Chinese Dreams and Dream Interpreters: The Reception of Chinese Science Fiction in Italy

This chapter aims to outline the main dynamics that in recent years have led to the translation of Chinese science fiction (sf) in Europe as a result of the action of various political, economic and cultural forces, combining a “network-based” idea of the sf genre, based on the assumption that “there is no such thing such as SF, but instead multiple and constantly shifting ways of producing, marketing, distributing and understanding texts as SF”, with a sociological approach to translation. Focusing especially on the Italian case study, this article investigates the role played by Italian “agents of intermediation”, such as editors, fandom communities and academics, in influencing the reception of this literary production. The purpose of this analysis is, on the one hand, to observe the influence exerted by editors, fandom and scholars on the flow of translations, and on the other, to explore the possible contribution offered to the dissemination and reception of Chinese science fiction by participants operating in a country such as Italy, considered as “semi-peripheral” in the hierarchies of the global translation system. I will then highlight how, by collaborating to varying degrees in Chinese science fiction's response, and by contributing to subverting or preserving certain hierarchies of values within the (inter)national context, this network of actors has played a significant role in the constant reconfiguration of this genre beyond China's national borders.