Foreign impact on geography in China through translation over the past 100 years

Abstract

Through a study of the publication data about translations in the field of geography in China from 1900 to 2017, this paper discusses translation as an inherent factor implying foreign geography's impact on modernising and promoting geography in China. The progress of geographical translation in China has been circuitous and arduous, and can be classified into four distinct yet interconnected phases according to the four‐fold aspects of growth, dominant origin, main field of the translations, and proportion of translations among the selected published works. Although translation has been so ubiquitous in Chinese geography that it seems the impact of foreign geography is inescapable, “impact” cannot be equal to translation. With that in mind, indicators including the number and proportion of translations, the import and absorption of translations, the intertwined variation of translations from various countries in different fields and phases, and the social and political contexts in China are considered. The discussion demonstrates that the role of translation in the growth of geography in China changed situationally, and translation implied not only a “foreign impact” but also a “domestic remodelling” of the discipline. Although the status of geography in China is very different from what it used to be, this conclusion suggests that “importing” quality work is necessary for the further promotion of Chinese geography.

Geography, area studies and Chinese world-writing

“…The study of ‘advanced’ foreign areas was closely bound up with Republican China’s (1912–1949) ‘knowledge revolution’ and ideas about the role of knowledge in building a strong China (Chen, 2016; Wang, 2002). The intellectuals who went abroad during this era brought back ideas of WRG and FAS from Europe, Japan and the United States (US), and founded schools and universities that remain centres of WRG and FAS in China today (Sun et al, 2020; Zhang, 2013). A prominent example is Li Chunfen (1912–1996) who studied at the University of Toronto and received Canada’s first PhD in geography in 1943 (Kerr et al, 1996).…”

The Belt and Road Initiative as Multiple Geographies of Knowledge Production

“…Moreover, social science research in China is often expected to yield outcomes that have applied values (Sun et al, 2020). While such an expectation reflects some more applied-oriented sub-fields in social sciences, it overlooks the importance of knowledge production and theoretical development as these are less informative to the 'practical issues' such as economic development.…”

Spatial Histories of Radical Geography: North America and Beyond

“…(p. 13) Neither China nor Mao figure in the index to Spatial Histories of Radical Geography. Paradoxically, in China itself, geography has tended to remain a branch of statecraft (Sun et al 2020), translating, applying, and developing foreign technical work rather than engaging radical geography and is successors. This was evident in Soviet geography too (see, e.g., Ishmuratov 1990).…”