Chinese Crime Fiction in English Translation: Readers’ Reception of The Golden Hairpin

Crime novels by Chinese authors are beginning to join the surge in crime fiction translated into English in the last twenty years. While there has been extensive comparative research on Chinese literature and its English translations, there has been little research on reception. This seems like a significant omission in the case of genre fiction, which traditionally attracts a wide readership. Our study aims to address this gap, exploring the reception of translated Chinese crime fiction in English through a case study of The Golden Hairpin (2018) by Qinghan Cece, translated by Alex Woodend. Adopting a qualitative content analysis approach and using the software NVivo, we analyze 98 reviews of the book from Goodreads and Amazon. English readers comment on a range of aspects of the book including genre, content (plot, characters and writing), difficulty in reading, access to Chinese culture, translation, sequels and adaptations, and format. Reflection on the quality of the translation was fairly frequent. Some readers felt a considerable sense of cultural distance, and it is clear that paratextual support is important for translated Chinese fiction. The existence of an audiovisual adaptation had a positive effect on reader interest. The lack of resolution in the book, which is the only one in the series to be translated so far, was frequently commented on.