Framing, rewriting, and reception in world literature: the case of Wolf Totem

Abstract

When world literature is seen as a product of translation and circulation and as a mode of reading, new world literature attributes, other than literariness, can be inferred, such as relevance to readers, a combination of cultural peculiarity and universality, and accessibility. A case study of Wolf Totem reveals that these attributes can explain how commercial publishers frame, translators rewrite, and readers interpret such works. Commercial publishers’ framing discourses usually highlight a novel’s cultural peculiarity and universality; translators emphasize accessibility while rewriting texts to accommodate target literary norms and readers’ pathos; and readers’ interests usually converge at themes relevant to their lives, thus promoting the evolution of interpretation toward shared experiences of humanity. Using content analysis tools, our study addresses the lack of empirical analysis in literary reception by examining the value of online reader reviews in explaining the effect of framing and rewriting and the readership’s criteria for rewriting. We contend that mass readers participate in the formation and circulation of world literature through word-of-mouth recommendations and sharing reading experiences. Therefore, the significance of online reader reviews deserves scholarly attention in reception and world literature studies.