Self-translation Studies During the Past Forty Years: Achievements and Limitations

Self-translation has been around for over one thousand years while its research did not emerge until about forty years ago. Recently, more and more researchers agree that self-translation deserves closer and more systematic attention. The present paper reviews the current self-translation studies both in China and abroad and discusses their achievements and limitations. Through literature analysis, the basic issues of self-translation studies have been reviewed, including the definition and typology of self-translation, the motivations of self-translation, self-translation vs. writing, and self-translation vs. translation. Five types of pertinent research have been categorized in accordance with the research contents, namely, self-translation and literary history research, research on particular self-translators, self-translation and power, self-translation and self-identification, and other studies based on the self-translators' personal experiences. Finally, four limitations of the current studies are pointed out, including repeated research on the basic issues of self-translation, lack of text-based studies, relatively low degree of theorization, and little attention to less known self-translators.