Recategorization in Goldblatt's Multimodal Translation of Shan Hai Jing

Translation is not merely a linguistic transfer, but also a cognitive activity. Due to divergent cognitive frameworks across cultural contexts, cognitive shifts in translation are unavoidable, particularly when rendering classical texts imbued with culture-specific entities inaccessible to another culture. One of the major means of understanding unfamiliar entities is to categorize them. Thus, when translating these entities into another culture, the translator often needs to recategorize them to bridge the gap between source-text taxonomies and target readers' conceptual systems. To elucidate how recategorization functions in the translation of classical texts, this study investigates adaptive recategorization in Goldblatt's multimodal English translation of Shan Hai Jing, a remarkable Chinese classic rich in mythical beings and cultural symbolism. Drawing on Xiao & Wen's framework of recategorization, this study analyzes the translation of animal and plant terms. Through quantitative frequency analysis and qualitative case study, this research reveals how recategorization strategies, including category retention, omission, and shifts (e.g., between categories, category members, category prototype, and category levels) are employed to reconcile source-text taxonomies with target readers' cognitive frameworks. It is found that Goldblatt's adaptive recategorization, informed by vernacular annotations and illustrations, mitigates cognitive conflicts, clarifies ambiguities, and preserves the text's interpretive flexibility. This study highlights recategorization as a pivotal mechanism for translating culture-specific concepts, offering insights for rendering classical texts with abundant culturally specific terms.