Discovering Chinese culture through political translations

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Meeting Holly Snape for the first time, it is hard to connect her with the ongoing 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the most important political event in the country that only happens every five years.

She played an important role, though, as she is one of the foreign editors involved in the translation of the report delivered by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, at the opening session of the 19th CPC National Congress on Wednesday.

Working with her colleagues from Germany, Canada, Russia and several other countries, the foreign editors were in charge of revising the foreign language versions of the report, to make them more native.

Holly Snape, who edited the English version of the work report delivered by Xi Jinping to the 19th CPC National Congress, speaks to CGTN. /CGTN Photo

This is the first time that foreigners were invited to take part in the translation of a confidential Party Congress report before it was released since 1978. Holly Snape considered it a sign that China is trying hard to communicate with the rest of the world.

“I’m really glad that I can do a small part in it,” she said.

Snape, now 35 years old, is from the United Kingdom and has been working with China’s Central Compilation & Translation Bureau since 2014. Married into a Chinese family herself, Snape is quite familiar with the country and its culture.

Even with the combined knowledge of the English and Chinese culture, Snape still encountered difficulties translating the report and was under a lot of pressure. With the report finally released, the key words used by Xi were now stuck to her mind.

Foreign experts editing the work report delivered by Xi Jinping to the 19th CPC National Congress before it was released. /CGTN P‍hoto

“The idea of Chinese socialism for a new era, it’s huge, and the new innovation idea, I understand that will have a huge impact on things in many years to come, and the idea of now moving towards helping people to achieve a better life or the life they aspire to,” said Snape.

As one of the foreigners who were involved in the translations from an early stage, she said she felt the country's determination from the report.

“From an international perspective, I think it’ll send a message to the world on how China intends to move forward,” she said.

She was also inspired by China’s plans included in the report, such as protecting the environment and cultivating more talent in the field of science and technology.

“Hopefully that will inspire other countries like my own country to think that if China’s focusing on these areas, maybe we should move in that direction, too.”

Holly Snape from the UK editing the English version of the work report delivered by Xi Jinping to the 19th CPC National Congress before it was released. /CGTN photo

It is not the first time Snape edited the English version of Chinese political documents. Being an editor at China’s Central Compilation & Translation Bureau, she has worked on many political documents such as the government work report during the Two Sessions every spring.

But the job is never easy for her.

“The languages are rich, the ideas are strong, they have a tempo and rhythm to them,” said Snape. “One of the biggest difficulties is to translate that and its meaning into English.”

Talking about her daily life, Snape said she has already been quite adapted to the Chinese culture. For instance, she even followed the custom of “zuo yue zi” after childbirth, and confined herself for a month at home, like most Chinese women do.

She is now living with her mother-in-law, and they have been in good relations, said Snape. She said she wanted to show respect to her mother-in-law, as well as other elder relatives by following the traditional Chinese customs and culture.

Video by Qi Jianqiang, Huang Yichang

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