Translation as metaphor: Yan Fu and his translation principles

This thesis was motivated by turn-of-the-century concerns in Chinese translation studies about the validity of the long-held translation principles proposed by Chinese translator Yan Fu and about the relevance of Yan's paradigmatic translation project to future research. It rereads the translation practice and intellectual thought of Yan Fu by adopting an interdisciplinary approach restructuring past studies that have been isolated in the areas of intellectual history and translation theory. The examination of his translation practice through a series of metaphor suggests, contrary to existing consensus, that faithfulness to the source text is irrelevant to his translation project. His translation principles are not pure literary notions; rather they are tied to the Confucian literary and exegetical tradition. These findings unfold new potentialities for a major research topic that has been challenged as having reached a cul-de-sac and point to a new direction for development in Chinese translation studies. New findings from the field of intellectual history help to clarify existing inconsistencies and political biases concerning Yan Fu's persona and historicize him as a persistent seeker of the Confucian dao. This testifies to the need to reassess his translation project in relation to the Confucian-based Chinese tradition. Close examination of his remarks on translation, correspondence and other writings suggests that his words and deeds are steeped in Confucian poetics, which represents a totally different concept from modern pure literary poetics. His commitment to Confucian ontological faith and ultimate concern for spiritual or cosmological transcendence are similar to the ends of some of the most influential translators in Chinese history and marks a higher level operation of translation as a tool for higher learning than as an occupation. Through translation as-intellectual critique, Yan mended indigenous coordinates for gauging alien propositions and constructed a hybridized discourse for reforming indigenous epistemology and methodology. His manipulative translations, as he claimed in his last extended translation, were intended for metaphorical explication of a certain subject with the source text as a point of departure, rather than an end to return to. Ironically the repercussions of the manipulative evolutionary discourse he engendered became further manipulated by the newer generations and fuelled more violent changes in a system on the verge of a crisis. While this subsequently led to the disruption of the conservative Confucian poetics and the gradual reform agenda he had desired, the reexamination of his translations and translation practice sheds light on system regeneration and the inheritance of Chinese culture in a modern world. The presentation of Yan Fu's translations suggests that he followed the Confucian literary tradition, which allowed exegetical and eisegetical interpretation of classics and commentaries for narrating the dao, and attempted mediation of a changing dao through translation as intellectual critique. Hermeneutical rereading of his xin-da-ya translation principles in relation to the Confucian exegetical tradition frees the study of his principles from recurrent perspectives and offers a systematic approach to the study of xin, da and ya as core values in Confucian poetics meaning faith, decorum and virtue respectively. His exercise of Confucian cosmological faith through translation releases the source text for a dialogue with a broader cosmic text, whereby the interaction of time and tradition-bound discourses obliges the translator to repeatedly highlight and transcend his own interpretive horizons and move the physical text beyond its original psychological and historical contexts, evincing dynamic interaction with the reader. This perspective offers a philosophical dimension to translation and valourizes translation as a virtuous act of conduct in the Chinese tradition and as cosmological transference of concepts and images in human's pursuit of truth and being. The promotion of the complex notion of translation beyond the word itself to the realm of metaphor facilitates exchange between languages and systems at the level of tertium comparationis and enables reasoning at the level of the universal logos. In the present study of Yan Fu, this helps to avoid recurrent arguments and leads to more balanced and constructive perspectives for the future development of a major research topic in Chinese translation studies. It also opens the possibility of exchange between a traditional theory and modern theories and between the Chinese translation tradition and other traditions

RFID Technology Enhancing Supply Chain Competence and E-Business: An Opportunity or a Threat?

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), which uses radio waves to identify objects, was discovered in 1930s for military purposes and it transformed into commercial uses in 1980s in the United States. In this paper, we explore the research domains in RFID technology, innovation and diffusion theory, and supply chain management within the existing literature for exploring whether RFID enhances supply chain competence and ebusiness. This paper also forms a preliminary study base for researchers who may wish to carry on future research in this area

E-Book Technology in Libraries: An Overview

The shift towards electronically mediated texts entails major structural issues for libraries and the publishers and aggregators who supply them. Stakeholders within the digital supply chain are struggling to re-conceptualise the book as artefact (Esposito 2003). Academic and scholarly libraries are at the forefront of these changes and many are preparing for a significant shift from physical to electronic material presentation within the next few year. Within this context, we review some recent developments in the technology underpinning e-books, evaluate a number of e-business publishing models and introduce some of the key players

Translation as metaphor : Yan Fu and his translation principles

This thesis was motivated by turn-of-the-century concerns in Chinese translation studies about the validity of the long-held translation principles proposed by Chinese translator Yan Fu and about the relevance of Yan's paradigmatic translation project to future research. It rereads the translation practice and intellectual thought of Yan Fu by adopting an interdisciplinary approach restructuring past studies that have been isolated in the areas of intellectual history and translation theory. The examination of his translation practice through a series of metaphor suggests, contrary to existing consensus, that faithfulness to the source text is irrelevant to his translation project. His translation principles are not pure literary notions; rather they are tied to the Confucian literary and exegetical tradition. These findings unfold new potentialities for a major research topic that has been challenged as having reached a cul-de-sac and point to a new direction for development in Chinese translation studies. New findings from the field of intellectual history help to clarify existing inconsistencies and political biases concerning Yan Fu's persona and historicize him as a persistent seeker of the Confucian dao. This testifies to the need to reassess his translation project in relation to the Confucian-based Chinese tradition. Close examination of his remarks on translation, correspondence and other writings suggests that his words and deeds are steeped in Confucian poetics, which represents a totally different concept from modern pure literary poetics. His commitment to Confucian ontological faith and ultimate concern for spiritual or cosmological transcendence are similar to the ends of some of the most influential translators in Chinese history and marks a higher level operation of translation as a tool for higher learning than as an occupation. Through translation as-intellectual critique, Yan mended indigenous coordinates for gauging alien propositions and constructed a hybridized discourse for reforming indigenous epistemology and methodology. His manipulative translations, as he claimed in his last extended translation, were intended for metaphorical explication of a certain subject with the source text as a point of departure, rather than an end to return to. Ironically the repercussions of the manipulative evolutionary discourse he engendered became further manipulated by the newer generations and fuelled more violent changes in a system on the verge of a crisis. While this subsequently led to the disruption of the conservative Confucian poetics and the gradual reform agenda he had desired, the reexamination of his translations and translation practice sheds light on system regeneration and the inheritance of Chinese culture in a modern world. The presentation of Yan Fu's translations suggests that he followed the Confucian literary tradition, which allowed exegetical and eisegetical interpretation of classics and commentaries for narrating the dao, and attempted mediation of a changing dao through translation as intellectual critique. Hermeneutical rereading of his xin-da-ya translation principles in relation to the Confucian exegetical tradition frees the study of his principles from recurrent perspectives and offers a systematic approach to the study of xin, da and ya as core values in Confucian poetics meaning faith, decorum and virtue respectively. His exercise of Confucian cosmological faith through translation releases the source text for a dialogue with a broader cosmic text, whereby the interaction of time and tradition-bound discourses obliges the translator to repeatedly highlight and transcend his own interpretive horizons and move the physical text beyond its original psychological and historical contexts, evincing dynamic interaction with the reader. This perspective offers a philosophical dimension to translation and valourizes translation as a virtuous act of conduct in the Chinese tradition and as cosmological transference of concepts and images in human's pursuit of truth and being. The promotion of the complex notion of translation beyond the word itself to the realm of metaphor facilitates exchange between languages and systems at the level of tertium comparationis and enables reasoning at the level of the universal logos. In the present study of Yan Fu, this helps to avoid recurrent arguments and leads to more balanced and constructive perspectives for the future development of a major research topic in Chinese translation studies. It also opens the possibility of exchange between a traditional theory and modern theories and between the Chinese translation tradition and other traditions.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceCity University of Hong Kong (CUHK)GBUnited Kingdo

New educational service products : tertiary EC/EB education - the Asia-Pacific region

Electronic Commerce (EC) / Electronic Business (EB) has been (and is expected to continue to be) a dynamic, rapidly evolving area of technology, requiring skilled people with up-to-date knowledge and skills. The global community has required (and still requires) tertiary academic programs to prepare and train these people quickly. In the late nineties, following a tidal wave of tertiary EC program development in the United States, new tertiary programs began to appear in the Asia-Pacific (AP) region to satisfy this need, over a very short period of time. This research project aims to examine whether the development and effectiveness of tertiary EC/EB educational programs can be enhanced through employing a particular marketing paradigm. Four regions - Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong SAR and the Republic of Singapore — were selected from the AP region, for this study. Based on a review of marketing literature, an inductive approach is adopted to build a model for new educational service product offerings. I also provide a description and comprehensive analysis of EC/EB education, and explore the model empirically, examining how it applies to the way EC education programs have been developed, to date. Essentially, this project consists of two major activities: theory building and theory testing – and is divided into three parts. Part 1: Preliminary study – literature review for theory building. This section of the thesis provides a literature review of the domains of curriculum development, EC/EB program development and management, EC/EB component models and new service product development. Part 2 : Understanding the marketplace – quantitative analysis. This section comprises five major surveys which provide an understanding of EC/EB education. Part 3 : In-depth analysis – qualitative research for theory testing. This section discusses the results of the multiple case studies of EC/EB degree programs undertaken over a five year period. The results of this project highlight both theoretical and practical aspects of the topic. In terms of the theoretical aspect, I provide a contribution to existing theory concerning the planning and development of new tertiary education programs. Research into academic course development in the past has tended to assume that all program development is pedagogically based and influenced. There is an assumption that people only develop academic programs and academic courses for pedagogic reasons. What this research project has done is to suggest that there are, in fact, many possible reasons for developing new programs and that, although these reasons might be pedagogic in nature, they can also be industry-focased, and market-oriented in the following ways: -the university is shaping the way it is perceived by the public – that is, the market; -the university is highlighting where its expertise lies. This led me to a form of new service product development consistent with the new image of the university. There is a clear need for diverse models for program development which accommodate the dynamic roles of modern universities. My research project develops such a model based on conditions in the Asia-Pacific region, and discusses findings arising from the overall project, which can be used to improve new educational program offerings in future, in both the Asia-Pacific and, I suggest, in other regions. This potential use of my findings highlights the practical contribution made by the research Project

Translation as metaphor : Yan Fu and his translation principles

This thesis was motivated by turn-of-the-century concerns in Chinese translation studies about the validity of the long-held translation principles proposed by Chinese translator Yan Fu and about the relevance of Yan's paradigmatic translation project to future research. It rereads the translation practice and intellectual thought of Yan Fu by adopting an interdisciplinary approach restructuring past studies that have been isolated in the areas of intellectual history and translation theory. The examination of his translation practice through a series of metaphor suggests, contrary to existing consensus, that faithfulness to the source text is irrelevant to his translation project. His translation principles are not pure literary notions; rather they are tied to the Confucian literary and exegetical tradition. These findings unfold new potentialities for a major research topic that has been challenged as having reached a cul-de-sac and point to a new direction for development in Chinese translation studies. New findings from the field of intellectual history help to clarify existing inconsistencies and political biases concerning Yan Fu's persona and historicize him as a persistent seeker of the Confucian dao. This testifies to the need to reassess his translation project in relation to the Confucian-based Chinese tradition. Close examination of his remarks on translation, correspondence and other writings suggests that his words and deeds are steeped in Confucian poetics, which represents a totally different concept from modern pure literary poetics. His commitment to Confucian ontological faith and ultimate concern for spiritual or cosmological transcendence are similar to the ends of some of the most influential translators in Chinese history and marks a higher level operation of translation as a tool for higher learning than as an occupation. Through translation as-intellectual critique, Yan mended indigenous coordinates for gauging alien propositions and constructed a hybridized discourse for reforming indigenous epistemology and methodology. His manipulative translations, as he claimed in his last extended translation, were intended for metaphorical explication of a certain subject with the source text as a point of departure, rather than an end to return to. Ironically the repercussions of the manipulative evolutionary discourse he engendered became further manipulated by the newer generations and fuelled more violent changes in a system on the verge of a crisis. While this subsequently led to the disruption of the conservative Confucian poetics and the gradual reform agenda he had desired, the reexamination of his translations and translation practice sheds light on system regeneration and the inheritance of Chinese culture in a modern world. The presentation of Yan Fu's translations suggests that he followed the Confucian literary tradition, which allowed exegetical and eisegetical interpretation of classics and commentaries for narrating the dao, and attempted mediation of a changing dao through translation as intellectual critique. Hermeneutical rereading of his xin-da-ya translation principles in relation to the Confucian exegetical tradition frees the study of his principles from recurrent perspectives and offers a systematic approach to the study of xin, da and ya as core values in Confucian poetics meaning faith, decorum and virtue respectively. His exercise of Confucian cosmological faith through translation releases the source text for a dialogue with a broader cosmic text, whereby the interaction of time and tradition-bound discourses obliges the translator to repeatedly highlight and transcend his own interpretive horizons and move the physical text beyond its original psychological and historical contexts, evincing dynamic interaction with the reader. This perspective offers a philosophical dimension to translation and valourizes translation as a virtuous act of conduct in the Chinese tradition and as cosmological transference of concepts and images in human's pursuit of truth and being. The promotion of the complex notion of translation beyond the word itself to the realm of metaphor facilitates exchange between languages and systems at the level of tertium comparationis and enables reasoning at the level of the universal logos. In the present study of Yan Fu, this helps to avoid recurrent arguments and leads to more balanced and constructive perspectives for the future development of a major research topic in Chinese translation studies. It also opens the possibility of exchange between a traditional theory and modern theories and between the Chinese translation tradition and other traditions.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceCity University of Hong Kong (CUHK)GBUnited Kingdo

Implementing Information Management Strategically: An Australian EDRMS Case Study

Organisations in both private and public sectors are increasingly becoming aware of the need to take a strategic approach to the management of corporate information and records. In this paper we present a case study of a successful Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS) implementation within a major Australian capital city council. Guided by Ward and Peppard’s strategic systems framework (2002), the case study highlights a set of strategies which were responsible for the successful outcome of the implementation – and shows just how crucial it is for any organisation to bring with it the people and the processes involved in the creation, management and maintenance of records and information, if a centralised approach is to work over the longer term