What is it about?
This chapter traces the extraordinarily complex international circulation and cross-influence of detective stories from English to Chinese (Sherlock Holmes) and from Chinese to English (Gong’an) from the 19th to the 21st century. Translations of Sherlock Holmes stories shaped the development of a new form of Chinese detective story, introducing elements such as non-chronological story-telling, suspense and investigative procedures, while the translation of Judge Dee and Judge Bao stories in the 20th introduced Chinese Gong’an courtroom drama into English with its chronological story lines, reliance on torture, dreams and visions instead of rational investigation. Their success led to the creation of English-authored Gong’an stories and their subsequent translation into Chinese, re-introducing Gong’an to a Chinese audience and sparking a resurgence in TV and film adaptations. In this translational movement from Chinese to English and back into Chinese, we trace to what extent central Gong’an features are adapted to Western formats, and whether the 21-century Chinese translations and audiovisual adaptations restore original Gong'an features or retain a Western-inflected format.
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Why is it important?
Translational movements and literary influence are often considered to be one-directional. This study shows the multi-directional movements and the creative and formal adaptations of a popular genre between East and West and across different formats. This dynamic exchange enriches the global literary landscape, showcasing an intricate web of cultural influences.
Perspectives
This chapter is part of continuing collaborative work with my co-author Victoria Lei into an aspect of intercultural movements and exchange from East to West and West to East. This work has only been possible of the combination of our complementary areas of research expertise, cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Dr Karen Seago
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: From Sherlock Holmes to Zhentan and Beyond: Arthur Conan Doyle in China, February 2025, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004723832_012.
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