The pushing-hands approach to translation practice: A case study of team translation of A Full Load of Moonlight by Mary M.Y. Fung and David Lunde

This chapter outlines the three approaches from the field of history that Cheung mentioned that is, microhistory, macrohistory and histoire croisée. Martha Cheung suggested an affinity between the pushing-hands approach and histoire croisée, but she did not explore this, simply referring readers to the best-known article on this approach. Although the two approaches differ in some respects, histoire croisée offers another way to connect the apparent poles of microhistory and macrohistory, and so it resonates with Cheung's advocacy of engagement rather than binary oppositions. Its focus on contacts also echoes her longstanding promotion and embodiment of connections across cultures and academic traditions. The chapter concludes that there are ways for micro and macro approaches to 'cooperate' in a particular translation history project and that they are not mutually exclusive, though often regarded in that light. Translation microhistories might focus, for example, on the life, work, connections and influences of an ordinary translator in order to explore larger themes.