Reconfiguring Craft Knowledge Across Languages: Relational Meaning in Guizhou Batik Terminology

Abstract

This study examines how craft-related terminology functions beyond the level of individual terms in specialised translation, using Guizhou batik production terminology as a case study. It addresses the limited attention previously paid to the relational structures through which specialised craft knowledge is organised and transformed across languages. Adopting a qualitative, relation-oriented approach, the study analyses 51 production-related terms selected from four bilingual publications on Guizhou batik. The analysis focuses on three forms of relational organisation—process relations, role relations, and sequence structures—and compares how these relations are represented in the Chinese source contexts and their English translations. The findings show that Guizhou batik terminology constitutes an interconnected process-oriented system in which meaning emerges through relations among actions, tools, materials, participants, and production stages. In translation, these relations are frequently fragmented when process chains become separate procedural labels, functional interactions are reduced to isolated categories, and sequential structures are presented as descriptive listings. However, relational meaning is not simply lost. It is also reconfigured through object-based classifications, categorical stages, and inventory-like representations. The study therefore argues that specialised translation involves not only the transfer of individual terms but also the reorganisation of the relational structures through which domain knowledge is constructed and communicated. This relational perspective provides practical implications for translators and bilingual publishers seeking to represent procedural craft knowledge more coherently across languages.