Navigating Narrative Galaxies: Translating the Complexities of Chinese Science Fiction

The global rise of science fiction highlights the need to contextualise the cultural, historical, and linguistic forces shaping its evolution. Positioned between scientific rationality and artistic imagination—echoing C. P. Snow’s “two cultures”—science fiction poses distinctive challenges for translation. Translating Chinese SF requires not only linguistic skill but also sensitivity to scientific discourse, political history, and cultural symbolism. Liu Cixin’s Three-Body Trilogy has brought Chinese science fiction unprecedented visibility, even as the broader global reception of Chinese literature remains uneven. Although translations continue to grow, relatively few works have achieved lasting international impact. Science fiction—imported from the West in the late Qing—only recently gained legitimacy in China, aligning with wider cultural globalisation. Within this context, Ken Liu’s translations, especially The Three-Body Problem, stand out for their literary sophistication, cultural resonance, and influence on the genre’s global prominence. This article seeks to reconceptualize the translation of Chinese science fiction as a form of “cultural authorship” that bridges Snow’s two cultures, positioning the translator as an active co-creator. Through contextual and functional analysis, it shows how translation operates not merely as linguistic transfer but as a creative act that negotiates cultural boundaries and shapes the global identity of Chinese science fiction.