Kàngrì (Chinese:抗日;Wade–Giles:kʻang4jih4;lit. 'resist Japan';Korean:항일;RR:hangil)[1][2][3][4] is aChinese word, which means "resistingJapan", in the context of resistingJapanese imperialismKàngrì may be translated as "anti-Japan",[5] though it is distinct fromfǎnrì (Chinese:反日;Wade–Giles:fan3jih4;lit. 'anti-Japan';Korean:반일;RR:banil),[1] which refers to more generalanti-Japanese sentiment.
Kàngrì is deeply related to the post-colonialEast Asia, such asChina andKorea; especiallySecond Sino-Japanese War (中國抗日戰爭; 'War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression') andKorean independence movement (항일운동;抗日運動;lit. Movement to Resistance against Japan).[1]
To begin, we need to distinguish at least two forms of anti- Japanism: "resist-Japan" (抗日) and "anti-Japan" (反日) in East Asia. "Resist Japan" is widely used in mainland China and the Sinophone world to convey the efforts and success of Chinese struggle against Japanese imperialism, especially during the eight-year "war of resistance" (1937-45)
In 1932, the Comintern held that all the imperialist powers were threatening China, not just Japan. For this reason the guerrilla group in Shaanbei was called the Anti-Imperialist (fandi反帝) Alliance, not the Resist-Japan (Kang-Ri 抗日) Alliance, as some would later call it.
KangRi 抗日 (Resist Japan)
我们认为，，除在特殊语境，"抗日"不宜译成"anti-Japanese"。首先，英文"anti-Japanese"是"反对日本""反对日本人"的意思，并不包含"侵略"等信息。如果将"抗日"译为"anti-Japanese"，国外读者自然就会把所有与此相关的表述都理解为"反对日本人"，而不是反抗日本侵略者，如"抗日民族统一战线""抗日根据地""抗日救亡运动"等，都会被理解为"反对日本人"，而不是正义的"反抗侵略"的活动。
其次，英文前缀"anti-"(即"反")后面加上民族或人民构成的复合词(如"anti-American" "anti-Chinese"等)，经常与非理性的、情绪化的事件或行为搭配，如"anti-Japanese protest"(反日游行)、"anti-Japanese flag burning"(反日焚烧日本国旗)等。
我们建议，"抗日"可以采用两种译法：resistance against Japanese aggression或者counter-Japanese。
译法1：resistance against Japanese aggression或者resistance
与"anti-Japanese"不同，"resistance"(反抗)包含着非常正面的内涵，一看便知指的是"反抗侵略"。例如，"中国人民抗日战争"，翻译为"the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression"，国外读者可以很清楚地看到哪一方是侵略者，哪一方是正义方。而在世界反法西斯战争期间，其他同盟国开展的各种反法西斯、反纳粹活动，英语的表述也经常用"resistance"。因此，将"抗日"一词译为"resistance"，跟其他同盟国用同样的术语，有利于加强外国读者眼中中国作为同盟国重要成员、维护世界正义力量的形象。
译法2：counter-Japanese
与"resistance"相似，"counter-Japanese"一词也意味着对方的行为发生在先，己方行为是应对性质的，如"counter-attack"(反攻)。因而该译法能够表明抗击的对象是侵略行为，而不是日本民族。此外，该译法比"resistance against Japanese aggression"更简短，所以在部分语境里比前者用起来更加灵活，如"counter-Japanese guerrilla force"(抗日游击队)等。
항일 (抗日) anti-Japan; resistance to Japan
