The Eco-Tranlatology of Chinese Online Literature—A Case Study of Wuxiaworld ()
1. Introduction
The translation and publication of Chinese literature plays an important role in the communication of the Chinese culture abroad. The Internet makes the cultural transmission possible on a global scale, providing a shortcut for nations to propaganda their cultures. Data show that by 2020, more than 10,000 Chinese online works have been exported overseas. About 100 million users from most countries and regions in the world have subscribed literature websites and downloaded corresponding apps. The large-scale online literature has expanded the influence of Chinese culture and contributed to telling Chinese stories on the world stage [1] . Wuxiaworld.com is one of the most successful websites of Chinese online fantasy literature, sought after by a large number of foreign viewers in just two or three years, with an average of nearly one million daily visitors [2] . This “going out” strategy of Chinese culture is not only conducive to reshaping its image, but also to the adjustment and optimization of the cultural ecology of all mankind. The phenomena have attracted researchers’ attention but relative translation studies are far less compared with literature studies. Few studies have done a comprehensive analysis of its communication essence. Some studies have pointed out the translation state of Chinese online literature has been in a situation of ecological imbalance [3] . Therefore, a further study of the eco-tranlatology in a systematic and scientific framework may be needed to explore the reasons behind the imbalance.
Based on American scholar Bredok’s “seven aspects of the communicative process”: “WHO says WHAT to WHOM under WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES through WHAT MEDIUM for WHAT PURPOSE with WHAT EFFECT?” (abbreviated as 7W) [4] , the study constructs a translation model including seven elements: translation purpose, translation environment, viewers, content, translators, website and translation effect, to make a specific description and analysis of the translation status of the overseas dissemination. The study takes Wuxiaworld.com as the research object to analyze the interaction between its various ecological factors and tries to promote the ecological development of network literature suitable for the dissemination of Chinese culture.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Previous Studies Abroad
Since the invention of the Internet in 1969, the network literature began to turn up, with Afternoon, a story (1987) by Michael Joyce recognized as the first hypertext novel. In the early 1990s, network literature began to emerge with the use of a number of technologies such as multimedia, navigation designs and interface metaphors, which formed the characteristics of the first generation of western traditional network literature. The theoretical works of network literature in this period mainly focused on the post-modern aesthetic point of view, emphasizing the revolutionary changes brought by hyperlinks to the traditional text narrative structure. Representative works include Bott’s Writing Space (1991) and Langdon’s Hypertext (1991). The critical theory of “hypertext” has aroused the academic circles’ attention to network literature.
In the late 1990s, a large quantity of research works was published. Among them, Aarseth’s Cybertext theory extends the field of literary criticism to all text phenomena, providing a new perspective for the majority of network literature researchers. With the development of network technology and network equipment, scholars began to interpret this new media literature from the perspectives of narratology, semiotics, phenomenology, hermeneutics and reception aesthetics, resulting in the climax of western network literature researches. Among them, Electronic Literature (2008) was a masterpiece in the theoretical research of network literature in recent years. The author Professor Hayles put forward a new theoretical framework for the research. Another remarkable research achievement in the field of western network literature research was the collection of network literature research series (2007-2010) jointly published by Germany and the United States. This collection comprehensively discusses the definition, characteristics, types, criticism methods, and institutionalization of network literature from different perspectives, representing the forefront of western network literature research.
The research of network literature abroad, especially in Europe and America, in short, emphasizes on hypertext experiment at the technical level and the experimental nature of texts which is different from that of China [5] .
2.2. Previous Studies at Home
2.2.1. Development of Chinese Online Literature
As a new literary form accompanied by network communication, the emergence of network literature in China is later than that in foreign countries. There are different views on the origin of Chinese network literature. At present, it is customary in the domestic circles to take 1998 as the “first year of Chinese network literature”, which stems from two influential events that happened that year: one was Cai Zhiheng’s First Intimate Contact which was hot online for a while after the completion of the series; the other was the official operation of the literature website “Rongshuxia” that later held “The first online literature competition”, making the internet works enter the first period of rapid development.
After the 21st century, the number of online literature websites was increasing and writers began to emerge. In addition to the original “Rongshuxia”, many famous literary websites such as Hongxiu, Jjwxc and Starting Point Chinese Network have also developed. The types of online literature have evolved from the initial romance to more than a dozen categories, such as history-type works, fantasy and light novels. Since 2001, these works have attracted more attention. Killing the Immortals, The Lost Tomb and The Ups and Downs of Ming Dynasty were the most enjoyed those years, and still have a high popularity today. Three years later, with the upsurge of domestic online novels, the foreign market gradually attracted the attention of domestic online enterprises. At the beginning of 2004, Shanda Group’s Starting Point Chinese Network officially cooperated with foreign publishers to develop joint copyright in the form of authorization. From 2005 to 2006, Chinese online novels such as Killing the Immortals and Ghost Blows out the Light opened the market in Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand and other countries. In 2011, several English versions of The Lost Tomb were released on Amazon while Startling by Each Step, Legend of Zhen Huan and Love isn’t Blinded were adapted into TV dramas and films respectively.
At the end of 2014, translation websites of Chinese online novels represented by Wuxiaworld.com and Gravity Tales were established one after another. Two years later, Starting Point Chinese Network and 17k respectively authorized some copyrights to these online translation websites. In April 2017, Starting Point Chinese Network itself opened its mobile client beta version and international website.
China’s online literature has made great progress in volume and quality from small scale to large one and from large scale to commercialization. The industrial chain of online novels has also been continuously improved and upgraded. Under the construction of IP-centered content industrial chain, online works have become an important source of materials for film and television drama production, games, and other cultural industries. At the same time, the competition of the domestic online literature has led to a more standardized industrial model and a more mature system. Driven by these factors, online novels websites have also been developed into a good competitive foundation, and therefore stands out in the international cultural industry [5] . The present study aims to describe and analyze one of Chinese Online novels website―Wuxiaworld.com.
2.2.2. Previous Studies on Chinese Online Novels
Based on the theme of “Chinese online novels”, the author found 1360 relevant research papers in CNKI. From the overall trend of the number of documents published (as shown in Figure 1), it can be seen that there was little research on Chinese online novels before 2005, which shows the dissemination was still in its early stage. Since 2008, there have been more and more domestic relevant studies, showing an upward trend as a whole. But it was dipped after hitting an all-time high in 2017. The reason may lie in Chinese online novels’ entrance into the orderly development stage under the regulation of mainstream ideology due to the great attention of the government. Researchers began to turn their attention to the quality of works and artistic innovation instead of its quantities and propagandizing methods [6] .
For example, the academic community started to focus on the translation of Chinese online novels abroad. As of May 1, 2022, the author searched “Chinese online novels” and “Translation” as the theme, and a total of 56 relevant works have been found. A majority of them were mainly concentrated between 2017 and 2021, Such as 7 papers in 2017, 16 in 2018, 10 in 2019, 8 in 2020 and 11 in 2021 (as shown in Figure 2). Most of them can be roughly divided into the following two aspects: some use translation strategies to explore the status of Chinese online novels in the process of overseas communication. For example, Zheng (2018) studied Chinese internet literature from some perspectives such as quantities, viewership and originality to explore its model and put forward the translation countermeasures [7] ; Wu & Gu (2019) examined the current situation of the translation in the English world from three dimensions: connotation, path and influence, and proposed network literature constructed the virtual world with fantasy writing, which had aesthetic significance beyond national boundaries [8] ; Wan (2017) & Lin (2018) used the translation theory to analyze the Wuxiaworld case, so as to draw the reasons and problems of the overseas “popularity” of Chinese online literature [9] [10] ; Other papers use cross-cultural communication and interactive theories to explore overseas internet literature. Guo (2017) compared the overseas dissemination of Chinese online literature with that of Chinese literature and analyzed the reasons behind it [11] . Ji (2019) further exampled two different paths of oversea transmission of Chinese internet literature (such as Webnovel and Wuxiaworld) on their modes, the payment mechanism, and original creation system to work out the successful solution of the local model of Chinses internet literature [12] .
After combing the relevant literature in CNKI again, the author found that only two articles focus on the topic of “Chinese online novels”, “Translation”, and “Ecology”: Wu (2018) figured out how translators employed translation strategies according to different contexts from the perspective of eco-tranlatology [13] ; Yu & Yin (2019) made an eco-tranlatological research on the interaction among translators, the economic environment and cultural environment. Therefore, there is still insufficiency in the in-depth exploration of the ecological analysis of translation statues that leads to understanding the inner and outer ecology of Chinese online novels [14] .
![]()
Figure 1. The overall trend of research publication of Chinese online novels. Note: the data in Figure 1 come from CNKI.
![]()
Figure 2. The overall trend of research publication of Chinese online novels and their translation. Note: the data in Figure 2 come from CNKI.
3. Methods
The essence of translation is believed as a process of cross-cultural communication whose basic elements can be applied to literature translation [3] . Therefore, this study adopts the communicative process by Braddock-7W model to explore eco-tranlatology of the website-Wuxiaworld.com. as shown in Figure 3:
1) WHAT PURPOSE-translation purpose: the translator’s subjective motivation and novels’ objective function.
2) WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES-translation environment: the macro ecological environment of globalization and the micro psychological status of translators and viewers.
3) WHO-translators: the influence of eco-tranlatology on the translator, and the translator’s adaptation and choice.
4) WHAT-translation content: the analysis of the source language and target language ecology, and the alienation and domestication of network literature translation strategies.
5) WHAT MEDIUM-the website: the study of the translation management ecosystem in the dissemination of online literature and platforms for cooperation at home and abroad.
6) To WHOM-viewers: viewers’ characteristics and communication status.
7) WHAT EFFECT-translation effect: the exploration of how to follow the law of communication ecology and improve the translation effect.
Through the ecological description of the seven elements, this paper forms a systematic and profound understanding of the overall characteristics of network literature and the interaction among factors, to promote the dynamic balance between its ecological factors, and creates an ecological environment for the overseas communication and development of network literature. The following two questions guided the investigation of the current research:
1) Based on 7W, what are the characteristics of seven elements of Wuxiaworld website?
2) How do they interact with each other? And is there any ecological imbalance?
![]()
Figure 3. 7W model of eco-tranlatology of Chinese online literature. Note: the data in Figure 3 come from Cheng & Mao, 2018: p. 81.
4. Results and Discussion
Eco-tranlatology refers to the mutual interplay between translation factors and their external environment [15] . This part will explore the seven elements of Wuxiaworld website and their interactions.
4.1. WHAT PURPOSE―Translation Purpose
Translation purpose refers to the translators’ motivation and their novels’ function. The establishment of Wuxiaworld.com was motivated by the Chinese American named RWX, who left Chengdu with his parents at the age of three and settled in California, USA. At college, he took Chinese lessons for three years in order to watch China’s martial arts TV series which could be the only Chinese culture that had gone overseas in the past. After graduation, he entered the U.S. Department of State as a full-time diplomat, working successively in Malaysia, Canada, and Vietnam. Although he hadn’t worked in China in the past years, he maintained his Chinese level by doing translation starting from the works of Jin Yong and Gu Long. The process was a really difficulty for him, but RWX’s experience enriched and facilitated himself to enjoy what he liked because of his passion for Chinese martial arts novels.
Later, his translation works Coiling Dragon has aroused foreign viewers’ interest in Chinese online novels. With more than 100,000 hits a day, he decided to establish a website by himself. On December 22, 2014, the website Wuxiaworld.com was created. Because of his excellent translation quality, other translators were attracted and joined in the website. With the aim to make some contributions to China-US relation when joining the Ministry of foreign affairs at that time, he is motivated now by the hope that their works can make foreigners have a good impression of Asian cultures, just as the website introduces him and his groups “driven by an abiding passion for Chinese and Korean fiction,” and “continuing to look for more opportunities to expand the reach of popular Asian culture and fiction into the Western world” [16] .
The translators’ passion and “deliberate motives” [4] are not only for their personal hobbies and development, but for the promotion of cultural communication and exchange, which contributes to the whole ecological harmony of literature development.
4.2. WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES―Translation Environment
The translation environment reflects the influence of ecological environment on translation activities.
The development of network media offers a bright spot in a big circumstance for online literature to be transmitted to viewers in real time and launched synchronously on the market at home and abroad. Its shared feature increases the communication and exchange among writers, translators and viewers, which helps to form an ecological cycle. For example, a variety of topic discussions on Wuxiaworld website help the needs of the viewer group delivered to translators who thus elect the appropriate novels and adjust their translated skills.
The supportive environment of China is another existed advantage. In 2006, Guidelines of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development clearly put forward the strategy for “Chinese culture going out”. As the representative of Chinese culture, literature has a decisive impact on the growth of China’s cultural power. Wuxiaworld, with the cooperation with Chinese online websites, thus began to form a strong influence in the English world. Through the innovation of translation strategies, unique communication models and integrated methods, the website provides an example for the overseas communication of Chinese novels, which is completely in accord with Chinese social, cultural and humanistic environment.
The macro ecological environment is important, but the micro one is also indispensable. Translation success can’t do without the psychological states of translators and viewers. With translation purpose for online novels, translators on Wuxiaworld often choose the works they read and like in order to arouse viewers’ empathy and resonance. But sometimes there is a mismatch between the novels they offered and the ones needed by viewers. Most reasons lie in the different writing styles and cultural differences (see following reviews 1 and 2). How to satisfy both sides still needs to be explored.
1) This novel is a bit weird at the start because it does not have a goal or a particular drive.
2) I have to say that there are many interesting and even intelligent things in this novel, but most of them get totally ruined by random stupidity and the urge to create a highly contrived plot.
4.3. WHO―Translators
At present, Wuxiaworld has more than 30 folk translators from all over the world. Some of them are of Chinese descent, Such as RWX, Rex, Deceptioning and goodguyperson. Some devote themselves to the translation out of their love for Chinese martial arts novels. Most of their translated works have been highly valued. According to the website, about 54 of 78 novels on Wuxiaworld.com have got higher than 60% overwhelmingly recommended by viewers at the end of April, 2022 (as shown in Figure 4).
![]()
Figure 4. The number of novels on viewer’s overwhelming recommendation.
According to the Wuxiaworld, the translators were free in the selection of materials at the start. However, it is unrealistic to choose translation materials solely by interest. The website has tried to translate the Maoni’s novels. But traditional Chinese cultural characteristics and high-level translation skills led to the failure of translating the beauty of his works. Finally, the two translators of Wuxiaworld chose to give up [17] . Although most of the translators of Wuxiaworld website have certain Chinese-English bilingualism backgrounds, different cultural contexts still pose great challenges to their translation. The content full of oriental imagination requires them to restore the cultural meaning of Chinese semantics while conforming to the rules of English grammar. This has brought great obstacles to the overseas dissemination of Chinese online literature [3] . According to the “Chinese vocabulary” provided by Wuxiaworld.com, translators sometimes adopt the strategy of literal translation, such as “Laozi” translated into “I, your father or grandfather”; some use the free translation method, such as “Bei Can Si Qu” explained as “to die a dog’s death”. Their approach helps viewers in other countries better understand the content of Chinese online literature. However, how to achieve better communication effect without changing Chinese cultural connotation in novels is a major problem in the process of its overseas communication [18] .
Translators are also affected by popular novels on the website when they select translation materials. When Doubledd translated A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality, he referred to the list of novels translated by Deathblade and Lingson on Wuxiaworld.com which contains the 50 favorite books of Starting Point Chinese Network. Therefore, Chinese cultural features and popularity of original works are certain constraints on the translators’ choice of novels. Wuxiaworld website always select and adjust its specific translation materials according to the appreciation and acceptance ability of English viewers, so as to facilitate their understanding and acceptance. Unit now, most of the translators have been appreciated highly by viewers. The examples can be seen in the following reviews 3 and 4 from readers. Some works have not evaluated well as in examples 5 and 6 but the faults were considered to lie in the novel’s plots not translators.
3) There is classic Chinese poetry interspersed (attributed to the MC as “proof” of his literary skill) with great explanations by the translator and is overall a nice touch.
4) This novel *seems* interesting, and it was translated by Deceptioning, translator of Upgrade Specialist in Another World, so the quality of the translations seems fine so far.
5) I’m up-voting for the effort made by the author and translator. But am going to stop reading because i had wanted a badass female MC who goes around beating up people.
6) The characters are rather bland and none of them have a personality that is interesting. I wanted to like this but altogether it leaves me with a poor impression. This is at no fault of the translators. The story itself is just not coherent.
4.4. WHAT―Content
Translation content includes the analysis of the source language and target language. Both of the languages have their respective text ecosystem. The founder RWX and a group of martial arts fans, at the start, translated and shared the works of martial arts masters such as Jin Yong and Gu Long on spcent forum. However, the “Chineseness” of these novels is too strong, which could not find an echo in the hearts of many of foreign viewers. Jin Yong’s novels, as an example, have rich contents and profound cultural and literary heritage, including many weapons and diverse martial arts, which not only requires the translator’s familiarity with Chinese culture and his translation skills, but also poses a considerable challenge to the viewer’s reading abilities. So, the deep cultural background became an obstacle to reading comprehension and cultural exchange for viewers in the English world [8] . Later Coiling Dragon aroused foreign viewers’ interest in Chinese online novels for the reason that it was translated like a westernized work, bringing Chinese works close to the viewers. So, at the start the whole ecosystem was deliberately slanted to the ecology of the target language that made the novels understood. With the novels recognized and Chinese cultures accepted, the translator hope to gradually reach the balance between the source language and target language, so as to highlight the national style and better “Chinese voices” in novels [3] .
Other challenges also exist in the content translation of Chinese online literature. According to the website, the Chinese online novels that have been translated and disseminated overseas at present are mostly fantasy, Xuanhuan and action novels, accounting for the majority on Wuxiaworld.com (of the total 78 Chinese novels, action 64; fantasy, 56; Xuanhuan 36). These works have a tendency of fixed patterns, especially with the lengthy and repetitive plots. The monotonous subject and pattern will inevitably reduce the innovation of the works and directly affect the viewers’ fondness of online novels. Translation quality and the completeness of novels are other problems that directly leads to the decline of reading rate of online fantasy novels (see review 7 and 8). The reasons may be few translators proficient in bilingual culture or the copyrights problems. Therefore, in order for Chinese network literature to embark on a healthy and sustainable overseas communication road, content construction and management should be strengthened [18] .
7) The pace of the novel is VERY SLOW which would be fine if the rest delivered.
8) However, what I will say is if you’re planning on reading, be aware that the novel features a strong dose of gender bender content. If that’s not your cup of tea, I’d advise you to avoid this.
4.5. WHAT MEDIUM―the Website
The website management provides a guarantee for the survival and development of the overall translation ecosystem. In the early stage of Wuxiaworld’s development, translators mostly translated novels out of their interests and did the translation in their spare time. With the growth of website traffic and the emergence of advertising revenue, Wuxiaworld distributed advertising revenue according to the ratio of hits per book to total hits. Translators began to get a stable income, and had the motivation to speed up and improve the quality to win more hits. This state was formed in 2015. With the further promotion of Wuxiaworld, a pre-reading payment mechanism was launched on April 2, 2018. Different from the per-chapter charging method of Chinese online novels, the website implemented the pre-reading payment mechanism, considering that online novels had no advantages compared with other entertainment forms such as games and movies that had been extremely developed in the English-speaking world and the pricing standard was also difficult to determine according to a different source of viewers. The secret of how this mechanism works is that every novel being updated on Wuxiaworld has a large number of new hidden chapters, which can only be seen by views’ paying for Site Credits. For those who are unwilling to pay, there will also be a number of chapters unlocked each week. This model allows viewers who have the ability to pay to read the new chapters immediately, while protecting the interests of most readers who enjoyed free digital access to the website. As of the early 2022, there were 54 Chinese novels with a pre-reading payment on Wuxiaworld. Each novel requires Karma or a VIP subscription to access for “advance viewing”. For example, reading most of them demand $5.00 per one month for the basic reader who hates ads, $10.00 for those who want to read some fully translated novels, and $20.00 for reading everything.
During the website development, it also faced certain difficulties, such as copyright issues and commercial affairs. Without enough funds to support an original author training system, Wuxiaworld mainly cooperates with three websites, Qidian Chinese.com, 17K Novel.com, and Zongheng Chinese.com, to purchase the copyright of the original work [19] . Measures such as strengthening exchanges and cooperation between domestic and foreign publishing groups fully reflect the function of the translation management ecosystem. In 2018, Wuxiaworld opened up the mainstream reading platform in the English-speaking world―Amazon. After the eight e-books of Coiling Dragon launched successfully on Amazon, a total of 15,821 copies had been sold by the end of 2018, and the profit was US$37,723. This gives Wuxiaworld the confidence to continue to edit the excellent works that have been completed on the website and send them to Amazon [12] . The successful model of internationalization of China’s online novels not only greatly enhances the world influence of Chinese literature, but also promotes the website’s development and achieve their purpose.
4.6. To WHOM―Viewers
Viewers are an important member of the “translation community”. The recognition by the majority of viewers is the destination of literary communication. The viewers on the Wuxiaworld.com are mainly from English speaking countries, especially the United States, India, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. According to Similarweb statistics by April, 2022, men accounted for 72.14% and women 27.86%. The age group with the largest number of visitors is 18 - 24 years old. In order to adapt to the psychological needs of these viewers, the translation on Wuxiaworld.com underwent a process of “from shallow to deep” cultural output. The success of Coiling Dragon was a good example to illustrate this point. The website then gradually introduced some traditional Chinese cultural concepts and has been welcomed by viewers. It seems more important to fully activate the overseas market at the beginning and find a field of cultural products more suitable for overseas viewers. In addition, the reading habits and fixed expressions of overseas viewers play an important role. On the basis of retaining the essence of the original text, it may be proper to foreignize the translation, skillfully grasping the balance between “root culture” and “localization” [19] .
In order to better understand viewers, Wuxiaworld website also retains forum section. Generally speaking, it is divided into four categories: novel discussions, general announcement, community creations and spoiler forums. Novel discussions include the latest chapter discussions and general novel discussions, in which viewers will express their reading feelings. For examples:
9) This novel is for someone who appreciates good literature. I think this deserves a hard copy, rather than being published online.
10) Some will like this kind of storytelling but its just not my cup of tea so to speak.
Viewers can leave any leave messages, follow posts, or give development suggestions, such as “I made a account just for the new website. Too long I have lurked thanks for the translations”. The person in charge will also interact with viewers from time to time to solve doubts and answer questions, which becomes a communication event. Both of them play an active role in the process, and promote the improvement of translation quality and the dissemination of the translation [20] .
From the number of people participating in discussions and comments, it is not difficult to see that the Chinese novels translated by the Wuxiaworld website have attraction for English viewers. They provide English viewers with intuitive and simple sensory stimulation to obtain a state of self-liberation, intoxication and pleasure [21] .
4.7. WHAT EFFECT―Translation Effect
The translation effect is the yardstick to test the success of translation activities. If the translated works are not accepted by the viewers, the translation process will not achieve the purpose of cultural communication and the translation behavior will lose its meaning. The “post punishment” mechanism in ecological translatology can be used as a positive reference for improving the effect of translation, which refers to the evaluation that the translation should receive after the translation activity. The rating on Wuxiaworld.com is the reception given by viewers for the novels overwhelmingly recommended. The following Figure 5 shows the evaluation collected on four novels with two highest recommendations by viewers (The Grandmaster Strategist and The Prodigies War) and two lowest ones (The Sword and The Shadow and Demoness’s Art of Vengeance) to analyze the translation effect. The former two works have 18 reviews on translation. It can be seen that most of reviews are positive (such as example 11 and 12) while negative reviews are focusing on the pace of translation (example 13 and 14). For the latter two novels, it is surprised to find that all reviews on translation are positive, described as “of a good quality”, “great not having to guess at what is being conveyed (conveyed)”, “superb translation quality”, etc. The reason behind their low rating seems to be in the novel itself (seen in example 15 and 16).
11) The author’s writing and translation is such a breath of fresh air compared to most novels with standard storyline (if you know what I mean).
12) The translators have made a high quality translation and it is deeply satisfying to read.
13) Although the rate of translation is slow, but hey, quality over quantity anytime baby.
14) I stopped reading when the translation got dropped.
15) The translation is amazing but the story itself is nothing to write home about.
16) The novel is translated well but quality translation doesn’t make up for issues this novel has… Even though it shows off more of the characters it treats the audience like idiots who cannot understand basic plot points unless it is told to them in 10 slightly different ways.
From the Figure, the viewers’ comments embody the good quality of the translation, which make viewers “love the fantasy/history background”, “love the political and scheming plot” and “love the Chinese culture”. The real reason that influences the translation effect lies in the election of the novels. Thus, based on the readers’ review at each stage, the translator makes a choice, adjusts the subject type in time and sometimes even slows down or stop the translation of the novel.
![]()
Figure 5. The number of reviews on translation of four novels.
5. Conclusions
The characteristics of 7w of Wuxiaworld website show their unique interaction during the translation process of online literature. With the translators’ passions and bicultural background, Wuxiaworld has developed a large number of loyal viewers. Both sides communicate ideas on elements of classic martial arts, Chinese romance and fantasies under the macro and micro ecological environments, which leads to the good translation effect around the world. Although the network novels have gained momentum overseas, there are still some challenges, such as the monotonous pattern of contents, the different cultures of viewers, and the copyright problem, which still affect the “going global” of Chinese culture. However, with the changes of the times and the development of society, these kinds of ecological imbalance may be evolving towards ecological balance. It can even be predicted that more Chinese literary works may be introduced into other countries.
This study yields some implications for the translation ecology of Chinese Online Literature. Regarding previous observations that eco-tranlatology was insufficiently addressed in internet works, this article has framed a translation model to address the translation status of the overseas dissemination. The work also provides a number of implications for the management of websites and translators. More attention could be given to the function of the websites to link the translators with viewers. Translators need to understand more about Chinese cultural characteristics and master good translation skills to make readers understand well. Thus, more varieties of contents will come into foreign readers’ vision.
Future study can investigate on larger sample reviews so that verification of results can be made clearer. Moreover, more research should focus on suggestions for the future development of Chinese literary works in order to achieve better effect of translation.