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“A cool kid” Queer theory travels to China

Bao, Hongwei

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Abstract

This article traces the historical moment when queer theory first arrived in mainland China in the early 2000s by comparing and contrasting two translated texts in Chinese: Wang Fengzhen’s book Guaiyi Lilun [Peculiar Theory] and Li Yinhe’s book Ku’er Lilun [A Cool Kid Theory]. Juxtaposing the two translators’ positioning and marketing strategies, along with their use of paratexts such as book cover design and translator’s prefaces, this article aims to explain why Ku’er Lilun ended up being a more popular and widely circulated text than Guaiyi Lilun. It also pinpoints the cultural specificities of queer theory’s reception in the postsocialist Chinese context at the beginning of the new millennium. This article hopes to provide critical insights into the politics of translating academic theories transnationally, with a focus on paratextual, extratextual, and contextual factors which work in tandem to shape the reception of these theories in a non-Western context.

Citation

Bao, H. (2021). “A cool kid” Queer theory travels to China. Translation and Interpreting Studies, 16(2), 219-239. https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.19069.bao

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 22, 2020
Online Publication Date Dec 18, 2020
Publication Date Jun 18, 2021
Deposit Date Dec 6, 2020
Publicly Available Date Jan 6, 2021
Journal Translation and Interpreting Studies
Print ISSN 1932-2798
Electronic ISSN 1876-2700
Publisher John Benjamins Publishing
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 16
Issue 2
Pages 219-239
DOI https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.19069.bao
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5124482
Publisher URL https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/tis.19069.bao
Additional Information © John Benjamins Publishing Company. Publisher should be contacted for permission to re-use or reprint the material in any form.

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