Flowing to the reception side

Abstract

The empirical line of reception studies has staked out new research questions regarding the effects of translation on actual readers. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms of how the translated text flows towards and is received by the target reader remain elusive, notably with respect to attempts to rationalise the individual reader’s decision-making in compromising situations. Drawing on empirical evidence from a quasi-experiment in which a group of 22 readers in Australia responded to various translations of Chinese foreign affairs discourses, this chapter illustrates how a nonlinear trade-off model serves to explain the reader’s ultimate judgements in which linguistic and ethical considerations are weighed against each other. It is found that a pair of two incompatible but desirable expectations is (un)consciously calculated by the reader. The extent to which the translation can be accepted is susceptible to the degree to which the reader trusts the translator.