ABSTRACT
Translation is central to crime fiction – from its very beginnings, the genre has constituted itself in and through translation with global patterns of circulation and influence. The body of work on the reception of translated texts, the influence and effects of translation as well as the genre-specific constraints of crime fiction translation is smaller. This chapter discusses these aspects in terms of how the lowbrow status of the genre on the one hand, and of Anglo-American prestige on the other directly impact on editorial policies and translation strategies, shaping how individual national traditions and genre conventions develop over time. A case study of the international circulation of Chinese Judge Dee stories illustrates the evolution of this tradition in and through translation. If crime fiction is a privileged means of presenting and re-presenting the nation, then Chinese crime fiction in its exchanges with Western forms of the genre offers a fascinating study of its international circulation and multidirectional influences.
