Translation of periodical titles as a reflection of the current dynamics in translation strategies

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Communication is a complex and multifaceted process that can act simultaneously as a process of interaction between individuals, as a process of exchanging opinions, and as a process of people’s mutual influence, empathy, and understanding. Communication within one culture and between different cultures differs in that, in cross-cultural interaction, there is a need to integrate into another culture and to be understood. At the same time, there is an intense desire for local cultural resistance or even domination via “the soft power strategy” [Wu You, 2017, pp. 463-464]. In other words, this domination is the demonstration of power indirectly, softly, through either words, or discourse. Within cross-cultural communication, this domination is effectuated through translation [Sun Yifeng, 2012; Xu Jun, 2012].

In recent years, translation has become an arena for the preservation of cultural identities and a crucial facet of cultural soft power. Discussions around translation as a cross-cultural communication tool are mainly centered on the incorporation of cultural ideologies, the introduction of cultural lacunae, and the preservation of culture purity [Wu You, 2017; Zhang Yao, 2010; Su Xin, 2005; Jin Jinghong, Zhang Yanxin, 2007; Fan Liangyu, 2012]. However, studies on translation of proper nouns primarily focus on translation methods, cultural and linguistic identity preservation of the source language in translation, and the translation of artistic proper nouns [Fedorov, 2002; Ermolovich, 2001; Newmark, 1981]. Translation of proper names is rarely viewed through the lens of soft power or discourse power. Discourse and soft powers form a succession relation in which the latter is the ancestor and the former is a descendant. Denisov believes discourse power has a more explicit purpose and is designed to change the external environment and the institutional framework in the rising nation-state operates [Denisov, 2020].

Discourse power has become more frequent in Chinese narrative. Though cultural soft power dominated Chinese policies for many years, the concept of discourse power is not novel to China. The first time it appeared on the Chinese agenda in 2006 at the plenary meeting of the

8^th National Committee of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles in the speech of a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Li Changchun [Zhang Zhizhou, 2020]. Li Changchun emphasized the necessity of implementing a policy of going out and spreading Chinese culture around the world “to strengthen ties between international art and literary circles, to fight for international discourse power and defend national interests” [Li Changchun, 2006]. In 2012, Li Changchun presented an improved theoretical frame of international discourse power and raised questions on building Chinese international academic discourse power （ 国际学术话语权） and upgrading Chinese international discourse power to the level of discourse system （ 话语体系 ） construction [Zhang Zhizhou, 2012, p. 15].

The Chairman of PRC Xi Jinping first used the term discourse power in 2013 when he emphasized that strong discourse power could assist in improving cultural soft power [Xi Jinping, 2013]. After the XX CPC Congress in October 2022, discourse power became the core of long-term goals. Xi Jinping called to strengthen “international discourse power” or “China’s voice in international affairs” （ 国际话语权 ） in order to “commensurate it with our （i.e., China） composite national strength and international status” [Xi Jinping, 2022]. In other words, the discourse power is aimed at China’s position or China’s voice in the international arena and its economic power.

The process of discourse power entering the Chinese narrative and the country’s national goals demonstrates that, at first, discourse power was proposed as a tool to improve cultural soft power and later became the main focus of further policies, i.e., replaced cultural soft power and inherited its achievements. Zhao Kejin [2016] believes that the potential accumulated in the past years through the realization of cultural soft power nowadays can be transformed into the growth of discourse power, yet this growth requires concentrated efforts by the state.

At the same time, discourse power and cultural soft power are intertwined. Earlier in 2009, at the VI Congress of Translators Association of China Tang Jiaxuan, the former foreign minister of China, stressed the importance of translation for the increase of the country’s soft power [Wu You, 2017]. Later, the task of better representation of Chinese culture and cultural exchange was given to the discourse power. “We will accelerate the development of China’s discourse and narrative systems, better tell China’s stories, make China’s voice heard, present a China that is credible, appealing, and respectable,” “deepen exchanges and mutual learning with other civilizations, and better present Chinese culture to the world” [Xi Jinping, 2022]. In other words, the Chinese government sees discourse power as an essential tool to reconstruct the image of the Chinese civilization in Western language space and spread Chinese culture abroad using “narrative.”

As a kind of embodiment of knowledge and discourse, translation can particularly prove the power relationship between the source society and the target society. “When two cultures contact, the influence of the ‘superior’ or ‘authoritative’ culture on the ‘inferior’ or ‘subordinate’ one is more obvious than vice versa” [Su Xin, 2005, p. 398]. The same seems applicable to language dominance as well. Foucault’s [1971; 1978] theoretical framework allows us to critically analyze the translation of periodical titles as a field of power struggles, cultural negotiations, and discursive constructions. Similarly, the translation strategies or communicative strategies – the connection between the two will be elaborated later – represented in the translation of periodical titles reveal the traces of discourse power.

Translation of proper nouns within the frame of discourse power theory is a novel study, particularly from the perspective of communicative strategies. This is partly due to the prevailing view that proper nouns – whether personal names, geographical names, titles of periodicals, institutions, firms, or other names – are considered “untranslatable” and are to be transcribed [Newmark, 1981, pp. 70-83]. However, variations in translation strategies across language pairs allow us to argue that different communicative strategies shape translation as an act of communication. This paper views translation as a form of cross-cultural communication that, along with oral or written discourse, employs components that form a communicative strategy – represented in this context by translation strategies. In this context, the translation of context-free but country-bound periodical titles may also reflect the interaction format between countries, the discourse power of a source language, and the geopolitical strength or weakness of the country where that language holds official status.

Therefore, the paper presents a unique study on the communicative, i.e., translation, strategies employed by mass media of China, Russia and several other countries in translating periodical titles between Chinese and English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, and Polish. First, the paper analyzes the format of communication, i.e., the presence or absence of a mediator, between Russia and China as well as between other countries. Second, assuming that the pragmatic goal of communication in the translation of periodical titles is to ensure that titles are semantically transparent and culturally specific to the counterpart, the paper centers on translation strategies that are interpreted as cooperative and non-cooperative communicative strategies. Namely, when semantic transparency is maintained, the communicative strategy is classified as cooperative; when the source language identity is preserved at the expense of semantic transparency, the communicative strategy is classified as non-cooperative [Issers, 2008, p. 70]. To achieve the set goals, the paper starts with an analysis of the communicative strategies used in the translation of Chinese periodical titles into Russian, then contrasts them with the strategies applied in translations from Russian into Chinese, and correlates the findings with the translation of Chinese periodical titles into other languages and vice versa. The results reveal the communication format and communicative strategies employed in translating the periodical titles. Additionally, the representation of discourse power in the translation of periodical titles is explored. This research aims at offering a fresh perspective on the role of translation in cross-cultural communication and its impact on discourse power.

Methods and material

The system of communicative decisions, that translation is a part of, is called communicative strategy. Russian academicians have proposed several definitions of the concept of communicative strategy. M.L. Makarov’s definition of communicative strategy is limited to the level of linguistic means, that it is the speaker’s chain of decisions, the choice of certain communicative actions and linguistic means, the realization of a set of goals in the process of communication [Makarov, 2003, pp. 137-138]. In other words, Makarov’s definition includes only verbal means of communication, excluding non-verbal ones, which the Dutch linguist T.A. van Dijk ascribes to the paralinguistic level, various gestures, facial expressions, body postures, and physical contact between interlocutors [Dijk, 2000, pp. 31-35].

Russian linguist O.S. Issers, who develops T.A. van Dijk’s approach, argues that communicative strategy should be understood as a set of speech actions aimed at achieving the communicative goal, which involves planning the process of speech communication depending on the specific conditions of communication and personalities of communicators, as well as the implementation of the communicative plan [Issers, 2008, p. 54]. Therefore, Issers understands speech strategy not simply as a general strategy as a whole but also as the choice of tactics, means, and techniques of communication in accordance with the purpose of communication, and believes that strategy and tactics are in genus and species relation [Issers, 2008, p. 110].

V.B. Kashkin, G.A. Kopnina, and O.L. Mikhaleva also support the idea that both linguistic and non-linguistic elements should be considered in the definition of communicative strategy. Mikhaleva defines communicative strategy as an optimal plan for realization of communicative intentions, which takes into account subjective and objective conditions and factors in which the communicative act takes place and which determine the internal and external text structure and the use of specific language means [Mikhaleva, 2009, p. 45]. In translation, the format of communication and the choice of communicative strategies depend on the communicators’ intentions and the objective conditions of their interaction.

So, how could these communication strategies be linked with the representation of periodical titles in different languages? The above-mentioned strategies are observed and effortlessly implemented into interactions with a specific topic. However, the author believes that the representation of periodical titles in the languages of their counterparts reflects the communicative strategies and tactics of communication chosen by the two countries. In other words, translating periodical titles is a form of indirect communication conducted through translation that shows communicative strategies through translation strategies. These strategies serve distinct functions: domestication, or, according to Isser’s classification, the Cooperation Principle, adapts the source language to the target linguaculture by ensuring semantical transparency of titles, while foreignization, or the NonCooperative Principle, preserves the linguistic identity of the source language within the target language [Issers, 2008, p. 70].

Besides, translation as a form of cross-cultural communication employs a set of components that form the communicative strategy. В.R. Muravleva believes that the participants of the communication process manage to effectively carry out communication due to the systemic functioning of the main components of communicative strategy, which include: a particular pragmatic and communicative goal; the conditions of achieving communicative situation; the means of achieving the goal; the plan of expression and the plan of content; the result of the realization of communicative activity (subsequent speech and non-speech activity of the object of influence) [Muravleva, 2021, p. 102]. The current paper examines the conditions that shape the communicative situation or format of communication, influenced by the historical background of countries and the means of achieving the goal or the specific translation strategies used for rendering periodical titles.

The research material comprises the titles of Chinese, Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, and Polish periodicals selected based on the popularity in their respective countries and the familiarity of another country’s audience with them. Periodicals completely unknown in any of the languages examined in the current study were excluded.

Results and discussion

Academics recognize and contend that translation could serve as a tool to oppose political power [Lefevere, 1992; Lefevere (ed.), 1992; Venuti, 1995; 2000; Venuti (ed.), 1992]. In the age of globalization, translation plays a vital role in cross-cultural communication. Via translation, nation-states transmit their values, ideology, and sometimes language. In other words, interpersonal and international exchanges stimulate cultural and linguistic interaction. “If linguistic considerations enter into conflict with considerations of an ideological and/or poetological nature, the latter tends to win out” [Lefevere, 1992, p. 39]. Therefore, “translations are made under a number of constraints of which language is arguably the least important” [Lefevere (ed.), 1992, p. xiv]. That is one of the reasons for ideologically driven translations to appear in line with literal translations existing in a particular language or other languages.

“Translating is always ideological because it releases a domestic reminder, an inscription of values, beliefs, and representation linked to historical moments and social positions” [Venuti, 2000, p. 485]. Translation, as Toury [1980, p. 17] calls it, is “communication in translated messages” and is submissive to and constructed by the power to some degree. Translation strategies are chosen in accordance with the countries’ current ideology, culture, convention, and goals. “Translation is an activity always manipulated and controlled by power and discourse” [Lu Jun, 2002, p. 108]. Therefore, translation strategies may reveal both the communication format between the countries and tendencies to language dominance. These two components of communicative strategies in the translation of Chinese and Russian periodical titles are elaborated in the following sections. The study focuses on the translation-communicative tendencies in the translation of periodical titles from and to Chinese, with Russian as the primary contrastive language due to the strengthening of cooperation between Russian and China in recent years. Additionally, English, German, French, Spanish, and Polish are included to illustrate a broader tendency in the linguistic choices in the translation of periodical titles from and to Chinese.

Communication format:

mediators in periodical titles translation

Communicative formats include immediate and mediated forms of interaction that are partially determined by history.

Russia and China, compared to other countries, have a long history of relations, which dates back to the first, albeit unofficial, Russian expedition to China in 1618, though private interactions were recorded as early as the 13th century. During the Ming dynasty, relations between the countries were interrupted and resumed during the Great Geographical Discoveries, when many countries tried to find new routes to the East [Datsyshen, 2004, pp. 2427]. The relations that began during the “contact zone of two civilizations” period continue to this day and have more than four centuries of history [Myasnikov, 1996]. Due to historical events, uneven economic development, different understandings of the format of relations by the parties, and different value orientations, Russian-Chinese relations have been repeatedly broken and restored. Nevertheless, the last period of relations, which began in the 1990s, is characterized as a period of equal, strategic, and long-term relations in the political, trade, economic, military, and strategic, as well as in the cultural and educational spheres.

Humanitarian cooperation contributes to the rapprochement of nations and educates the younger generations in the spirit of good-neighborly friendship. In the Years of Russia and China (2006, 2007), the Russian and Chinese Languages (2009, 2010), Tourism (2012, 2013), Youth Exchange (2014, 2015), Russian and Chinese mass media and its exchange (2016, 2017), Interregional Cooperation (2018, 2019), Scientific, technological and innovative cooperation (2020), Physical culture and sport (2022, 2023), Cultures (2024, 2025) and other events organized by the authorities of the two countries at various levels, the residents of Russia and China have had the opportunities to enrich mutual understanding and explore the cultures. The effectiveness of humanitarian interaction is evidenced by the increasing numbers of people planning to learn and learning Chinese and Russian [Liu Limin, 2017; Liu Wenjia, 2022].

The deepening of humanitarian cooperation between Russia and China and the growing interest of people in each other’s languages and cultures are the persuasive indicators of the rapprochement of nations. Personal communication between the heads of two states and business partners is carried out mainly through interpreters who speak Chinese and Russian at a professional level. In other words, non-mediated communication is conducted instead of a mediated interaction through intermediary languages, as it was at the first stages of interaction between Russia and China when countries encountered difficulty in reading correspondence [Datsyshen, 2004, p. 27]. Besides, history has served as a clear example that misunderstandings and disagreements arise in trilateral or mediated interactions. For example, the text of the Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689), written in three languages – Russian, Manchurian, and Latin – differed in each language, which created misunderstandings between the parties, given the loss of the original Russian copy of the treaty. Similar issues are observed when translation is performed through an intermediary language in modern times. Stylistic losses, distortion of Chinese realities, and errors in the transcription of Chinese titles in the Russian language are among the common mistakes [Rodionov, 2019, p. 413]. Therefore, regardless of the sphere of political negotiations, business communication, scientific interaction, translation of literature, and interaction between peoples at the level of mass media, immediate or non-mediated interaction allows Russian and Chinese speakers to understand with less distortion.

In the past few years, Russia and China have been actively forging cooperation and bolstering their partnership, a shift that is being facilitated through non-mediated rather than mediated communication. Following the changes in the form of interaction, communication strategies in translation strategies are shifting or to be adopted subsequently, as interaction through intermediary languages has been proven to be less effective than non-mediated communication.

Considering the historical background of Russia-China relations where communication was primarily mediated, nowadays, despite more developed cooperation in various spheres, translations of periodical titles into Russian reveal that mediated communication is still widely used (see Table 1). However, the nonmediated communication strategy is observed to be the primary choice for Russian newspapers when mentioning Chinese mass media. Russian newspaper Izvestia has been mentioning Chinese newspaper 《环球时报》 by its transcription earlier since 2008, i.e., Хуаньцю шибао ², whereas Chinese newspaper CGTN in its Russian edition used to mention it as Глобал таймс in 2021

and early 2022; later non-mediated transcription from Chinese to Russian is observed as a primary method of translation. 《中国日报》 is presented similarly in the news of China Internet Information Center (China.org), i.e., before June 2022, there were usages of Чайна дейли – the transcription from English China Daily – whereas from the second half of 2022 until now, nonmediated transcription is used. Such a tendency demonstrates the unification of translation methods and, to a certain degree, the strengthening of discourse power and the construction of Chinese narrative in other languages.

Table 1 shows that the translation of Chinese periodical titles into Russian is steadily striving for the non-mediated form of communication. This trend has had a long history for Russia-governed newspapers, whereas China-governed newspapers show this tendency more explicitly starting from the second half of 2022. Similarly, Russia-China communication through periodical titles, i.e., the translation of Russian periodical titles in Chinese, demonstrates consistency in the use of nonmediated interaction, for example, Аргументы и факты / 《论据与事实》 (lit. Arguments and Facts), Известия / 《消息报》 (lit. News newspaper), Российская газета / 《俄罗斯报》 (lit. Russia newspaper), Правда / 《真理报》 (lit. Truth newspaper), Московский комсомолец / 《莫斯科共青团员报》 (lit. Moscow Communist-Youth-League-Member newspaper), Коммерсант / 《商业报》 (lit. Commercial newspaper), and others. Chinese mass media directly without a mediating language and semantically translates the titles of Russian periodicals, making the titles semantically transparent and understandable for local readers.

The tendency for non-mediated semantic translation is also observed in the translation of English, French, German, Spanish, and Polish periodical titles into Chinese. However, for lesser-known Russian periodicals, an English transliteration of the source title is provided due to the difficulty of reading the Cyrillic alphabet. In translation from Chinese into French, German, Spanish, and Polish, French and Spanish tend to favour non-mediated translation by either providing a semantic translation of a Chinese periodical title or presenting it in pinyin; German and Polish, in contrast, use both non-mediated and mediated translations, e.g., 《环球时报》 / (Germ.) Staatszeitung / Zeitung Huanqiu Shibao or Zeitung Global Times , (Pol.) gazeta Huanqiu Shibao or (dziennik) Global Times (see Table 2). The reason for such a choice is to be elucidated through a deeper study of international relations and historical translation practices.

Communicative strategies in translation: representing discourse power in periodical titles translation

Scholars investigating speech communication mechanisms assert that interaction is typically governed by the Cooperation Principle , where interlocutors accommodate each other. However,

Table 1. Communication format in the translation of Chinese periodicals into Russian

Mediated	Non-Mediated
– 《 中国日报 》   / Чайна дейли/ дэйли ( China Daily ); – 《 环球时报 》 / Глобал таймс ( Global Times ); – 《 新华网 》   / СИНЬХУА Новости ( Xinhua News ); – 《 南方都市报 》   / таблоид Southern Metropolis Daily ; – 《 中国青年报 》 / газета China Youth Daily	–    《 人民日报 》 / газета Жэньминь жибао ; –    《 环球时报 》 / Хуаньцю шибао ; –    《 新华社 》 / Информационное агентство (ИА / Агентство) Синьхуа ; –    《 广州日报 》 / Гуанчжоу жибао ; –    《 中国新闻社 》 / Служба новостей Китая ; –    《 光明日报 》 / Гуанмин жибао ; –    《 中国青年报 》 / Чжунго циннянь бао ; –    《 新京报 》 / газета Бэйцзин жибао ; –    《 经济日报 》 / газета Цзинцзи жибао / ежедневная газета Экономика

Issers argues that the concept strategy , borrowed from military arts by pragmatics, prioritizes victory over cooperation. As a result, she distinguishes two principles: the Non-Cooperation Principle , which involves prioritizing the interests of the speaker over those of the listener, and the Cooperation Principle , which is based on mutual accommodation [Issers, 2008, pp. 69-70].

In the context of periodical titles translation, the Cooperation Principle can be understood as an approach that aims to reveal the semantic content of the original name while, if possible, preserving its phonetic similarity. On the other hand, the Non-Cooperation Principle leads to translations that prioritize conveying the pronunciation of a periodical title without revealing its semantic content, resulting in semantically opaque translations. Aixelá [Aixelá, 1996, p. 55] suggests that the exporting system holds a position of hegemony over the importing one, manifesting the discourse power of the non-cooperating side. In essence, the Non-Cooperation Principle or foreignization reflects a desire to demonstrate the discourse power of the source country through language, while the Cooperation Principle or domestication emphasizes equality between parties and adopts periodical titles in the target language based on its word-building methods rather than borrowing phonetic translations from the source language.

Table 2 demonstrates two Principles at work. Chinese periodical titles are semantically transparent when translated into English, French, German, and Spanish through the Cooperation Principle, though with a tendency toward the NonCooperation Principle. In contrast, translations into Russian and Polish predominantly adhere to the Non-Cooperation Principle. This practice is primarily connected with the history of translation because for such newspapers as 《人民日报》， 《今日中国》， 《北京周报》， 《光明日报》 the translations were produced earlier in the second half of the 20th century and were motivated by the translation strategies of the time, namely the desire for cultural dominance was not as strong as nowadays; therefore, the translations were primarily semantic. This trend is still reflected in the translation into English, French, German, and in a smaller number into Spanish due to the existence of newspapers’ official ‘foreign’ pages and the widespread semantic translations of Chinese periodicals into other languages. Newly introduced periodicals adopt the Non-Cooperation Principle or foreignization, leading to phonetic translations even in English, e.g., 《世界日报》 / Shijie Ribao 3, 《海南日报》 / Hainan Ribao 4.

Table 2 shows that despite the authoritativeness of the translation, there is a transfer from English translation to Chinese pinyin in non-English speaking countries that demonstrates the rise of Chinese discourse power through the translation of periodical titles. For example, in the representation of 《光明日报》 in German mass media, it is possible to trace the use of

Table 2. Translation strategies of Chinese periodical titles in the press of different countries

No.	Chinese	Language	Occurred translations
1	《 人民日报 》 [rénmín rìbào]	English	People’s Daily , Renmin Ribao
		French	Quotidien du Peuple
		German	Volkszeitung, Zeitung Renmin Ribao 5 , Volkszeitung Renmin ribao (Volkszeitung Renmin Ribao 6),
		Spanish	(el) Diario del Pueblo , Renmin Ribao (2017, 2023), rotativo / diario / periódico Renmin Ribao (2010), diario oficial Renmin Ribao (2011)
		Polish	(dziennik) Renmin Ribao 7
		Russian	газета Жэньминь Жибао
2	《 中国新闻社 》 [zhōngguó xīnwénshè]	English	China News Service
		French	l’agence de presse China News Service
		German	China News Service 8
		Spanish	Servicio de Noticias de China
		Polish	Zhongguo Xinwenshe
		Russian	Информационное агентство Чжунго синьвэньшэ 9, Служба новостей Китая

End of Table 2

No.	Chinese	Language	Occurred translations
3	《 环球时报 》 [huánqiú shíbào]	English	Global Times
		French	Le Global Times , Huanqiu Shibao
		German	Staatszeitung / Zeitung Huanqiu Shibao , Zeitung Global Times , Global Times
		Spanish	(periódico chino) Huanqiu Shibao
		Polish	dziennik / gazeta Huanqiu Shibao , (dziennik) Global Times , Global Timesa
		Russian	таблоид Global Times , газета Глобал таймс , (китайская газета) Хуаньцю шибао
4	《 今日中国 》 [jīnrì zhōngguó]	English	China Today
		French	quotidien d’Etat China Daily , la Chine au présent
		German	China Heute
		Spanish	China Hoy (name of the official website of China Today )
		Polish	Usage not found 10
		Russian	Usage not found 11
5	《 新华社 》 [xīnhuáshè]	English	Xinhua News Agency
		French	Agence de presse (officielle) Xinhua / Chine Nouvelle
		German	(staatlichen chinesische) Nachrichtenagentur Xinhua , Xinhua
		Spanish	la agencia de noticias (China) Xinhua , la agencia Xinhua
		Polish	(agencja prasowa / państwowej agencji informacyjnej) Xinhua
		Russian	(агентство) Синьхуа
6	《 光明日报 》 [guāngmíng rìbào]	English	Guangming Daily , Guangming Ribao
		French	le Guangmin Ribao , quotidien (d’Etat) Guangming Daily , le (quotidien / chinois) Guangming Ribao (2020), Quotidien de la clarté ( Guangming Ribao ) (2023)
		German	Zeitung / Parteizeitung Guangming Daily (2023), (Zeitung / Tageszeitung) Guangming Ribao (2021, 2024)
		Spanish	el Diario Guangming , el periódico / diario Guangming Daily , Guangming , Guangming Ribao (2023), periódico Guangming Ribao ( Diario de Guangming )
		Polish	dziennik Guangming Ribao / Guangming Daily
		Russian	(газета) Гуанмин жибао
7	《 广州日报 》 [guǎngzhōu rìbào]	English	Guangzhou Daily
		French	le Guangzhou Ribao ( Quotidien de Canton )
		German	(Zeitung / Tageszeitung) Guangzhou Ribao
		Spanish	periódico Guangzhou Ribao , el diario Guangzhou Ribao , el diario local Guangzhou Ribao (2011)
		Polish	(dziennik) Guangzhou Ribao , (gazeta) Guangzhou Daily
		Russian	газета Гуанчжоу жибао

Chinese transcription back to 1991 and 2000 in Taz and Spiegel. However, between the first time and 2020, the English name prevailed for a period of time, and recently, the use of Chinese pinyin has become more frequent. Therefore, it is possible to argue that foreignization or translation through the Non-Cooperation Principle is a new tendency in the Chinese-foreign translation of periodical titles, whereas the translation of other countries’ periodical titles into Chinese reveals the consistency of domestication or the use of the Cooperation Principle.

First of all, in most cases, periodical titles are semantically translated, and English transcription is added in cases of low recognition. Secondly, Spanish and Polish periodicals are more often presented under their original names, which can be attributed to their rare citation of periodicals and limited presence in Chinese news discourse. However, well-known Spanish and Polish newspapers have their set Chinese translations, e.g., El Pais / 西班牙《国家报》 , Gazeta Wyborcza / 波兰《选举日报》 , Fakt / 波兰《事实报》 , and, in rare cases, when the periodical titles are acronyms, a transcription method is applied, e.g., ABC / 西班牙《阿贝赛报》 , with an indication of the appellative constituent, i.e., 报 / paper , “which characterize the purpose and structures of the institution, thus facilitating communication even if one does not know much about the institutions itself” [Meyer, 2008, p. 107].

Another example of a foreignized translation in Chinese is El Diario Vasco , a Spanish morning daily newspaper founded in 1934. Around 2017, it was mentioned as 西班牙媒体 《 ELDIARIOVASCO 》 / Spanish mass media EL DIARIO VASCO ; in 2019, the translation appeared before the original title, i.e., 西媒 , 每日巴斯克 El Diario Vasco / Spanish mass media, Daily Basques El Diario Vasco ; however, until nowadays it is mainly referred to as 西媒 El Diario Vasco / Spanish mass media El Diario Vasco or directly by name when the country affiliation is understood from the context （ 西班牙《阿斯报》援引 El Diario Vasco 的报道指出 / Spanish Diario AS says quoting El Diario Vasco... ）. This example supports the idea of a connection between the novelty of a periodical in Chinese news discourse and the respective translation method. In other words, the Cooperation Principle or domestication is applied when a periodical is known to the readers, and the Non-Cooperation Principle or foreignization is when it is new to Chinese readers.

Table 3 provides further evidence of the systematic approach to translation of periodical titles to Chinese. It shows that common names, such as ‘newspaper,’ ‘daily’ or ‘evening paper,’ in periodical titles are translated rather than transcribed, e.g. Handelsblatt / 《商报》, Gazeta Wyborcza / 《选举日报》 etc., or added in the target language translation, e.g. Известия / 《消息报》, Der Spiegel / 《明镜周刊》, The Sun / 《太阳报》, Ouest-France / 《法兰西西部报》, El Pais / 《国家报》, Fakt / 《事实报》, etc. This demonstrates that translations are not arbitrary but based on the structural characteristics of periodical titles, and different translation methods are applied to proper and general names. A similar systematic approach is observed in the translation of Chinese periodical titles, which, like other types of proper names, “have a clearly identified structure and consist of a classifier and a proper component,” into English [Politova, 2022, p. 86]. In French, German, Spanish, and Polish, Chinese mass media names are mainly presented either in English translation or in transcription of a whole name from Chinese with the addition of an appellative in the target languages, likewise is in Russian with the difference that media names are mainly fully transcribed in Cyrillic letters.

The examples demonstrate that despite the proposed by Newmark 12 rule that periodicals as proper names should always be transcribed, in practice, their translation varies across different language types. Proper names of periodicals are typically semantically translated into Chinese with an exception when a name is an acronym. In contrast, the translation of Chinese periodicals into other languages varies – some are translated, while the majority are transcribed or transliterated.

Overall, the analysis revealed that countries strive to establish non-mediated cooperation; however, in Romance languages, the translation of periodical titles still tends towards mediated communication, with titles of periodicals appearing in English rather than being translated or transcribed into a local language. The slavic language Polish, which uses the Latin alphabet, sometimes also mentions Chinese periodicals in their English translation, while Russian shows the tendency to transcribe the whole word, i.e., a proper name of a periodical together with its common name, into Russian, adding a common name in Russian before, e.g., 广州日报 / газета Гуанчжоу жи-бао . Therefore, from the linguistic perspective, the translations of Chinese periodical titles into other languages demonstrate the tendency of foreignization or language dominance, i.e., through the Non-Cooperation Principle of communication in translation Chinese discourse power is implemented, manifesting its superiority.

Table 3. Translation of periodical titles into Chinese

No.	Country	Title of a periodical in the source language	Chinese translation
1	Russia	Аргументы и факты	《论据与事实》
		Известия	《消息报》
		Правда	《真理报》
		Московский комсомолец	《莫斯科共青团员报》
		Комсомольская правда	《共青团真理报》 ( Komsomolskaya Pravda )
		Коммерсант	《商业报》
		Ведомости	《公报》 ( Vedomosti )
		Красная звезда	《红星报》 or 官方军事报纸 Krasnaya Zvezda （ 红星 ）
2	Germany	Der Spiegel	《明镜周刊》
		Deutsche Presse-Agentur	德新社， full name 德国新闻社
		Zeit online	德国 （ 纸媒 ） 《时代在线》 （ Zeit Online ）
		Handelsblatt	《德国商报》 / 德国《商报》
		Tagesspiegel	德国《每日镜报》 （ Tagesspiegel ）
		Abendzeitung München	慕尼黑晚报
		Berliner Morgenpost	柏林晨邮报
		Süddeutsche Zeitung	《南德意志报》
3	Englishspeaking countries	Reuters	路透社
		Daily Mirror	《每日镜报》
		The Sun	《太阳报》
		The Telegraph	英国《每日电讯报》 / 英国媒体《电讯报》
		The Washington Post	《华盛顿邮报》
		Los Angeles Times	《洛杉矶时报》
		The Wall Street Journal	《华尔街日报》
4	French	Ouest-France	《法兰西西部报》
		Le Figaro	（法国）《费加罗报》
		Libération	法国《解放报》
		Le Monde	法国《世界报》
		L’Equipe	法国（媒体）《队报》
5	Spain	El Pais	西班牙《国家报》
		ABC	西班牙《阿贝赛报》
		El Diario Vasco	西媒 El Diario Vasco , 每日巴斯克 El Diario Vasco (2019)
		El Mundo	西班牙媒体 EL MUNDO （ 《世界报》 ）
		Diari de Tarragona	西班牙媒体 《 Diari de Tarragona 》
6	Poland	Gazeta Wyborcza	波兰《选举日报》
		Fakt	波兰《事实报》
		Przegląd Sportowy	波兰媒体 Przegląd Sportowy
		Dziennik Gazeta Prawna	波兰媒体 Dziennik gazeta prawna
		Rzeczpospolita	波兰报纸 《 Rzeczpospolita 》

However, this is not solely due to the policies or tendencies of an exporting country; translation practices are also dictated by the importing country. Taking Chinese as an example, we observe overall consistency in the translation of foreign periodical titles. This consistency is due, firstly, to the efforts of the Chinese language under the support of the government initiatives for language clearance, and, secondly, to the nature of the character based Chinese language, which makes phonetic borrowings difficult to pronounce by Chinese native speakers.

Regarding the strive for language clearance, in April 2010, with the article “Say No to Indiscriminate Borrowing of Foreign Words!” ( 《外来语滥用，不行！》 ) in People’s Daily Chinese government took actions to “preserve the Chinese language’s purity” by ordering “a national ban on the use of borrowed foreign words in mass media” [Wu You, 2017, pp. 470-471]. The protection of languages is what every big country is concerned about nowadays. The Cooperation Principle in non-mediated communication in translation allows both parties to accommodate each other’s culture and language peculiarities while preserving linguistic identity through phonetic translation when the periodical title is less transparent or requires longer phrases in the target language. Such communication requires “shifting the translation strategy from direct borrowing to literal translation could be interpreted as an effort of cultural reconstruction” [Wu You, 2017, p. 470].

Therefore, the translation of Chinese periodical titles into other languages and periodical titles of other languages into Chinese reflects the demonstration of China’s discourse power, whereas the Chinese language still follows the route of maintaining its language purity. Other languages demonstrate greater openness to borrowings and wider acceptance of phonetic translations of periodical titles.

Conclusion

As a written form of interaction, translation is a powerful tool for conveying ideology and promoting cultures. It utilizes a set of communicative strategies that enable a country to incorporate into another’s linguistic and culture system while preserving its cultural, political, and linguistic identities. An analysis of periodical title translations reveals the communicative relationships between different countries and translation strategies illuminate the approaches to organizing cross-cultural communication.

In the translation of periodical titles, Russia and China adhere to non-mediated translation, aligning with the deepening of non-mediated collaboration between the two countries and the construction of the Chinese narrative in other languages. However, Russia has followed this approach from the outset, while China has adopted it since the second half of 2022. The tendency to non-mediated translation is also observed among French, German, Spanish, and Polish.

Along with non-mediated translation, translation strategies, i.e., means of written communication, contribute to the level of recognition as well as the visibility of the semantics of periodical titles in a target language. The analysis shows that periodical titles are now translated into Chinese through the Cooperation Principles, i.e., domestication, except for toponyms and acronyms inside periodical titles that are primarily transcribed. In contrast, translations from Chinese into other languages tend toward the Non-Cooperation Principle, i.e., foreignization, with Russian and Polish consistently adhering to this approach, whereas English, French, German, and Spanish previously exhibited variability in translation strategies but have demonstrated the tendency to the Non-Cooperation principle in recent years as well.

The Non-Cooperation Principle exhibits the Chinese discourse power and preserves the linguistic identity of Chinese periodical titles. On the other hand, it affects the semantic transparency of Chinese periodicals for speakers of other languages, impacts the purity of the respective languages, and, in comparison to the translation of periodical titles into Chinese, reflects the dominance of the Chinese language in the periodicals interaction.

NOTES

• ¹    The article is an intermediary result of the research project titled “Study on translation strategies of Chinese toponyms into Russian as a part of the project of strengthening the influence of the Chinese culture” (QN2022014003L) sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s

Republic of China and is supported by the Jiangsu Province Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow program ( 江苏省卓越博士后计划 ), People’s Republic of China.

• ²    Transcription is presented as in the source.

• ³    Thai senior official warns against baseless criticism of Sinovac vaccine. 08.09.2021. URL: http:// www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2021-09/08/ content_77738942.htm

• ⁴    Feature: Regular citizens warm each other amid virus chill. 24.02.2020. URL: http://www.china.org.cn/ china/Off_the_Wire/2020-02/24/content_75739644.htm

• ⁵    Renmin Ribao: China soll angebotsorientierte Reform weiter umsetzen. 26.12.2018. URL: http:// german.china.org.cn/txt/2018-12/26/content_ 74315272.htm

• ⁶    Putin über China: Haben “gemeinsame Ziele”. 20.02.2023. URL: https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/ politik/putin-xi-treffen-ukraine-krieg-russland-china-100.html

• ⁷    Three translations, i.e. Renmin Ribao / Żenmin żypao / Dziennik Ludowy , are presented at Polska Agencja Prasowa website, Poland’s national news agency, producing and distributing political, economic, social, and cultural news.

• ⁸    No German edition, only in English.

• ⁹    Си Цзиньпин направил поздравительное письмо в адрес ИА «Чжунго синьвэньшэ» по случаю 70-летия со дня его основания. 23.09.2022. URL: https://russian.news.cn/20220923/f1c56f5aa12 b4f93b78a97c4caa825bd/c.html

• ¹⁰    The usage of this press has not been found in Polish news narrative. Meanwhile, in Poland, there is a local scientific journal China Today (usually referred to as czasopismo / kwartalnik Chiny Dzisiaj ), which is dedicated to religious issues in China.

• ¹¹    This periodical is rarely cited in Russian news, still it is possible to find an introduction to this Chinese magazine on the Russian Internet. However, the search is complicated due to the number of personal channels named China Today, which are nongovernmental and cover tourism of China.

• ¹²    This rule is mainly followed between Latin and Cyrillic alphabet languages, whereas different strategies are used for other types of languages.