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Random question: what's the word for propaganda in chinese? I am also chinese but can only speak with poor vocab. Google translating it yields 宣传, which is a wo
by ghj 6y ago
Random question: what's the word for propaganda in chinese? I am also chinese but can only speak with poor vocab. Google translating it yields 宣传, which is a word that I do know but it means something more like "publicity" which loses all the negative connotation of the word propaganda.
I just want to make sure it's not a common mistranslation and that people aren't talking past each other. One side is saying the government is actively lying in order to manipulate people. And the other side might be interpreting as the government working on their public image... which is uh a lot more reasonable when put that way.
Funny how language shape the way we think.
- qwename 6y agoI tried translating with Baidu and it comes up with "宣传" and "鼓吹". The latter seems more appropriate for propaganda that puts something in a positive light, but doesn't apply to other types of propaganda. So I think a good translation would have to depend on the context.
- yorwba 6y agoIt also works the other way around: Chinese organizations with 宣传 in their name will frequently translate it as "propaganda", apparently unaware of the negative connotation it has taken on in English due to the association with "enemy propaganda". When the Chinese government accuses someone of "actively lying in order to manipulate people", they tend to call it 谣言, i.e. "rumors".