Multiple translatorship in the digital age: Interactive dynamics in the production of online literary translation

This article examines one of the first Chinese online literary translations from the early 2000s, Xiao Mao’s translations of two classic children’s novels by E. B. White. It uses the concepts of multiple translatorship and (con)textual voices to explain the translator’s involvement with different actors during his problem-solving process. The datasets include the paratexts of the translations, the mailing-list archives, and my interviews with the translator. A qualitative data analysis reveals a collective problem-solving process between Xiao and members of the New Threads online community. Most voices of these members are audible in peritexts thanks to the translator’s open credit, although there are some uncredited or miscredited voices. This interactive translation process demonstrates the translator’s relational identity with a posthuman approach, which means that he is part of an assemblage of various (non-)human actors. This article also suggests the democratizing potential of the shift from professional to non-professional translation.