ABSTRACT
Translation activities are infused with traces of otherness centrally reflecting the different, unfamiliar, unrecognizable, and alien. Foreign otherness in relation to traditional Chinese cultural values is the forcible reminder of difference embodied in otherness. The perceived threat of the foreign other to the Chinese culture made the cross-cultural mission a hazardous one. A forced temporary absence of otherness in translation is most consequential for effective cross-cultural communication. As part of cross-cultural reality, otherness poses a complex and daunting challenge to translation, incessantly unfolding and cumulatively producing impacts on the target culture. The reduction to sameness, which is centrally manifest in reducing or eliminating the strangeness of otherness, shows that difference in form can be conveniently subordinated to sameness. The sense of otherness seems to be unproblematic. However, the enigma of otherness is disquieting and has evoked a disorienting sense of anxiety about the uncertainty associated with otherness.
