Assessing Narratives in the Translation of Chinese Political Discourse: A Perspective from the Narrative Paradigm

This research employs the narrative paradigm to assess the translation of Chinese political discourse, with the goal of enhancing the effective narrative comprehension of such translations for international communication. It applies Fisher’s narrative paradigm and Baker’s assessing narratives to investigate the application and impact of the principles of narrative coherence and fidelity in the translation of Chinese political discourse for international audiences. Employing a qualitative research approach, it conducts an analysis based on translations from volumes III and IV of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, as primary case studies. The research finds that translations of Chinese political discourse face specific challenges and opportunities in maintaining narrative coherence and fidelity. The principle of narrative coherence emphasizes the importance of creating coherent, accessible narrative structures in translation, while the principle of fidelity demands fidelity to the source’s cultural information and political connotations, reflecting distinctive Chinese characteristics. Highlighting the significance of adopting the narrative paradigm in the international communication of Chinese political discourse, this research provides theoretical and practical insights for assessing narrative comprehension of Chinese political discourse translation. Moreover, the results offer a new perspective on narrative assessment for comprehension in cross-cultural and international communication, pointing directions for future research.