On the cultural creating function of translating based on the analysis of translation disputes over “women’s empowerment”

Abstract

Women’s Empowerment or WE is a key term in the Gender and Development (GAD) theory. Owing to the multi-meanings of “empower”, the term has produced different Chinese translations, of which, “authorizing women” and “promoting women’s capacity” are used most frequently. But both are misleading in a degree. The former has set women on an unequal position in discourse, while the latter may cover the fact that women have long been treated unfairly by the oppressive gender system in history. Judged by the various interpretations and definitions of “empower”, it is more revealing to translate WE respectively into “striving to realize women’s equal power”, “raising women’s awareness for equal power” and “promoting women’s ability to realize equal power”, as such comprehensive translations can better clarify the target, strategy and methods for realizing gender-equal development