Self‐Consumption Translation: Exploring Interlingual Translation Within Multilingual (mainland) China

ABSTRACT Interlingual translation, as defined by Roman Jakobson, refers to the transfer of meaning between languages. However, this concept has often been conflated with linguistic shifts between distinct cultures and nation‐states. To challenge this misconception, I propose the concept of self‐consumption translation (SCT), a subfield of interlingual translation that conceptualizes translation as a communicative phenomenon occurring within a single country. The multilingual landscape of (mainland) China provides the empirical context for this investigation. Drawing on a revised communication model comprising seven communicative components, I theorize SCT as a standalone system by exploring its four main types in China— interethnic translation , reflux translation , bifurcate translation , and bilingual‐targeted foreign translation —through illustrative case analyses. To explain the emergence of SCT, Bourdieu's theory of capital is employed. The findings reveal that interlingual translation in China primarily transpires between Mandarin Chinese (the sole official language) and ethnic minority languages (non‐official languages), as well as between Chinese and several foreign languages. These translation products are not only produced (translated and published) within China but also circulated, consumed, and received at home. This study concludes by highlighting the flexibility and analytical potential of the SCT framework for probing into analogous phenomena in other national contexts, while offering directions for future research.