Paratextual mediation and (re)framed narratives: a case study of Ganxiao liuji

Abstract

ABSTRACT Translation is not merely a textual transformation but involves paratextual mediation. Linking Genette's notion of paratext to Baker's narrative theory, this paper examines Yang Jiang's Ganxiao liuji, a personal narrative set during the Cultural Revolution but focusing on everyday occurrences, to uncover how three publishing houses mediate paratextual materials (titles, prefaces, blurbs, notes and afterwords, and visual images) in their translations of this book, and what larger narratives are (re)framed and reinforced in this process. It discloses that while the Hong Kong publishing house prioritises the original personal narrative content and style in its paratextual presentation, its American counterparts foreground the political background while overshadowing Yang's personal narrative and reframing it as part of the larger narratives of a repressive, inhumane China with an authoritarian government and suppressed masses. Such mediation responds to and reinforces Western narratives of the problematic, dystopic China, and directs readers to understand it through a skewed angle, thereby perpetuating established stereotypes of this non-Western country. This research further unveils how paratextual mediation resonates with and contributes to the larger narratives circulating beyond the immediate text, guiding receivers into (re)framed narratives which impact their perceptions and behaviour in the society, and ultimately shape the social world.