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 reception in China of the success of Liu Cixin’s translations, and the way in which Chinese media and officials are also engaging in a process of self-Orientalization.
In a the second phase, I try to question the task and the strategy of the translators when confronting these Orientalist projections: how does a translator makes himself or herself an accomplice of these fantasies, and how can she/he engage in a post-Orientalist or anti- Orientalist approach? This reflection is illustrated by concrete examples from my own translation of Liu Cixin’s trilogy into French.
Key words
translation /
reception /
Liu Cixin /
Three-Body trilogy /
Orientalism /
post-Orientalism
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