具体描述
The 1793 British embassy to China, which led to Lord George Macartney’s fraught encounter with the Qianlong emperor, has often been viewed as a clash of cultures fueled by the East’s disinterest in the West. In The Perils of Interpreting, Henrietta Harrison presents a more nuanced picture, ingeniously shifting the historical lens to focus on Macartney’s two interpreters at that meeting—Li Zibiao and George Thomas Staunton. Who were these two men? How did they intervene in the exchanges that they mediated? And what did these exchanges mean for them? From Galway to Chengde, and from political intrigues to personal encounters, Harrison reassesses a pivotal moment in British-China relations. She shows that there were Chinese who were familiar with the West, but growing tensions endangered those who embraced both cultures and would eventually culminate in the Opium Wars.
Harrison demonstrates that the Qing court’s ignorance about the British did not simply happen, but was manufactured through the repression of cultural go-betweens like Li and Staunton. She traces Li’s influence as Macartney’s interpreter, the pressures Li faced in China as a result, and his later years in hiding. Staunton interpreted successfully for the British East India Company in Canton, but as Chinese anger grew against British imperial expansion in South Asia, he was compelled to flee to England. Harrison contends that in silencing expert voices, the Qing court missed an opportunity to gain insights that might have prevented a losing conflict with Britain.
Uncovering the lives of two overlooked figures, The Perils of Interpreting offers a valuable argument for cross-cultural understanding in a better-connected world.
用户评价
##可以算是心目中全球史与微观史结合又一个典型案例了，不只是跨文化的故事，更有大问题的关怀。
评分##有些沧桑变换感的。另外，当读者在上帝视角看着当初清庭和官僚们的态度，就会觉得很可笑也很可怜。大清亡了？
评分##应当是掌握了相当多的一手史料
评分##可以算是心目中全球史与微观史结合又一个典型案例了，不只是跨文化的故事，更有大问题的关怀。
评分##人们在翻译时总是要做出选择，尤其在决定是否坚持使用原文时。为了原原本本地传达内容，翻译者的言语和写作，会尽量使用听众自己的语言。这只是翻译的固有问题之一，当两种语言和文化差异越大，翻译的问题就越复杂。反对挑衅性质的中文翻译，比如将“夷”翻译为barbarian。侵略性的翻译会激发对清朝的敌意，很可能将英国卷入战争。正因为翻译者拥有控制解释的力量，而技能突出的外交口译者通常都要在异文化中生活较长时间。一个人能够掌握外语并广泛了解外邦文明，那么他的忠诚度就会遭到怀疑。因此一旦国家之间发生冲突，翻译工作就是危险的。在许多政治背景，尤其是像清代中国这样高度集中和专制的体制中，对决策者所获得的知识进行控制是影响其决策的最有效手段之一，这一事实更加剧了翻译者的危险。
评分##沈艾娣对于翻译的看法让我很受震动，她的人文关怀也很让我感动。缺点就是叙事有点琐碎吧，尤其是马嘎尔尼使团那一段看得挺痛苦的。对翻译史是越来越感兴趣啦，作者能把一个小题目做得这么大真的超厉害！接下来要抓紧去看看关诗珮那本书啦~
评分1. 史料翔实，句句有出处。 2. （世界）历史真的不像我脑瓜里记得的那样简单。eg.虎门销烟 3. Dont kill the msger, 同理，dont kill the interpreter. eg.签订《NJ条约》时，我方没有自带口译员，因为不敢接活。美在叙利亚行动的口译员。 4. 李自标和小斯当东的经历，放在今天也是不多的。
评分##有些沧桑变换感的。另外，当读者在上帝视角看着当初清庭和官僚们的态度，就会觉得很可笑也很可怜。大清亡了？
评分##真的太好看了！此处立誓要写出一本差不多好看的！
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