Research Article
Local Knowledge in Translation: Mediation and Ethical Orientation in English Translations of Shen Congwen
Shan Su*
Issue:
Volume 12, Issue 3, September 2026
Pages:
54-61
Received:
24 July 2026
Accepted:
5 August 2026
Published:
20 August 2026
Abstract: This article examines how Xiangxi folk customs in Shen Congwen’s The Husband and Biancheng are mediated as forms of local knowledge in English translation. It compares renderings in four publications, which together provide three English versions of each work by Ching Ti and Robert Payne, Gladys Yang, and Jeffrey C. Kinkley. Drawing on Zhong Jingwen’s classification of material, social, linguistic, and spiritual folk customs, this study combines the concepts of local knowledge, intercultural mediation, cultural filtering, and translator ethics. The analysis shows that material customs are often conveyed through literal rendering or functional description, though regional specificity may be reduced. Social customs require the reconstruction of institutional relations; linguistic customs depend on oral form, euphemism, taboo, and shared inference; and spiritual customs rely on coherent relations among ritual objects, actions, sequence, and purpose. Ching Ti and Payne generally favour immediate recognisability, Yang balances narrative fluency with selective clarification, and Kinkley more consistently employs descriptive expansion and paratextual explanation, although greater detail does not always ensure accuracy. These recurrent differences are interpreted as historically situated ethical orientations shaped by anticipated readerships, publishing conditions, and reception contexts. Translation therefore not only conveys Xiangxi culture but also determines how its local knowledge becomes intelligible to English-language readers.
Abstract: This article examines how Xiangxi folk customs in Shen Congwen’s The Husband and Biancheng are mediated as forms of local knowledge in English translation. It compares renderings in four publications, which together provide three English versions of each work by Ching Ti and Robert Payne, Gladys Yang, and Jeffrey C. Kinkley. Drawing on Zhong Jingwe...
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Commentary
A Proposed 3CC Model for Academic Writing Competence
Ping He*
Issue:
Volume 12, Issue 3, September 2026
Pages:
62-67
Received:
2 July 2026
Accepted:
16 July 2026
Published:
24 August 2026
Abstract: Academic writing plays a crucial role in disseminating scientific knowledge, advancing academic careers and fostering a harmonious academic community. To produce successful academic writing, the competence of writers in this domain is of paramount importance. The success of academic writing is significantly dependent on a writer’s academic writing competence in this specialized form of communication. Despite the recognized importance of academic writing competence, the specific elements or components it should encompass have yet to be rigorously investigated. Based on previous studies and prior exploration into academic writing, this paper attempts to propose a three-core competences (3CC) model for academic writing competence, including conscious competence, cognitive competence and constructive competence. These three competences are interrelated, indicated by conscious competence as a representative of the initial starter, constructive competence as a revelation of the writing process and the final product, and cognitive competence as a bridge and macro-regulator throughout the writing process. Specifically, conscious competence embraces elements as genre awareness, awareness of stance and voice, awareness of disciplinary norms, awareness of cultural values, awareness of putative participants and institutions. Cognitive competence includes writers’ meta-cognition and agency. Constructive competence is composed of linguistic choices, grammatical expression, discursive practice, disciplinary knowledge construction, stance taking and voicing, and recontextualization. It is hoped that this proposed 3CC model could shed lights on enhancing genre-based instruction and academic writing practices.
Abstract: Academic writing plays a crucial role in disseminating scientific knowledge, advancing academic careers and fostering a harmonious academic community. To produce successful academic writing, the competence of writers in this domain is of paramount importance. The success of academic writing is significantly dependent on a writer’s academic writing ...
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