The Overseas Reception of Chinese Science Fiction Works from a Perspective of Western Interpretation Preference——A Case Study of Reader's Reception of Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem in the USA
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摘要
The Three-Body Problem, written by Liu Cixin, won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel, with over 200,000 copies in English already sold. This gure is hundreds of times the average sales volume of Chinese novels in the USA. Through qualitative and quantitative analyses of overseas readers' comments on The Three-Body Problem posted on the online platforms of Goodreads and Amazon, this paper concludes that the novel's success overseas lies in its catering to the concerns of overseas readers. The ThreeBody Problem is popular among overseas readership thanks to its re ection on the ultimate existence of mankind, science ction vision & imagination, literary familiarity & identi cation, ideological di erence-triggered cultural curiosity, and a good translation. This paper attempts to interpret Liu Cixin's work on the map of world literature from the perspective of overseas readers' preferences to provide references for contemporary Chinese science ction creation and overseas reception.
The Three-Body Problem, written by Liu Cixin, won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel, with over 200,000 copies in English already sold. This gure is hundreds of times the average sales volume of Chinese novels in the USA. Through qualitative and quantitative analyses of overseas readers' comments on The Three-Body Problem posted on the online platforms of Goodreads and Amazon, this paper concludes that the novel's success overseas lies in its catering to the concerns of overseas readers. The ThreeBody Problem is popular among overseas readership thanks to its re ection on the ultimate existence of mankind, science ction vision & imagination, literary familiarity & identi cation, ideological di erence-triggered cultural curiosity, and a good translation. This paper attempts to interpret Liu Cixin's work on the map of world literature from the perspective of overseas readers' preferences to provide references for contemporary Chinese science ction creation and overseas reception.
The Three-Body Problem, written by Liu Cixin, won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel, with over 200,000 copies in English already sold. This gure is hundreds of times the average sales volume of Chinese novels in the USA. Through qualitative and quantitative analyses of overseas readers' comments on The Three-Body Problem posted on the online platforms of Goodreads and Amazon, this paper concludes that the novel's success overseas lies in its catering to the concerns of overseas readers. The ThreeBody Problem is popular among overseas readership thanks to its re ection on the ultimate existence of mankind, science ction vision & imagination, literary familiarity & identi cation, ideological di erence-triggered cultural curiosity, and a good translation. This paper attempts to interpret Liu Cixin's work on the map of world literature from the perspective of overseas readers' preferences to provide references for contemporary Chinese science ction creation and overseas reception.
引文
Dean Nicky.(2015).The beginning of the end.Nature Physics,11,889-890.
He Yaling.(2016).Chinese literature went abroad:Take the English version of The Three-body Problem as an example.View on Publishing,13,58-59.
Jia Liyuan.(2011).The glorious China:The image of China in Liu Cixin’s science fi ction.Journal of Bohai University(Philosophy and Social Science Edition),1,39-45.
Jiang Lulu.(2012).Liu Cixin:Modern science makes science fi ction lose its magic.Global People,20,81-82.
Jiang Zhiqin.(2015).The interpretation preference of contemporary Chinese literature’s overseas reception.Comparative Literature in China,3,187-194.
Li Fang.(2015).Why could Liu Cixin get Hugo Award.Business Weekly,18,85.
Liu Cixin(2014).Three-body Problem(First Edition).In Ken Liu(Trans).New York:Tor Books.
Liu Cixin.(2007,September 13).A few books on my way to science fi ction.Southern Weekly.p.23.
Liu Cixin.(2008).Three-body Problem.Chongqing:Chongqing Publishing Group.
Liu Cixin.(2010).Three-body Problem III:Dean end.Chongqing:Chongqing Publishing Group.
Liu Cixin.(2011).The Star-player and Wall-facer:Liu Cixin’s world of science fi ction.Shanghai Culture,3,17-30.
Liu Cixin.(2014).Liu Cixin talks about science fi ction.Wuhan:Hubei Science and Technology Press.
Liu Cixin.(2014).The Three-body Problem II:The dark forest.Chongqing:Chongqing Publishing Group.
Liu Cixin.(2015).The dark forest.InJoel Martinsen(Trans.).New York:Tor Books.
Liu Cixin.(2016).Death’s end.In Ken Liu(Trans.).New York:Tor Books.
Liu Ken.(2015)Coming to America—The fi rst English translation from Chinese SF bestseller Liu was recently nominated for a Nebula Award.Publishers Weekly,5,24-25.
Long Jian&Liu Cixin.(2016,December 18).How many copies of The Three-body Problem III did the White House ask for.Southern Weekly.Nanfang Media Group.Retrieved from http://www.infzm.com/content/121611.date=2016/12/18.
Luo Yu.(2008)Howard Goldblatt:Americans like naysayers’ works.Century Weekly,10,120-21.
Martiniere Stephan.(2017)The Three-Body Problem cover art.Tor&Forge Books,1,52-55.
Rothman Joshua.(2015,March 6).China’s Arthur C.Clarke.The New Yorker.Cordenas Publishing.Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/chinas-arthur-c-clarke?intcid=mod-latest.
Song Mingwei.(2015).After 1989:The new wave of Chinese science fi ction.English World.1,7-13.
Song Mingwei.(2015a).Between types and unknowns:Science fi ction and other forms.Shanghai Literature,12,72-75.
Song Mingwei.(2015b).The Utopian variation of contemporary Chinese science fi ction.In Bi Kun(Trans.).Comparative Literature in China,3,101-114.
Wang Yan.(2007).Why are humans still worth saving:A dialogue about science fi ction.Science&Vie,11,84-91.
Wu Hongfei.(2012)Liu Cixin:Living in the parallel universe.People,4,58-60.
Xu Yong.(2015).The three-body problem:A metaphor and spiritual epic of our age.Arts Criticism,10,43-47.
Yan Feng.(2011).Creation and death:Liu Cixin’s poetics of universe.Southern Cultural Forum,5,73-77.
Yang Fan&Zhang Jie.(2015,October 24).Facebook founder Zuckerberg fascinated by The Three-body Problem and becomes a fan of Liu Cixin.People’s Daily.Retrievedfromhttp://media.people.com.cn/n/2015/1024/c40606-27734832.html.date=2015/10/24.
Zeng Jun.(2016).The singularities of The Three-Body Problem or Chinese logic in the globalization of science fi ction.Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art,1,84-93.
(1)Long&Liu, 2016
(2)Yang&Zhang, 2015
(1)This comment has been presented in different versions by different media.This paper adopts the following version:Yan Feng.(2010, October 17).From here to eternity.Southern Metropolis Daily.
(2)Zeng, 2016, p.84
(1)Xu, 2015, p.44
(1)Xu, 2015, p.44
(2)Dario Cannizzaro.Goodreads.Goodreads Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.Goodreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-threebody-problem? ac=1&from_search=true.date=2015/3/13.
(3)Young.Amazon.April 22, 2016.Amazon Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R3C1GGSFBENW3Z?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl.date=2016/4/22.
(4)Quoted in the Editorial Review of the English version of The Three-Body Problem:“Vivid imaginative, and rooted in cutting-edge science.The Three-Body Problem ponders several Big Questions of our time.Liu Cixin stands at the top tier of speculative fiction authors in any language.”
(5)Song, 2015, p.11
(6)Xu, 2015, p.44
(7)In a talk show featuring Liu Cixin and science historian Jiang Xiaoyuan, Liu Cixin asked,“Are ‘they’ allowed to eat the three of us for survival's sake?”
(8)Song, 2015, p.11
(1)Liu, 2010, p.513
(2)Song, 2015, p.12
(3)Xu, 2015, p.47
(4)Song, 2015, p.12
(5)Tencent.(2015, August 24).The Future Linker.The Three-Body Problem in the eyes of American.Retrieved from http://news.qq.com/original/dujiabianyi/threebodyproblem.html.date=2015/8/24.
(6)Song, 2015, p.10
(7)Martiniere, 2017, p.53
(8)Xu, 2015, p.44
(1)Yan, 2011, p.75
(2)He Shaojun expressed such a view on July 10, 2010 at the Symposium on Literary Genre&Genre Fiction in Daqing, a petroleum city in northeastern China.
(3)Song, 2015a, p.74
(4)Rob.Goodreads.(2014, October 9).Goodreads Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved fromhttps://www.Goodreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-three-bodyproblem?ac=1&from_search=true.date=2014/10/9.
(1)Nancy Famolari.Amazon.September 21, 2014.Amazon.Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R2SRRRA11JYY2H?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl.date=2014/9/21.
(2)Tencent.(2015, August 24).The Three-Body Problem in the eyes of American.The Future Linker.Retrievedfrom http://news.qq.com/original/dujiabianyi/threebodyproblem.html.date=2015/8/24.
(3)Quoted in the Editorial Review of the English version of the Dark Forest:“Liu successfully interweaves hard science and adventure in this series debut.”
(4)Quoted in the Editorial Review of the English version of the Dark Forest:“Fans of hard SF will revel in this intricate and imaginative novel by one of China most celebrated genre writers.”
(5)Song, 2015b, p.111
(6)Wang, 2007, p.86
(1)Wang, 2007, p.86.
(2)Jia, 2011, p.41.
(3)Jiang, 2015,p.188
(4)Liu, 2007, p.23
(5)Liu has been quoted in interviews as saying:“Everything that I write is a clumsy imitation of Arthur C.Clarke.” Li Fuying.(2014, August 2).Liu Cixin“, I am a sci-fi fan, as well as a writer.” Shenzhen Evening News.
(6)Jiang, 2011, p.81
(7)Wu, 2012, p.59
(1)Amy Sturgis.Goodreads.February 2, 2015.Goodreads Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved fromhttps://www.Goo-dreads.com/book/show/20518872-thethree-body-problem?ac=1&from_search=true.date=2015/2/2.
(2)Richard Murphy.Amazon.February 20, 2015.Amazon Inc.September 21, 2017, Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R16Y8FSQLRU9BH?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl.date=2015/2/20.
(3)Quoted in the Editorial Review of the English version of Death's End:The Three-Body Problem tomes chronicle a march of the human race into the universe set against the recent past, the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution.It is a classic science fiction story in the style of the British master Arthur C.Clarke.”
(4)Song, 2011, p.20
(5)Ken Liu, 2015, p.25
(6)He, 2016, p.58
(7)Luo, 2008, p.120
(1)Tencent.(2015, August 24).The Three-Body Problem in the eyes of American.The Future Linker.Retrieved from http://news.qq.com/original/dujiabianyi/threebodyproblem.html.date=2015/8/24.
(2)Dean, 2015, p.890
(3)Martiniere, 2017, p.53
(4)Quoted in the Editorial Review of the English version of The Three-Body Problem:“Cixin Liu brings to the reader a deep and insightful vision of China past and future.First-rate work by a powerful new voice.”
(5)Robyn.Goodreads.November 2, 2014.Goodreads Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.Goodreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-threebody-problem?ac=1&from_search=true.date=2014/11/2.
(6)Donald Krueger.amazon.(May 11, 2016).amazon Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.ama-zon.com/gp/review/R3C0Y4E0MZZ2FB?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl.date=2016/5/11.
(1)Amazon Customer.Amazon.(2016, May 29).Amazon Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrievedfrom https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R3SX6UIYK7OX1W?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl
(2)Picky1.Amazon.(April 9, 2016).Amazon Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R47GQF2JPXEI3?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl.date=2016/4/9.
(3)Tencent.(2015, August 24).The Three-Body Problem in the eyes of American.The Future Linker.Retrieved from http://news.qq.com/original/dujiabianyi/threebodyproblem.html.
(4)Neil Hepworth.November 11, 2014.Goodreads Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.Goo-dreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-threebody-problem?ac=1&from_search=true.date=2014/11/11.
(5)Tanstaafl.amazon.September 30, 2014.amazon Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Three-Body-Problem-RemembranceEarths-Past/product-reviews/0765377063/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_paging_btm_43?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=43&sortBy=recent&filte rB yK eyword=+translation
He Yaling.(2016).Chinese literature went abroad:Take the English version of The Three-body Problem as an example.View on Publishing,13,58-59.
Jia Liyuan.(2011).The glorious China:The image of China in Liu Cixin’s science fi ction.Journal of Bohai University(Philosophy and Social Science Edition),1,39-45.
Jiang Lulu.(2012).Liu Cixin:Modern science makes science fi ction lose its magic.Global People,20,81-82.
Jiang Zhiqin.(2015).The interpretation preference of contemporary Chinese literature’s overseas reception.Comparative Literature in China,3,187-194.
Li Fang.(2015).Why could Liu Cixin get Hugo Award.Business Weekly,18,85.
Liu Cixin(2014).Three-body Problem(First Edition).In Ken Liu(Trans).New York:Tor Books.
Liu Cixin.(2007,September 13).A few books on my way to science fi ction.Southern Weekly.p.23.
Liu Cixin.(2008).Three-body Problem.Chongqing:Chongqing Publishing Group.
Liu Cixin.(2010).Three-body Problem III:Dean end.Chongqing:Chongqing Publishing Group.
Liu Cixin.(2011).The Star-player and Wall-facer:Liu Cixin’s world of science fi ction.Shanghai Culture,3,17-30.
Liu Cixin.(2014).Liu Cixin talks about science fi ction.Wuhan:Hubei Science and Technology Press.
Liu Cixin.(2014).The Three-body Problem II:The dark forest.Chongqing:Chongqing Publishing Group.
Liu Cixin.(2015).The dark forest.InJoel Martinsen(Trans.).New York:Tor Books.
Liu Cixin.(2016).Death’s end.In Ken Liu(Trans.).New York:Tor Books.
Liu Ken.(2015)Coming to America—The fi rst English translation from Chinese SF bestseller Liu was recently nominated for a Nebula Award.Publishers Weekly,5,24-25.
Long Jian&Liu Cixin.(2016,December 18).How many copies of The Three-body Problem III did the White House ask for.Southern Weekly.Nanfang Media Group.Retrieved from http://www.infzm.com/content/121611.date=2016/12/18.
Luo Yu.(2008)Howard Goldblatt:Americans like naysayers’ works.Century Weekly,10,120-21.
Martiniere Stephan.(2017)The Three-Body Problem cover art.Tor&Forge Books,1,52-55.
Rothman Joshua.(2015,March 6).China’s Arthur C.Clarke.The New Yorker.Cordenas Publishing.Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/chinas-arthur-c-clarke?intcid=mod-latest.
Song Mingwei.(2015).After 1989:The new wave of Chinese science fi ction.English World.1,7-13.
Song Mingwei.(2015a).Between types and unknowns:Science fi ction and other forms.Shanghai Literature,12,72-75.
Song Mingwei.(2015b).The Utopian variation of contemporary Chinese science fi ction.In Bi Kun(Trans.).Comparative Literature in China,3,101-114.
Wang Yan.(2007).Why are humans still worth saving:A dialogue about science fi ction.Science&Vie,11,84-91.
Wu Hongfei.(2012)Liu Cixin:Living in the parallel universe.People,4,58-60.
Xu Yong.(2015).The three-body problem:A metaphor and spiritual epic of our age.Arts Criticism,10,43-47.
Yan Feng.(2011).Creation and death:Liu Cixin’s poetics of universe.Southern Cultural Forum,5,73-77.
Yang Fan&Zhang Jie.(2015,October 24).Facebook founder Zuckerberg fascinated by The Three-body Problem and becomes a fan of Liu Cixin.People’s Daily.Retrievedfromhttp://media.people.com.cn/n/2015/1024/c40606-27734832.html.date=2015/10/24.
Zeng Jun.(2016).The singularities of The Three-Body Problem or Chinese logic in the globalization of science fi ction.Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art,1,84-93.
(1)Long&Liu, 2016
(2)Yang&Zhang, 2015
(1)This comment has been presented in different versions by different media.This paper adopts the following version:Yan Feng.(2010, October 17).From here to eternity.Southern Metropolis Daily.
(2)Zeng, 2016, p.84
(1)Xu, 2015, p.44
(1)Xu, 2015, p.44
(2)Dario Cannizzaro.Goodreads.Goodreads Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.Goodreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-threebody-problem? ac=1&from_search=true.date=2015/3/13.
(3)Young.Amazon.April 22, 2016.Amazon Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R3C1GGSFBENW3Z?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl.date=2016/4/22.
(4)Quoted in the Editorial Review of the English version of The Three-Body Problem:“Vivid imaginative, and rooted in cutting-edge science.The Three-Body Problem ponders several Big Questions of our time.Liu Cixin stands at the top tier of speculative fiction authors in any language.”
(5)Song, 2015, p.11
(6)Xu, 2015, p.44
(7)In a talk show featuring Liu Cixin and science historian Jiang Xiaoyuan, Liu Cixin asked,“Are ‘they’ allowed to eat the three of us for survival's sake?”
(8)Song, 2015, p.11
(1)Liu, 2010, p.513
(2)Song, 2015, p.12
(3)Xu, 2015, p.47
(4)Song, 2015, p.12
(5)Tencent.(2015, August 24).The Future Linker.The Three-Body Problem in the eyes of American.Retrieved from http://news.qq.com/original/dujiabianyi/threebodyproblem.html.date=2015/8/24.
(6)Song, 2015, p.10
(7)Martiniere, 2017, p.53
(8)Xu, 2015, p.44
(1)Yan, 2011, p.75
(2)He Shaojun expressed such a view on July 10, 2010 at the Symposium on Literary Genre&Genre Fiction in Daqing, a petroleum city in northeastern China.
(3)Song, 2015a, p.74
(4)Rob.Goodreads.(2014, October 9).Goodreads Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved fromhttps://www.Goodreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-three-bodyproblem?ac=1&from_search=true.date=2014/10/9.
(1)Nancy Famolari.Amazon.September 21, 2014.Amazon.Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R2SRRRA11JYY2H?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl.date=2014/9/21.
(2)Tencent.(2015, August 24).The Three-Body Problem in the eyes of American.The Future Linker.Retrievedfrom http://news.qq.com/original/dujiabianyi/threebodyproblem.html.date=2015/8/24.
(3)Quoted in the Editorial Review of the English version of the Dark Forest:“Liu successfully interweaves hard science and adventure in this series debut.”
(4)Quoted in the Editorial Review of the English version of the Dark Forest:“Fans of hard SF will revel in this intricate and imaginative novel by one of China most celebrated genre writers.”
(5)Song, 2015b, p.111
(6)Wang, 2007, p.86
(1)Wang, 2007, p.86.
(2)Jia, 2011, p.41.
(3)Jiang, 2015,p.188
(4)Liu, 2007, p.23
(5)Liu has been quoted in interviews as saying:“Everything that I write is a clumsy imitation of Arthur C.Clarke.” Li Fuying.(2014, August 2).Liu Cixin“, I am a sci-fi fan, as well as a writer.” Shenzhen Evening News.
(6)Jiang, 2011, p.81
(7)Wu, 2012, p.59
(1)Amy Sturgis.Goodreads.February 2, 2015.Goodreads Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved fromhttps://www.Goo-dreads.com/book/show/20518872-thethree-body-problem?ac=1&from_search=true.date=2015/2/2.
(2)Richard Murphy.Amazon.February 20, 2015.Amazon Inc.September 21, 2017, Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R16Y8FSQLRU9BH?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl.date=2015/2/20.
(3)Quoted in the Editorial Review of the English version of Death's End:The Three-Body Problem tomes chronicle a march of the human race into the universe set against the recent past, the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution.It is a classic science fiction story in the style of the British master Arthur C.Clarke.”
(4)Song, 2011, p.20
(5)Ken Liu, 2015, p.25
(6)He, 2016, p.58
(7)Luo, 2008, p.120
(1)Tencent.(2015, August 24).The Three-Body Problem in the eyes of American.The Future Linker.Retrieved from http://news.qq.com/original/dujiabianyi/threebodyproblem.html.date=2015/8/24.
(2)Dean, 2015, p.890
(3)Martiniere, 2017, p.53
(4)Quoted in the Editorial Review of the English version of The Three-Body Problem:“Cixin Liu brings to the reader a deep and insightful vision of China past and future.First-rate work by a powerful new voice.”
(5)Robyn.Goodreads.November 2, 2014.Goodreads Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.Goodreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-threebody-problem?ac=1&from_search=true.date=2014/11/2.
(6)Donald Krueger.amazon.(May 11, 2016).amazon Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.ama-zon.com/gp/review/R3C0Y4E0MZZ2FB?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl.date=2016/5/11.
(1)Amazon Customer.Amazon.(2016, May 29).Amazon Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrievedfrom https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R3SX6UIYK7OX1W?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl
(2)Picky1.Amazon.(April 9, 2016).Amazon Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R47GQF2JPXEI3?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl.date=2016/4/9.
(3)Tencent.(2015, August 24).The Three-Body Problem in the eyes of American.The Future Linker.Retrieved from http://news.qq.com/original/dujiabianyi/threebodyproblem.html.
(4)Neil Hepworth.November 11, 2014.Goodreads Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.Goo-dreads.com/book/show/20518872-the-threebody-problem?ac=1&from_search=true.date=2014/11/11.
(5)Tanstaafl.amazon.September 30, 2014.amazon Inc.September 21, 2017.Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Three-Body-Problem-RemembranceEarths-Past/product-reviews/0765377063/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_paging_btm_43?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=43&sortBy=recent&filte rB yK eyword=+translation