Book Translations From Chinese to English: The Center–Periphery Relationship in the World System of Book Translations

ABSTRACT

By collating and analyzing various datasets, this paper gives a statistical overview of the flow of Chinese to English book translations, analyzing the asymmetrical structure of the global flow of book translations and the positions of Chinese and English within it. It firstly portrays the asymmetries of China/Chinese and Anglo‐American countries/English in the international exchange of book translations and in the copyright trade, reviewing the center–periphery relationship between Chinese and English in the international book market. Based on UK national book statistics, it then illustrates the general picture of the production of Chinese books translated in English in the UK, analyzing the publishing trends from 1949 to 2020, Chinese translated books published in the UK, and publishers involved in translating from Chinese to English.