Questioning translation readers: Investigating the impact of foreignization and domestication in three Chinese-speaking locales

Many claims have been made in translation studies regarding foreignization and domestication, but few empirical studies have been conducted to test those claims. Against this background, a survey was conducted to investigate the impact of foreignized and domesticated translations on three groups of Chinese readers. This study was conducted in two mainland Chinese cities (Beijing and Guangzhou) and one Taiwanese city (Douliou), including a total of 143 readers responding to two renditions of an English source text, one foreignized and one domesticated. The responses were then analyzed to determine the reader’s perception of the text in relation to the concepts of foreignization and domestication. Likewise, the responses were analyzed to determine whether the location of the study had an impact on the respondent’s answers. This paper presents findings of the study and concludes with a number of reflections on the now common concepts of “foreignization” and “domestication.”