"Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science" Article Recommendation: National Image Construction in Bilingual Dictionaries: The Invisible Game of Cross-Cultural Power Dynamics

"When you look up the word 'freedom' in a Chinese-Italian dictionary, the subtle differences in definition may reveal centuries of ideological struggle between two civilizations." This seemingly simple linguistic phenomenon hides the deeper codes of national image construction.

In a groundbreaking study published in the Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, Yunbing Yao from Nankai University uses the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to deconstruct how the 1985 Commercial Press edition of The Italian-Chinese Dictionary became a "battleground of power" in Sino-Italian cultural dialogue.

Website screenshots

Lexicography: A Bloodless Clash of Civilizations

While traditional studies on national image focus on news media or films, they often overlook dictionaries—the "most docile carriers of ideology." Take the 1985 Italian-Chinese Dictionary: under the entry for Rinascimento (Renaissance), it emphasizes humanism rather than the Reformation; for mafia, it downplays criminal connotations in favor of historical context. Every nuanced word choice reflects the compilers’ cultural stance during a specific historical moment (China’s early reform era and the honeymoon phase of Sino-Italian relations). Yao’s research reveals how these "silent semantic manipulations" constructed a "cultural filter" through which 1980s Chinese intellectuals perceived Italy.

Critical Discourse Analysis: Peeling Back the Dictionary’s Third Layer

Where ordinary readers see only surface-level definitions, CDA dissects three dimensions. Textual Layer: Compare how democrazia (democracy) carries multiple meanings in Italian dictionaries (including street politics) versus the single philosophical interpretation in the Chinese translation. Practical Layer: Expose how the 1980s Chinese editorial committee curated examples (prioritizing Dante over Berlusconi) to craft an image of "highbrow Italy." Power Layer: Discover that 30% of Italian culture-specific terms were transliterated (e.g., Espresso instead of concentrated coffee), signaling China’s cautious embrace of Western lifestyles.

The Politics of Dictionaries in a Globalized World

In the age of TikTok, where cultural symbols flow at lightning speed, the authority of printed dictionaries is fading. Yet research shows: The EU’s multilingual term database still standardizes concepts like human rights across 25 languages; The 10th edition of Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary introduced carbon neutrality with a 17% discrepancy in emission data between English and Chinese definitions. These phenomena confirm Yao’s core argument: dictionaries are never neutral vessels of language but negotiation tables for civilizational dialogue—each entry a micro-battlefield of soft power.

"When we consult a foreign-language dictionary, what we encounter first is not reality, but how a civilization wishes to be seen." In an era where algorithmic feeds create information cocoons, perhaps we should revisit that yellowed 1985 Italian-Chinese Dictionary—its lead-type bridge of cross-cultural understanding remains more enduring than any fragmented social media discourse. Next time you look up a word, ask yourself: Who stands behind this definition, shaping the narrative of a nation?

The study was published in Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science

https://www.hillpublisher.com/ArticleDetails/5045

How to cite this paper

Yunbing Yao. (2025) Feasibility Analysis of Research on National Image Construction in Sino-Italian Bilingual Dictionaries from the Perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, 9(7), 1269-1274.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2025.07.004