With regard to the translation profession, a test conducted by Setton and Guo Liangliang (2011) revealed high job satisfaction in China. This is not a consistent phenomenon throughout the world. The widespread general lack of recognition of translators in Italy, and the time constraints and fees they generally accept for their work, show that their social status is admittedly low. The same does not go for China, where the translators’ status is relatively high. Drawing on definitions of status and role, analysis is carried out from the semiotic perspective at the language, visual, and material level of the Chinese and Italian semiospheres. Investigation of the language semiosphere reveals that neither Italy nor China have specific forms of language such as honorifics for addressing translators, whereas linguistic evidence suggests that there are such forms for other professionals. Nevertheless, the semiotic study conducted using a number of hints obtained from two search engines, as well as investigations made on material objects used by translators, which are similarly part of the semiosphere, seem to confirm that the translators’ status is higher in China than Italy.
Linguistic and other semiotic evidence of the translators' status in China and Italy: A comparative analysis
Mannoni, Michele
2017-01-01
Abstract
With regard to the translation profession, a test conducted by Setton and Guo Liangliang (2011) revealed high job satisfaction in China. This is not a consistent phenomenon throughout the world. The widespread general lack of recognition of translators in Italy, and the time constraints and fees they generally accept for their work, show that their social status is admittedly low. The same does not go for China, where the translators’ status is relatively high. Drawing on definitions of status and role, analysis is carried out from the semiotic perspective at the language, visual, and material level of the Chinese and Italian semiospheres. Investigation of the language semiosphere reveals that neither Italy nor China have specific forms of language such as honorifics for addressing translators, whereas linguistic evidence suggests that there are such forms for other professionals. Nevertheless, the semiotic study conducted using a number of hints obtained from two search engines, as well as investigations made on material objects used by translators, which are similarly part of the semiosphere, seem to confirm that the translators’ status is higher in China than Italy.
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