Abstracts of Papers in This Issue

Demarcationofimpersonalconstructions(p. 1)

YANGChaojun(Institute of Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China)

Based on the discussion on impersonal constructions, the paper revisits the relevant theories and believes that the construction mainly refers to the inappropriate relations between the subject and the predicate. In light of this, the author provides a judgment model on impersonals in terms of cognitive reference point, personal and impersonal, definite and indefinite reference, mental paths and the agentive relations between subjects and predicates on basis of examples. The article also makes an exploration into the correspondences between English and Chinese impersonals and a proposition of a research framework designating the focus problems and clear directions in the comparative study of impersonals between different languages.

AcontrastiveexperimentalanalysisofEnglishlexicalstressandfocusstress(p. 8)

GUOJia,CUISihan&WANGJiaxuan(College of Foreign Languages, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China)

English stress includes the phonetic prominence of syllables respectively at the word level and at the sentence level. Many studies on word and sentence stress have been separately conducted, but the analysis on the relationship between the two are seldom discussed. Based on the prosodic pattern theory, this study attempts to make an exploration into the commonalities and differences in the relative prominence between the adjacent syllables in English di-syllabic words within two types of conditions, in isolated words or at the narrow focus of sentences, and takes pitch range ratio, duration ratio, energy ratio and the salience hierarchy of acoustic cues into consideration. The results indicate that: 1) the twelve phonetic prominence patterns of English words are consistent with their original stress patterns, and English words present the hierarchy of intensityamplitude integral>pitch range>duration as a whole; 2) it is found that all English speakers show the tendency to produce the stressed syllables more prominent in narrow focus compared with that in broad focus, and the hierarchy of duration>intensityamplitude integral>pitch range is presented in English focal prominence; 3) the prominence pattern of focal prominence remains to be unchanged with that of word prominence in English disyllabic words, and all speakers tend to produce the stressed syllables more prominent in narrow focus compared with that in isolated words, namely, the stress pattern of words will be reinforced by the narrow focus.

Astudyofthecognitivemechanismof“XXRen”constructionininternetbuzzwords(p. 17)

LIULili(Foreign Studies College, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China；Department of General Courses, Hunan Transportation Vocational College, Changsha 410132, China)

TANGYanling(Foreign Studies College, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China)

The “XXRen” constructions abound in the internet buzzwords of 2020, gradually showing great productivity with an extensive social, cultural and cognitive foundation. On the basis of a comprehensive and detailed descriptions of the formal and semantic features of “XXren” construction, this paper classifies the construction into three main types: 1) indication of one’s typical features or interests; 2) indication of one’s vocation or career; 3) indication of one’s recent state. Moreover, the findings are that the cognitive mechanisms behind these types are metaphor, metonymy and metaphor-metonymy respectively.

AnanalysisofEnglishlinguisticimperialisminthePhilippinesfromtheperspectiveof“BeltandRoad”initiative(p. 24)

ZENGJie(School of Foreign Languages, Chengdu Normal University, Chengdu 611130, China)

YANGTian(Department of International Exchange and Cooperation, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang 473000, China)

Phillipson proposed the theoretical framework of linguistic imperialism, which aims to explain the hierarchical structure of languages and the dominant position of specific languages. During the American colonial rule in the Philippines, linguistic imperialism resulted in the dominance of English in this country, exerting both negative and positive influences on Philippine society. The experience of the Philippines in its struggle against English linguistic imperialism is of great significance to the protection of linguistic and cultural resources, the introduction of Chinese culture and the construction of national discourse ability and “Belt and Road” initiative for China.

Currentstatus,hotspotsandfrontiersofdomesticsociolinguisticresearchbasedonCiteSpace(p. 30)

LIUQianyun&JIAODan(College of International Studies, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China)

Sociolinguistics, a discipline that integrates subjects such as sociology, linguistics, psychology and anthropology, has had a positive impact on the development of our society since its introduction to China in the late 1970s. In this paper, we used CiteSpace metrology software to visualize and analyze all journal-based sociolinguistic papers in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) during 2011-2021. Through the author and institution co-occurrence network knowledge graph, keyword co-occurrence network knowledge graph and keyword emergence graph, we indicated the current academic status of sociolinguistics among Chinese authors and institutions and the research hotspots in the academic community and predicted the future research trends and frontiers.

Interlanguagepragmaticstudiesofdiscoursemarkers:Past,presentandfuture(p. 38)

DONGFangyuan(School of English Studies, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 201620, China)

Discourse markers are linguistic expressions that usually appear in daily communication and can perform multiple pragmatic functions. In the past few decades, studies of discourse markers have called widespread attention to researchers abroad; meanwhile, relevant studies at home have also sprung up continuously. This paper makes a revision of interlanguage pragmatic studies of discourse markers by the use of China National Knowledge Internet and the Web of Science database. The paper first reviews the general picture of interlanguage pragmatic research on discourse markers and summarizes its research contents into three main aspects: the use of discourse markers, discourse markers and pragmatic acquisition together with discourse markers and classroom instruction. Based on those findings, the present paper looks into further research and puts forward that future studies in this field will demonstrate various trends such as increasingly abundant research materials, diverse research perspectives and original research methods.

Linguisticresearchintheperspectiveofharmoniouscoexistencebetweenmanandnature：AreviewofWhatIsEcolinguistics(p. 44)

AIBin(Foreign Language Publishing Affairs Department, Higher Education Press, Beijing 100029, China)

The construction of ecolinguistics as a discipline began in recent decades. In China, ecological civilization, closely related to this discipline, is an important measure to build socialism with Chinese characteristics. The book entitledWhatIsEcolinguisticsis a linguistic exploration and study in ecological issues under the background of adhering to the harmonious coexistence of man and nature. This monograph is the first book in this field in China. This review introduces the main contents and academic value of the book, and shows the differences between this book and related works published abroad, reflecting the academic exploration and unique perspective of Chinese scholars.

Theempire’sriseandfallbehindthetransmutationofwhiteimmigrants’statusinKenya:DualnarrativeprogressioninMacgoye’sHomingin(p. 48)

YANGJianmei(School of Foreign Languages, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, China)

Marjorie O. Macgoye, “the Mother of Kenyan Literature”, is a contemporary British Kenyan white writer. Owing to her life experiences in Africa, she focused on British white immigrants’ life in Kenya in the 20thcentury. InHomingin, when portraying the changes in the life of Jack and Allen’s family, she has expressed the theme of the white immigrants’ identity construction, identity crisis and identity destruction and implies the rise and fall of the British Empire in Kenya. This essay traces Macgoye’s specialties of white immigrant writing and writing-back imperial writing, then clarifies the “overt plot development” of the evolution of British white immigrants’ identity in Kenya and the “covert progression” of the rise and fall of the British Empire. The purpose of this essay is to reveal the novel’s multiple thematic concerns and covert progression, and analyze the realistic elegy she has composed for the collapse of the British colonial system in Kenya.

Individuals,animalsandstones:TheethicsoftheotherinMurdoch’sTheGreenKnight(p. 54)

LIULeilei(Institute of Foreign Literature, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing 100089, China； School of Foreign Languages, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453003, China)

Iris Murdoch incorporates elements of Eastern and Western cultures in her novelTheGreenKnight, aiming to make an exploration into the moral agent’s pursuit of Goodness in the context of the Western moral crisis. She attempts to construct a community with love and goodness as its core, promoting the moral agent to forsake the self-centred consciousness; she draws on Eastern thoughts and advocates the holistic relationship between individuals and animals; she connects Eastern and Western cultures through material entities, with a view to further bridging the dichotomy between subject and object. Under these multiple dimensions, it can be seen that Murdoch tries to construct the ethics of the other in the context of her moral philosophy, that is, the other must be given sufficient attention in order to lead the moral agent to the reality of the Good.

OntheideasofcosmopolitanisminHendersontheRainKing(p. 60)

NINGDong(College of Foreign Languages and Literature, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China)

Saul Bellow’sHendersontheRainKingdescribes the adventure of Henderson, an American man, in the land of Africa. The critics have different views on Henderson, the protagonist of the novel. With the help of Appiah’s theory of cosmopolitanism，we can discover the dialogic spirit of cosmopolitanism that Henderson possesses，his sense of duty towards strangers in Africa, and the rooted cosmopolitanism in him. The ideas of cosmopolitanism in the character reflect Bellow’s deep thinking of man’s existence as a world being.

Entanglementsbetween“creating”and“created”:AnanalysisofthecirculationofpowerinFrankenstein(p. 66)

XUJing(School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai University, Shanghai 201900, China)

British writer Mary Shelley’s first novelFrankensteinis hailed as the beginning of western science fiction. The author takes advantage of cornucopian imaginations and consummate strokes to portray the story of a scientist infatuated with life creation who created a monster and was eventually scathed by it. Based on Michel Foucault’s theory of power on the relationship between knowledge, power, and discourse, as well as the spiritual shackles brought by disciplinary society, the paper systematically analyzes the imparity of power status and the process of power transformation between the creator and the creature, so as to probe penetratingly into the author’s considerations about the spiritual shackles encountered by both mainstream and marginalized groups in a society of power.

OntherelationofYuriLotman’sstructuralsemiotics(p. 72)

WANGRu(School of International Studies, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China)

Yuri Lotman’s structural semiotics projects the relation, which exists at all levels of structure, text and symbol, and pervades in the whole process from the production to the reception of text. In Lotman’s structural semiotics the relation lays in the unity of formalism and realism, internality and externality, dualism and pluralism. It makes structure the unity of artistic form and idea content, bridges the gap between external and internal text in linguistic, textual cultural senses and facilitates the transition from dualistic relation to pluralistic relation attributing to the intermediary property of translation. Although Lotman’s theory of text did not bring a Copernican revolution to literary field, his elaborated discussion between the internal and external relations of the text greatly promoted the integration of the internal and external studies. Lotman’s creative interpretation of whether interpretation can be achieved in text translation is still of great practical significance for development of dialogical relationship and community in the 21stcentury.

ReceptionofRenShengbyLuYaofromtheperspectiveofonlinetranslationreviews(p. 80)

FENGZhengbin(School of Foreign Studies, Chang’an, University, Xi’an 710064, China)

TANGXue(College of Humanities and Foreign Languages, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710600, China)

Distributed globally by Amazon in 2019, the English translation ofRenSheng, Lu Yao’s masterpiece has been well received with excellent data and favorable readers’feedback. Drawing on Python, this paper explores the contributing factors underlying its instant success from the perspective of online translation reviews. It is found that the nationalism and cosmopolitanism of the original work, the translator’s adroit translation skills, the mature marketing tactics and the paratexts of the translation help promote the overseas dissemination and reception of the English translation ofRenSheng. The research findings will enrich translation reception studies, and provide useful references for translation studies of Lu Yao’s works.

Cross-linguistictransferofemotionmetaphor:ThetranslationofANGERmetaphorsinthreeChineseversionsofShakespeare’splays(p. 87)

CHENJie(College of Foreign Studies，Guangxi Normal University， Guilin 541004, China)

Despite some universal structures within the emotion domain, the prototypical members of the emotion categories in different languages tend to be different to varying degrees. The overriding rules of cross-linguistic transfer of emotion concept is explored based on a case study of Zhu Shenghao, Liang Shiqiu, and Bian Zhilin’s translation of ANGER metaphors in Shakespeare’s plays. It is found that HEAT and CONTAINER metaphors are the universal conceptual structures. In addition, ANGER IS FIRE is shared by both English and Chinese, and ANGER IS A HOT FLUID and ANGER IS GAS are culture-specific metaphors in the two languages respectively. Due to the entrenchment of the ANGER metaphors, the three Chinese versions reveal a consistent tendency for the domestication of the metaphors, and thus the cognitive equivalence of metaphor translation is achieved via the optimal relevance between the construal of the source text and the target text. The selection of translation strategies is not only determined by the cross-cultural difference of the metaphors as well as the translator’s cultural orientation, but also depends on whether the metaphor’s conventionality can affect the intelligibility of the translated versions.

ThreedimensionsofSinologyresearchandtranslationbyAmericanSinologistStephenDurrant(p. 95)

ZHENGMenghuai(Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China)

ZHUZhenwu(School of Humanities, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200237, China)

Stephen Durrant, an American Sinologist, engaged in the study of Manchu in his early years, and later turned his research and translation to Chinese classics. His translation and study of Chinese classical works such asZuoZhuanandShiJigreatly promoted the spread and acceptance of Chinese classics in the West. His studies on manchu literature and han-manchu translation, on Sima Qian and onZuoZhuantranslation constitute the three dimensions of Durrant’s sinology career. In Durrant’s opinion, the translation that takes both the academic value and the popularity into account can benefit both research readers and ordinary readers. With the implementation of this concept, Durrant achieved extraordinary success in his early manchu literary translation and later translation ofZuoZhuan. At the same time, Durrant actively adopts a cross-cultural comparative perspective in his research on Sima Qian, exploring Sima Qian’s psychology in the process of his writing, which makes Durrant unique in the western Sima Qian research circle.