Translation Studies and Academic Soft Power: Some Insights from Eco-Translatology

The theory of Eco-translatology (shengtai fanyixue 生態翻譯學) sees translation processes as part of a system of interdependencies that can be investigated in ecological and biological terms. While explicitly appropriating the principles of Darwinian evolutionism and claiming to draw inspiration from both traditional Chinese wisdom and modern ecological thought, Eco-translatology presents itself as an autochthonous theory with a strong international outreach. Through an analysis of the scholarly endeavor of Eco-translatology, this paper seeks to point out that its tenets resonate significantly with the policies of knowledge production of the contemporary People’s Republic of China and, more generally, with its national ideological agenda. It also intends to show how this self-proclaimed discipline endorses the promotion of a “Chinese discourse” in the field of translation studies, one that would reposition Chinese scholars and theories within the international scientific community, ultimately contributing to the construction and consolidation of its national academic soft power.