RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Bao, Hongwei YR 2021 T1 “A cool kid”: Queer theory travels to China JF Translation and Interpreting Studies. The Journal of the American Translation and Interpreting Studies Association VO 16 IS 2 SP 219 OP 239 DO https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.19069.bao PB John Benjamins SN 1932-2798, AB Abstract

This article traces the historical moment when queer theory first arrived in mainland China in the early 2000s by comparing and contrasting two translated texts in Chinese: Wang Fengzhen’s book Guaiyi Lilun [Peculiar Theory] and Li Yinhe’s book Ku’er Lilun [A Cool Kid Theory]. Juxtaposing the two translators’ positioning and marketing strategies, along with their use of paratexts such as book cover design and translator’s prefaces, this article aims to explain why Ku’er Lilun ended up being a more popular and widely circulated text than Guaiyi Lilun. It also pinpoints the cultural specificities of queer theory’s reception in the postsocialist Chinese context at the beginning of the new millennium. This article hopes to provide critical insights into the politics of translating academic theories transnationally, with a focus on paratextual, extratextual, and contextual factors which work in tandem to shape the reception of these theories in a non-Western context., UL https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/tis.19069.bao