In Modern China and the West: Translation and Cultural Mediation, the authors investigate the significant role translation plays in the act of cultural mediation. They pay attention to transnational organizations that bring about cross-cultural interactions as well as regulating authorities, in the form of both nation-states and ideologies, which dictate what, and even how, to translate. Under such circumstances, is there room for individual translators or mediators to exercise their free will? To what extent are they allowed to do so? The authors see translation as a "shaping force."...

The seven essays by Chen Pingyuan gathered in this collection are mainly focused on the evolution of the fictional genre during the transitional period of late Qing and May Fourth: the role played by periodicals, the relationship between elitist and popular literature, the link between modern fiction and tradition. In a broader perspective, they address the cultural changes that took place in these challenging times: the teaching of literature or arts at the old Beijing University, the place of the Dianshizhai pictorial between popular culture and Western modernity. Through their approach,...