of human-

induced environmental change” (Cronin, 2017: 2). It is in this context that the

author explores in detail the ecological relationship between translation and

climate change, fast food, biodiversity, technology and globalization. In other

words, he claims that the ecological approach not only includes the natural world

but also everything that happens around human life. The fundamental point the

author tries to make is that everything that happens in the ecological and social

environment will somehow relate to and affect translation. In response to these

changes, we need to find a sustainable growth model for translation

professionals and the language industries.

Both Hu and Cronin relate translation with ecological studies and use ecological

approach to explain the phenomena in translation. These two innovative

theoretical explorations draw our attention to the harmony that can exist

between humans and nature, and at the same time, prompt us to reflect on the

sustainable development of translation.

Despite their similarities, these two proposals are rooted in different cultures and

have obvious differences. On the one hand, Hu’s thinking is more systematic

because it constructs a holistic translation ecosystem that includes almost all

elements in the translation world. As Fang (2019: IX) comments, “Eco-

Translatology provides a new overview and exposition of translation principles,

translation processes, translation criteria, translation strategies, translation

methods, and other translation phenomena as well as the holistic translation

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ecosystem from the perspective of eco-reason.” On the other hand, Cronin

thinks in a more divergent manner. The ecology mentioned by him not only

includes the natural world but also the political environment and further fields

that range across society, economy, technology, culture, and literature.

Hu emphasizes the role of the translator. He regards translators as the center of

the translation process because they are active decision-makers who complete

the adaptation and selection process and play a role in maintaining the ecological

balance between different communities. However, Cronin defends the

importance of the translated text in many aspects, such as cross-species

communication, the protection of minority languages, and building a shared

future community for humankind.

In conclusion, the similarities between the two theories remind us that the

ecological turn has become a trend in translation studies. Meanwhile, we can

observe the differences between the subjects of study of these two proposals,

which provide us with different perspectives for further academic exploration.

2.2 Even-Zohar and Toury’s Polysystem theory

In the 1970s, Itamar Even-Zohar developed his polysystem theory in his work

Polysystem Theory (1979/1990) by studying the social, cultural, linguistic and

historic elements in a multiple system. He states that the components of the

polysystem, such as literary work and translation, “struggle for the primary

position in the literary canon” (Munday, 2016: 171). The movement and

interaction of the subsystems renew and refresh polysystems. Eco-Translatology

establishes a dynamic system that includes all aspects of the translation world.

Both systems are heterogeneous and complex, and the movement of elements

is inevitable. Competition and coexistence exist among the communities living

in the translation eco-environment, as is also the case among different literary

subsystems in the polysystem. What is more, both models indicate factors that

affect translation activities. In the translation ecosystem, these refer to other

ecological communities such as clients, publishers and readers, whereas in the

polysystem, the so-called “elements of the system” (Even-Zohar, 1979/1990:

34) include producers, consumers, institutions, repertoires, products, and

markets. By comparing two systematic points of view, we acknowledge that both

models analyze the main elements of translation activity, but the ecosystem

refers to the translator’s living environment, and the polysystem concentrates on

literary work and translation. Furthermore, the polysystem focuses literary

Eco-translatology and Existing Translation Theories

translation and Eco-Translatology works with any translation practice in broader

terms.

Based on his early polysystem theory, Toury developed his descriptive

translation studies, which offer a general theory of translation. In his seminal

book Descriptive translation studies and beyond (1995), Toury distinguished different

kinds of norms operating at different stages of the translation process: initial,

preliminary, and operational norms. The operational norms coincide with the

linguistic dimension of Eco-Translatology because both views focus on the

linguistic aspect of the translator’s decision-making.

2.3 Hatim and Mason’s discourse approaches

Apart from Even-Zohar and Toury’s theoretical contribution, we also find that

the discourse and register analysis approaches developed by Hatim and Mason

(1990) bear certain similarities to Eco-Translatology. They pay special attention

to the context of the situation and culture in communication. To clarify the

significant influence of context, they outline three dimensions of context:

communicative, pragmatic and semiotic. The three dimensions of

transformation proposed by Hu (2020) also include the communicative

dimension. However, the communicative dimension of context refers to the

language variation that appears in linguistic expression. In some cases, this

depends on the user and is distinguished as idiolectal, geographical, temporal,

social and standard/non-standard variation. In other cases, it also depends on

the conscious stylistic choices made by language users and is classified by

tenor of discourse. We can see that Hatim and Mason’s communicative

dimension summarized different situations in the communication process.

However, the communication dimension in Eco-Translatology focuses on

communicative intention. Hu (2003) stressed that, when thinking about the

question of how to make an adaptive selection, the translator must take into

consideration the communicative purpose of the original text and the author’s

objectives. For example, in the translation of tourism advertising, the translator

needs to achieve the communicative intention of promoting tourist destinations

by adapting the text to the language and culture of the target market. From the

explanation above, we observe that these two communicative dimensions have

similarities but also differences. That is, Hatim and Mason stress language

variation in different communication contexts, while Hu focuses on the

translator’s communicative intention.

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2.4 Reiss & Vermeer and Nord’s functional approaches

The final Western approaches are Reiss & Vermeer’s skopos theory and

Christiane Nord’s translation-oriented text analysis. The following five rules

somehow encapsulate skopos theory:

(1) A translational action is determined by its scope.

(2) It is an offer of information (Informationsangebot) in a target culture and

TL concerning an offer of information in a source culture and SL.

(3) A TT does not initiate an offer of information in a clearly reversible way.

(4) A TT must be internally coherent.

(5) A TT must be coherent with the ST.

(6) The five rules above stand in hierarchical order, with the skopos rule

predominating.

(Reiss & Vermeer, 1984/2013: 94, in Munday, 2016: 127)

These rules emphasize that goals and intentions largely determine the translation

product and that the achievement of “functional adequacy” ought to be the

translator’s main goal. For the TT to be fit-for-purpose, coherence with the

receiver’s situation (Reiss & Vermeer, 1984/2013: 101) and adherence to the ST

in terms of accuracy must also be taken into consideration. The significant role

of purpose is also recognized by Hu (2003), who states that survival in a

competitive eco-environment is the ultimate aim of the translator, who has to

adapt the TT to the target culture. In this process, the author’s original intention

and the client’s expectations cannot be ignored, because these aspects of the

ecosystem of ST determine the translator’s selection.

Nord (1991/2005) furthered the development of functional approaches by

proposing translation-oriented text analysis, which focuses on the

communicative function and genre characteristics of the ST. Based on the

previous thought, Nord emphasizes that it is the translation brief that governs

the translation. “An ideal translation brief should provide explicit or implicit

information about the intended TT functions, the TT addressees, the medium,

the prospective place and time, and sometimes the motive of production or

reception of the text” (Nord, 1997/2001: 137). She also proposed the following

classification of the functions of language: the expressive function, the

appellative function, the referential function and the phatic function (Nord,

1991/2005). As mentioned above, Nord’s functionality plus loyalty emphasizes the

importance of the text. It not only recognizes the function of text on the target

side but also takes into account the ST side. From the point of view of Eco-

Translatology, the eco-balance between those two worlds determines the

Eco-translatology and Existing Translation Theories

sustainable development of the whole translation ecosystem from the

translator’s point of view. We can therefore see that both proposals pay attention

to the function, but the main difference is that Nord talks about text, while Hu

stresses the role of the translator.

3. Corpus and methodology

After introducing Hu’s contribution to Eco-Translatology and comparing it to

the Western approaches above, in this section we will analyze the corpus from

the different points of view that we have mentioned above. The corpus that we

have chosen is Spain’s official tourism website, and more specifically the pages

devoted to Cordoba, and its translation from Spanish into Chinese.

Figure 2. Part of Spain’s official tourism website for Cordoba in the Spanish language

Retrieved Jan. 30, 2022 from https://www.spain.info/es/destino/cordoba/

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Figure 3. Part of Spain’s official tourism website for Cordoba in the Chinese language

Each page within the main website contains verbal elements such as the name

of the city, a brief introduction, a text about the city’s tourist attractions,

including historic and cultural heritage, natural landscape, traditional festivals

and specialities, and practical information about transportation, accommodation,

recommended itineraries, among many other things. It also contains visual

elements such as background pictures, photos, maps, icons, and links to related

sites and nearby destinations.

An interpretative qualitative research method has been employed for this study.

We will focus on the translation of those linguistic and paralinguistic elements

in the light of Eco-Translatology in order to research how the translator adapts

the content of the website to the eco-environment of the Chinese tourism

market.

Retrieved Jan. 30, 2022 from https://www.visitspain.com.cn/destination/heritage/cordoba.h

tml

Eco-translatology and Existing Translation Theories

4. Discussion

In this section, the theoretical approaches that we have mentioned before will

be adopted to discuss examples from the corpus.

4.1 From an ecological perspective

From the Eco-Translatological perspective, we may regard the world of tourism

translation as an ecosystem, which includes ecological communities as publishers

of information addressed to tourists (e.g. tourism boards, travel agencies, hotel

groups, airlines), translators, potential customers, tourists, and the eco-

environment composed of the host tourism market and the source tourism

market. In our case, the elements that belong to the host market include the

Spanish tourism board, tourism destinations and services, Spanish as a SL, and

historic, social and cultural aspects related to communication. Meanwhile, the

ecosystem on the target side refers to website visitors, anyone with an interest in

Spanish tourism or international travel and their background knowledge rooted

in Chinese culture and language. As Hu defines translation as adaptation and

selection, we may consider tourism translation to imply adaptation by the

translator. They must make their choices by adapting the website to the

requirements of the task and the expectations of the target market. To produce

an adaptive translation, they need to take into consideration the linguistic,

cultural and communicative dimensions. In other words, linguists ought to

consider idiomatic expressions, the Chinese audience’s cultural background, and

the communicative effect. Their selections may include the content of the text,

translation strategies, cultural references, design of the visual elements, and so

on. In the translation process, the translator is not only a producer of translations,

but also plays an important role in maintaining the ecological balance between

two ecosystems by satisfying the needs of host market to attract foreign tourists

and providing practical travel information to the target market. Consequently,

they succeed in the fierce competition for survival in the translational eco-

environment.

Nevertheless, from Cronin’s (2017) point of view on eco-translation, we could

focus on the ecological view in tourism translation, especially in online

promotion. He examines the translation of food in intercultural communication,

stating that cuisine not only meets a basic human need, but is also closely

connected with community culture, and “‘home-building’ may be constructed

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around the preparation of particular dishes representative of certain migrant

community cultures” (Pennycook & Otsuji 2015: 117, in Cronin, 2017: 41). In

the field of tourism, food translation is also an inevitable topic. Each community

has its specific understanding of ingredients, cookery and food consumption.

Beneath their food lie their attitudes toward life, values, and cultural tradition.

The advertising of culinary culture helps to create clear characteristics and a

special image of the destination and attracts tourists, especially foreign visitors,

from totally different cultural backgrounds. It also raises challenges for

translation. Discrepancies in different food cultures and languages can cause

incommensurability, but Cronin (2017) insists that this is what enhances

creativity in translation.

The more language resists translation, the more it invites translation. Therefore,

it is possible to advance the idea that the ability of language to survive and

ﬂourish over time and adapt to a multiplicity of pressures…lies in the endless

unveiling of the incommensurable in language which calls for new translations,

new accommodations. The arrival of new communities, new languages, new

foods, precisely generate those kinds of pressures which release the creative

potential of the incommensurable. (Cronin, 2017: 53)

The creativity in translation inspired by the differences in food cultures can also

be observed in the corpus that we are working on. On the original website, the

following paragraph is adopted to describe culinary attractions in Cordoba:

Las zonas más conocidas para ir de tapas son el casco viejo y los barrios de San Lorenzo, San

Andrés y Santa Marina. Tienes que probar especialidades cordobesas como el salmorejo (sopa

fría principalmente a base de tomate), el flamenquín (rollo de lomo de cerdo empanado), las

berenjenas con miel, la mazamorra (sopa fría a base de almendras), el jamón ibérico de Los

Pedroches, el queso de Zuheros y el vino de Montilla-Moriles. (Spain’s official tourism

webpage on Cordoba, date consulted: 8 February 2022)

[The best-known areas for tapas are the historic quarter and the neighbourhoods

of San Lorenzo, San Andrés and Santa Marina. Be sure to try local specialities

like salmorejo (cold tomato soup), flamenquín (pork roll fried in breadcrumbs),

aubergines with honey, mazamorra (cold almond soup), Iberian ham from Los

Pedroches, cheese from Zuheros and wine from Montilla-Moriles.]

However, in the Chinese website, we find a different version:

科尔多瓦的红酒味道十分特殊。老城区的圣洛伦索、圣安德列斯和圣

玛丽安娜街区有许多小酒馆，是品尝“小吃”的理想去处。记得试试特色

的凉菜（由西红柿、面包和橄榄油制作的冷汤）、牛尾或是科尔多瓦

甜食（一种名叫“天使秀发”的酥皮点心，里面是裹了糖的南瓜酱）。

Eco-translatology and Existing Translation Theories

(Translated version of Spain’s official tourism webpage on Cordoba, date

consulted: 8 February 2022)

[Cordoba’s red wine tastes very special. The best-known areas for “tapas” are

the neighborhoods in the old town of San Lorenzo, San Andrés and Santa Marina.

Remember to try the special cold dish (cream made from tomatoes, bread, and

olive oil), oxtail and Cordoba dessert (pastry with “Angel’s hair”, jam made from

pumpkin pulp and white sugar).]

Interestingly, the order of the food has been changed. The red wine is mentioned

before the suggestions of neighborhoods to visit for tapas and other typical

dishes. The reason for this change may be the importance attached to Spanish

red wine by the Chinese market. Wine, especially foreign wine, is not viewed as

an indispensable part of every Chinese meal, but as something elegant for a

lavish dinner. Therefore, inviting Chinese tourists to try the wine may be a

strategy to promote tourism in Spain by suggesting it will meet specific

expectations: a romantic, luxurious trip with special tastes.

There are differences in the dishes mentioned in the two versions. Ingredients

and cooking methods that are not commonly used in Chinese cuisine have been

omitted, such as flamenquín and mazamorra. The dish berenjenas con miel, which is

very similar to the home-cooked Chinese dish 脆皮茄子(cuìpí qiézǐ), fried

eggplant with sweetish sauce) is not mentioned either. In the translated website,

the translator introduces Chinese tourists to one cold dish (salmorejo), one main

course (oxtail), and one dessert (manoletes), which are local dishes that are special,

attractive, and acceptable for the Chinese visitor’s palate. Finally, we noticed that

the names of the dishes were omitted, replaced by general description and

referring to the ingredients. The terms salmorejo and manoletes that are unfamiliar

to Chinese people are not mentioned in the text, which instead refers to a special

cold dish and Cordoba dessert. When referring to the wine, the translator has also

left out the designation of origin Montilla-Moriles, which is not well-known to

Chinese tourists. What is more, as in the original text, the ingredients are also

mentioned in parentheses. We can see from the translation that the translator

has made an effort to produce a comprehensible and acceptable text for the

Chinese target audience, while demonstrating the value of tourism resources in

Cordoba. It is hard to tell whether it is domestication or foreignization. From

the Eco-Translatology perspective, we could regard the Chinese version of the

website to be an adaptation by the translator to the Chinese target market and

the result of the translator’s decision to display and advertise aspects of the food

culture of Cordoba to a greater or lesser extent.

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In the light of eco-translation, we also focus on the translation of eco-tourism

recourses. It has been noted that, in the original website, the natural environment

is only mentioned in reference to the Festival de los Patios (Courtyards Festival

La primavera es su momento estelar, cuando la fragancia de flores como el azahar y el jazmín

acompañan siempre, sobre todo en un mes de mayo rebosante de fiestas tradicionales en Córdoba

[It is at its best in spring, when the fragrance of jasmine and orange blossom is

ever-present, especially in May, the month of many of Córdoba’s traditional

fiestas.] (Spain’s official tourism webpage on Cordoba, date consulted: 8

February, 2022). However, in the Chinese version, natural scenery has been

added to the text: “这个城市为自然爱好者提供了广阔的场地。卡尔达纳

山上的自然公园、奥尔纳楚洛斯山、苏贝蒂卡斯山让人们在尽享科尔

多瓦风光和文化财富的同时，也可以进行各种形式的户外运动。[The

city offers ample space for nature lovers. Mountains in the Cardeña,

Hornachuelos, and Subbaetic ranges offer people the chance to enjoy the natural

landscape and cultural wealth of Cordoba, as well as all forms of outdoor sports.]

Transliteration is used when naming the mountains. This is a commonly used

technique for translating names into Chinese. The different ways of introducing

the natural landscape may be derived from the sales strategies used in the two

markets. A combination of beautiful spring scenery with the traditional festival

culture is suitable for promotion among Spanish tourists, who are familiar with

the Courtyards Festival being a local characteristic of Cordoba. However, for

Chinese tourists who know little about this unique cultural custom, the translator

has chosen to provide them with more information about the natural landscape

in order to offer more options for their travel itinerary.

The foregoing discussion has confirmed our opinion about two ecological

approaches to translation. Cronin’s point of view has led us to focus on elements

of the text related to the human living environment, while Hu’s theory helps us

to analyze the translator’s choices.

4.2 From the systematic perspective

In this section, we will try to look at our corpus from the systematic perspective:

Polysystem Theory and the ecosystem in Eco-Translatology. Compared with the

During the annual Courtyard Festival and Contest, the beautiful courtyards that are decorated

with flowers are open to the public.

Eco-translatology and Existing Translation Theories

polysystem established by Even-Zohar (1979/1990), which is focused on the

world of literature and translated literary works, the translational ecosystem

proposed by Hu (2003) is more practical for applied translation. By adopting

Hu’s opinion, the translator’s professional environment can be regarded as a

tourism translation ecosystem. Unlike elements in the literary polysystem, the

subject that moves, reacts, and strives to survive in the translational ecosystem

is the translator itself. In our case, it is the translator’s initiative to decide on the

content of the website by adapting it to the target market. As a result, they help

the publisher (Spain’s Tourism Board) to succeed in the competitive tourism

market, while at the same time boosting their own position as a translator.

What is more, Toury’s (1995) contributions regarding translational norms based

on his systematic thinking have offered us another way to study the translation

of tourism websites. The initial norms are the overall choices made with regard

to the constraining factors of the SL and the TL. In our case, the TL norms have

been adopted. It is noted that the tourism information provided on the Chinese

webpage does not exactly correspond to the original version. Certain cultural

elements and historic landmarks that are unfamiliar to Chinese visitors have been

omitted, such as The Great Mosque, the Synagogue, the Jewish quarter, the

Calahorra tower, the Royal Stables, and Madinat al-Zahra. Information has been

added about such rich and varied activities as nightlife, venues for outdoor sports,

leisure parks for children, and souvenir stores. The translator has apparently

abided by TL terms in order to meet the needs of potential Chinese customers

of different ages and interests.

Regarding operational norms, which are the skills and strategies that influence

the translator’s endeavor from a micro-level perspective. The distribution of the

linguistic and paralinguistic elements has changed. As shown in figures 2 and 3

in section 3, in the Spanish version there is a background picture showing the

Roman bridge, the name of the city and the tagline Una ciudad que florece [A city

that blooms.] However, in the Chinese version, the background photo has been

changed to the arches of Cordoba’s Mosque-Cathedral and the tagline has been

replaced with a brief introduction to the city: “这个城市位于安达卢西亚的

心脏地带，是一个多种文化交汇的城市，适合步行参观。您不妨在科

尔多瓦与博物馆、宗教古迹、民用建筑、贵族宅邸和考古遗址来个浪

漫的约会。[This multicultural city located in the heart of Andalusia is easy to

visit on foot. You can have a romantic date in Cordoba visiting museums,

religious buildings, civil architecture, stately homes and historic sites.]

Concerning the two versions of the website analyzed here, there is notable

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modification of linguistic and paralinguistic elements in terms of operational

norms. The matricial and textual-linguistic norms corresponding to the design

specification of the website and the browsing habits of Chinese users have given

rise to changes in the distribution and content of the elements.

However, from an Eco-Translatology point of view, these differences can be

regarded as a result of the translator’s own choices. The translator has decided

to adapt the website to the target market’s needs in order to produce the broadest

possible promotional benefits. According to previous knowledge of most

Chinese tourism in Cordoba, the translator has decided that the arches of

Mosque–Cathedral of Cordoba are the background image that will have the

strongest immediate impression on Chinese readers. In addition, rather than

translating the tagline, they have chosen to offer more details about the unique

cultural landscape of the city as the selling points at the very beginning of the

website.

4.3 From multidimensional perspective

Having compared the three contextual dimensions proposed by Hatim and

Mason (1990) and the three ecological dimensions proposed by Hu (2003), this

part examines the corpus from those two different approaches.

Hatim and Mason build their context theory on discourse analysis approaches

and introduce the three dimensions of context: the communicative, pragmatic

and semiotic dimensions.

Three basic types of register variation can be distinguished in discourse: field,

mode, and tenor. The field of discourse is the communicative situation of the

text. In this case, this is the promotion of tourism. It requires the translator to

confine the text to tourism discourse by adopting the professional lexis when

introducing the destinations and services. Mode refers to the medium of

language activity used for Internet-based digital communication. The translator

needs to think about the multimedia tools offered by the website and the

intangibility of the communication. In other words, the ways to attract potential

tourists and provide them with useful travel information without face-to-face

contact between the publisher of the website and its customers is an important

issue that is worthy of in-depth consideration. Tenor relays the relationship

between the addresser and the addressee. The relationship between the provider

of the tourism service and its customers determines the formality of the

Eco-translatology and Existing Translation Theories

communication, while the flexible, informal environment of online

communication offers the chance to easily get close to customers and to shorten

the distance between interlocutors. In our corpus, we noticed that on the original

website second person pronouns have been used to address visitors, but third

person pronouns have been used in the translation. For example, the original

text says Puedes disfrutar de la experiencia de relajarte en un moderno hamman en los baños

árabes [You can relax in a modern hammam in the Arab baths] and on the website

in Chinese, we can find sentences like: 您不妨在科尔多瓦与博物馆······来

个浪漫的约会。[One (formal) can have a romantic date in Cordoba visiting

museums…]. Note that informal pronouns are not usual in tourism advertising

in Chinese. In commercial discourses, 您(nín) is more commonly used to show

respect to clients.

The pragmatic dimension focuses on the act of speech. Three different kinds of

action are mentioned by Hatim and Mason (1990): the locutionary act, the

illocutionary act, and the perlocutionary act. In the case of our corpus, the

locutionary act refers to introductions to tourism destinations, activities, and

services. The illocutionary act, related to the communicative intention of the

utterance, refers to the marketing purpose of publishing the information-

creating clear characteristics and a special image of Cordoba. Finally, with the

perlocutionary act, the website aims to stimulate the interest of potential

travelers and encourage them to consume in the tourist destination.

The semiotic dimension centers on the composition of signs and the way they

interact. The tourism website includes different forms of linguistic and

paralinguistic elements, and digital communication can be considered to

exchange these signs. When translating them, the translator needs to think about

their intertextual reference and the content of the information. It was noted that

on the Chinese webpage, certain cultural elements have been omitted, such as

the May Crosses, the Battle of Flowers, and the Railings and Balconies

competition, but the information that the city has rich and colorful ceremonies

and performances has been transferred to Chinese readers. It says, 它也是艺

术、文化和休闲胜地，经常会有丰富多样的文化活动在这里举办，如

弗朗门戈舞会、音乐会、芭蕾。[It is also a tourist destination for arts,

culture and entertainment that often hosts a variety of cultural events such as

flamenco performances, concerts and ballet.]

Meanwhile, the three ecological dimensions of Eco-Translatology provide us

with another approach to analyzing the selection and adaptation behavior of

Mingshu Liu

translators. The linguistic dimension refers to all kinds of linguistic operations in

the translation text including macro-structure, syntactic process, lexical choice

and so on. It has been noted that a Chinese four-character idiom, 激情澎湃

(jīqíng péngpài, i.e. passionate and energetic) has been used to describe the colorful

nightlife of Cordoba. From an Eco-Translatology point of view, the use of a

Chinese idiom can be considered the translator’s personal choice in order to

adapt the text to the language habits of Chinese readers, making it acceptable for

the target clients, thereby achieving effective advertising. The cultural dimension

concentrates on the translation of cultural elements. Because of the large

distance between the two cultures, different strategies have been adopted when

using cultural elements to establish the tourism image of the city. On the original

website, the Festival de los Patios (Courtyards Festival), the Roman past and the

coexistence of Christian, Islamic and Jewish cultures are the main selling points

of Cordoba. However, when dealing with Chinese visitors who do not know

much about the cultural background of the destination, the translator decides to

describe Cordoba as a destination that provides a variety of tourism activities,

such as visiting museums, enjoying an exciting nightlife, doing outdoor sports in

national parks, and so on. Finally, as for the communicative dimension, Eco-

Translatology directs us towards a focus on any translational operations related

to communicative intention. Internet media have made it possible to translate

communicative information not only through words, but also using multi-media

tools. On the Chinese website, apart from the translated introduction to the city,

we can also find pictures and links to other popular tourist destinations in the

surrounding area, recommended tours, and a travel itinerary. As shown in the

following figure, the picture of a train traveling through Andalusia and a link to

the main train operator’s website are included on the website to provide ideas

for inclusion in a travel itinerary.

Eco-translatology and Existing Translation Theories

Figure 4. Recommended train travel on the Spain’s official tourism website on

Cordoba in the Chinese language

After analyzing the corpus from the two approaches above, we can confirm that

the three contextual dimensions proposed by Hatim and Mason (1990) pay more

attention to the discourse function of the text. However, the model established

by Hu is more focused on the translator’s decisions.

4.4 From functional approaches

The contributions by Nord (1991/2005) offer a new perspective on our corpus

from functional approaches. Reiss & Vermeer’s skopos theory (1984/2013)

focuses on the purposes and functions of the text in the communicative

situation. It can be observed that in the translation of our corpus, the intended

TT functions provide tourism information to the Chinese audience and guide

their consumption during their trip. The TT may address any Chinese visitor to

the website who has plans to visit Cordoba, has an interest in Andalusian culture

and landscape, or is simply curious about Spanish tourism. The medium, of

course, is the website which enables intangible digital communication and can

be accessed at any time and from any place via the users’ mobile devices.

What is more, Nord (1991/2005) also pays attention to the relationship between

the author of the ST and the translator by proposing the notion of “functionality

plus loyalty”. She suggests four basic functions: the referential function, the

expressive function, the appellative function, and the phatic function. Online

advertising is characterized by simplicity, brevity and understandability. It

normally also has to be striking, memorable and attractive. Hence, the

advertising message needs to stress the reference function and the appellative

Retrieved Jan. 30, 2022 from https://www.visitspain.com.cn/destination/heritage/cordoba.h

tml

Mingshu Liu

function of the text. The reference function is aimed at providing practical

information to tourists. For example, the Chinese website refers to the historic

landmarks, cultural activities, natural parks, and unique cuisine. The appellative

function is intended to increase the reader’s interest and curiosity and also

encourage them to travel and consume. For example, vivid pictures can stimulate

the imagination of potential visitors, and travel suggestions and recommended

tours can provide them with practical travel itineraries.

In the same vein, Hu also attaches importance to the relationship between the

SL’s world, the TL’s world, and the translator. But the difference is that, for the

latter, the translator’s aim is to survive in the eco-environment. They have to

submit their translation brief to ensure that their work is acceptable both to the

publisher and the audience. All elements on the SL side and the TL side belong

to the translational eco-environment inhabited by the translator. The purpose of

producing a functional translation product is to be recognized both by the

publisher and by the target audience so that the translator can successfully

survive in a competitive trade. As mentioned in previous sections, many changes

and modifications can be observed when comparing the Chinese version with

the original Spanish texts. These are efforts made by the translator to make the

best choices when adapting the text to the translation eco-environment.

Conclusions

Through comparison between Chinese Eco-Translatology and Western

approaches, we can conclude that the main difference is the subject of the study.

Hu discusses the translator's behavior (survival in the translation eco-

environment, adaptation and selection, function in maintaining ecological

balance in the translation world, and so on), whereas the aforesaid western

scholars prefer to discuss translation work (the ecological point of view in the

translated text, the polysystem of literary work and translation, the contextual

dimensions, the function of the text, and so on). Despite this apparent

difference, Eco-Translatology has some unavoidable parallels and relationships

with previous theoretical contributions. Hu coincides with Cronin in his

ecological perspective. Both authors pay close attention to the relationship

between translation and ecology. We have also found that the similarity between

the Chinese scholar’s translation ecosystem and the polysystem is that both

establish a systematic point of view. Besides, Eco-Translatology is similar to the

Eco-translatology and Existing Translation Theories

discourse approach because both pay attention to the linguistic elements of

translation, and it is similar to the functional approaches because it also pays

attention to the function of the translator. The similarities and differences

between different approaches help us look in depth at the essence of translation

and advance the development of translation studies toward a multi-culture of

coexistence.

Cronin’s eco-translation has led us to focus on the relationship between

translation and the human living environment. In this study, it has been found

that the introduction to Cordoba’s food culture on the translated website has

taken into consideration Chinese dietary habits, and descriptions of the city’s

natural landscape have been added to the translated text. Following Toury’s

methodology applied to study tourism translation in terms of translational

norms, I discovered that TL norms have been adopted in the Chinese version

of the website. In the light of the discourse and functional approaches, it has

been noted that, compared to the original website, many cultural, linguistic, and

even paralinguistic elements have been changed in the translated version in order

to perform the referential and appellative functions of the text. In other words,

the text has been adapted to fit the purpose of achieving the best marketing

effect among the Chinese audience. Unlike the Western approaches described in

this paper, Eco-Translatology regards these changes as the translator’s strategies

to succeed in the competitive translational eco-environment. By adapting the

website to the interests of a Chinese audience, the translator has made an effort

to create a touristic image of Cordoba: a multicultural city that offers a diversity

of tourism products, such as historic landmarks, a natural landscape, unique

cuisine, children’s playgrounds, colorful nightlife, and shopping centers.

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