In "Has Sadomasochism Arrived? Confrontations of power at the level of sexuality in China", author Li Yinhe approves of the translation of the term "sadomasochism" as "nuedailian" in the following paragraph:
Also known as S&M, and sometimes abbreviated as SM or S/M, the terminology, "sadomasochism," was first developed by Austro-German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing. In Chinese, I use a term to signify "cruelty" and "love," first proposed by sociologist Pan Guangdan. I applaud the phrase, "nuedailian," both for its simplicity and recognition of conflicting dynamics, rather than a term that would only denote sadistic or intentionally harmful activities.
The term for "sadomasochism" proposed by Pan Guangdan and promoted by Li Yinhe is nüèdàiliàn 虐待恋 ("abuse love"). A Chinese colleague objects to this translation thus:
Pan Guangdan's terminology is inaccurate. Strictly speaking, sadomasochism involves not love (lian 恋) but lust (yin 淫) perverted by a pathological obsession with physical sexual abuse and self-abuse. So, a better translation would be 淫虐癖 (lustful abuse obsession).
This alternative translation is yínnüèpǐ 淫虐癖, which is rendered back into English as follows:
Google Translate: "kinky abuse addiction"
Bing Translator: "effects of child abuse and paedophilia"
It seems as though there is not yet a satisfactory, fixed term for sadomasochism in Chinese. Here are some possibilities:
Baidu Fanyi: bèinüèdàixìngbiàntài 被虐待性变态 ("sexual abnormality of being abused")
Bing Translator: shīnüèshòunüèkuáng 施虐受虐狂 (in colloquial usage also called "sado-maso") ("madness of giving and receiving abuse")
Google Translate: nüèliàn 虐恋 ("abuse love")
Google Translate extended definitions: shīnüèshòunüè 施虐受虐 ("giving and receiving abuse"); shīnüèshòunüèkuáng 施虐受虐狂 ("madness of giving and receiving abuse"); shòunüè 受虐 ("receive abuse"); xìngnüèdài 性虐待 ("sexual abuse")
During the course of my investigation of the Chinese terminology for sadomasochism, I came upon these three websites that discuss this phenomenon by referring to it as nüèdài 虐待 ("abuse"), nüèdàiliàn 虐待恋 ("abuse love"), xìngnüèdài 性虐待 ("sexual abuse"), or SM. What is remarkable, however, is that the texts on all three sites are written entirely in Pinyin (Romanization) without joining syllables into words and without capitalization. Could this be an attempt to evade the censors?
I don't think nüèdàiliàn 虐待恋 ("abuse love") will catch on in English, and I suspect that it won't become popular in Chinese either.
[Hat tip to John Rohsenow]
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