Translating materiality to negotiate status in interstate relations: British diplomatic note translations in Qing China

Diplomacy relies on both verbal and non-verbal meaning-making. Drawing on Peircean semiotics, this study examines the material-textual and visual aspects of some diplomatic note translations in Anglo-Chinese diplomatic history. It finds that both governments attempted to manipulate the form and character positioning of the translations, taking them to be political signs of national status in a power contest. In turn, the highly interactive translation processes contributed to the emergence of a diplomatic reality of Anglo-Chinese equality and the introduction of new diplomatic ideas and practices into China. This study calls for more attention to the translational aspects of polysemiotic communication in diplomacy.