Chinese Dreams: (Self-)Orientalism and Post-Orientalism in the Reception and Translation of Liu Cixin’s Three- Body Trilogy
Article paru dans le troisième volume de la revue Journal of Translation Studies (published for the Department of Translation at the Chinese University of Hong Kong) Chinese Dreams: (Self-)Orientalism and Post-Orientalism in the Reception and Translation of Liu Cixin’s Three-Body Trilogy Gwennaël Gaffric University of Lyon Abstract After receiving the Hugo Award in 2015 for the English translation of The Three-Body Problem, Liu Cixin’s Three-Body trilogy and its translations into a large number of languages have been a massive success, prompting many reactions and much praise. In this article, I attempt to discuss first the global processes of translation and reception of Liu’s novels beyond China. I particularly focus on the Orientalist imaginary conveyed by the publication of the trilogy, at a time when Chinese science fiction has become a tool for the Chinese soft power strategy based on the culturalist and nationalist discourse of the “Chinese Dream.” I also examine the r