ABSTRACT
The perception of cosmopolitan translation, referring primarily to cultural translation situated within the cosmopolitan constellation, is closely linked to cognitive, social, and cultural changes in a global and globalizing context. Psychological differences between different ethnic groups are centrally concerned with the production and reception of cultural meaning and its dependence upon cross-cultural awareness. Different conceptions of cultural realities contribute significantly to the creation of cosmopolitan spaces to encourage moving beyond a provincial mindset. Fear of and resistance to cultural homogeneity may well result in a strong sense of nationalism antipathetic to the practice of cultural translation as is manifest in the doubt of and resistance to “Other” spaces exhibited by some Chinese translation scholars. Nevertheless, growing hybridization between different cultures through translation moves ultimately towards cosmopolitanism. Increasingly, cultural references, in a cross-cultural sense, comprise cross-cultural intertextuality and are poised to develop into intercultural allusions. These are new challenges to reassess the changed and changing nature of cultural translation, which radically redefines the spatial network of local affinities and allegiances in the process of globalization and calls for an elaborate analysis of the emergent concept of cosmopolitan translation in the Chinese cultural context.
