The growing use of AI tools is reshaping Chinese–Italian translation practices, particularly in domains that require a high degree of creativity and intercultural sensitivity, such as tourism-promotional translation. This paper examines the complementary role of contrastive genre analysis, copywriting skills, and AI-based technologies as pedagogical resources for the training of Chinese–Italian translators in these fields.
Applied primarily to web-based content, contrastive genre analysis enables the identification of discourse conventions, rhetorical strategies, and language-specific features in both Chinese and Italian, providing a foundation for translations that are aligned with communicative purposes and audience expectations. Within this framework, copywriting emerges as a key competence in tourism-promotional translation and transediting. The ability to produce persuasive, engaging, and culturally appropriate texts is essential for ensuring accessibility, audience engagement, and consistency with the communicative identity of cultural and tourism institutions. Achieving these goals requires an in-depth understanding of the norms and conventions governing communication in the target linguaculture, including stylistic preferences, narrative patterns, audience-engagement strategies, and the treatment of ideological factors.
From a pedagogical perspective, AI-assisted translation can serve as a valuable tool for strengthening students’ contrastive analytical skills, transcreation competences, and metalinguistic and intercultural awareness. By critically engaging with AI-generated outputs, translation students are invited to develop operational strategies that align with Italian communicative standards, moving beyond linguistic equivalence towards a function-oriented approach that prioritizes communicative impact.
Drawing on practical examples from the proponent’s classroom experience, the paper ultimately argues that the synergy between contrastive genre analysis, copywriting, and AI can significantly enhance both pragmatic effectiveness and intercultural mediation in Chinese–Italian tourism-promotional translation.
Paolo Magagnin is Associate Professor of Chinese Language, Translation and Interpreting at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and a member of the "Laboratorio sulla Traduzione delle Lingue Orientali" (Research Center on the Translation of Asian Languages). His primary area of expertise is Translation Studies applied to modern and contemporary Chinese language and culture. His current research focuses on Chinese translation theories, the global circulation of Chinese cultural products from a sociological perspective, and translation in the tourism and museum sectors. Among his publications in the latter field is the chapter “La traduzione per il turismo e l’accessibilità al patrimonio artistico-culturale” (“Translation for Tourism and Accessibility to Cultural Heritage”), included in "La traduzione del cinese. Riflessioni, strategie e tipologie testuali" ("Chinese Translation. Reflections, Strategies, and Text Types", edited by Nicoletta Pesaro, Hoepli, 2023). Alongside his academic work, he is an active translator of contemporary Chinese literature. His Italian translations include works by leading Chinese authors such as Cao Wenxuan, Li Jingze, Shuang Xuetao, A Yi, Chen He, Xu Zechen, and Xiao Bai.
