Negotiating Cultural Authenticity and Global Accessibility: Translator Agency and the International Circulation of Jin Yong’s Wuxia Fiction

Abstract

The global circulation of Chinese popular literature has increasingly drawn scholarly attention to the ways in which culturally specific narratives are translated, mediated, and received across linguistic boundaries. As one of the most influential forms of Chinese popular fiction, Jin Yong’s wuxia novels provide a valuable case for examining the interaction between translator agency, cultural representation, and international literary circulation. Drawing on Translator Behavior Criticism (TBC), Bourdieu’s sociology of translation, and theories of cultural circulation, this article investigates the English translations of Jin Yong’s The Deer and the Cauldron and Legends of the Condor Heroes. Through a comparative analysis of three representative translators—John Minford, Anna Holmwood, and Gigi Chang—the study explores how translators negotiate between cultural authenticity and global accessibility. The findings reveal that translator behavior is shaped not only by linguistic considerations but also by professional identity, publishing conditions, cultural capital, and intended readership. Minford adopts a relatively balanced approach, combining scholarly preservation with moderate adaptation. Holmwood demonstrates a stronger market-oriented tendency, prioritizing accessibility and reader engagement within the Western fantasy market. Chang places greater emphasis on cultural continuity and the preservation of wuxia’s indigenous meanings. Moving beyond text-centered evaluation, this article proposes a multidimensional framework for assessing translational effectiveness, incorporating textual mediation, cross-media circulation, digital dissemination, and audience reception. It argues that the successful international circulation of Chinese popular literature requires a dynamic balance between cultural specificity and intercultural accessibility. The case of Jin Yong’s wuxia fiction further demonstrates that translation functions not merely as linguistic transfer but as a form of cultural negotiation within the global literary field.