Online literature takes the initiative to "go global"

After more than 20 years of 'sailing to the sea', Chinese online literature has grown into a young and middle-aged member of the world's literary and artistic family, telling the world the story of China and enriching the spiritual and cultural nourishment of global readers. According to data released by the Online Literature Center of the China Writers Association, as of the end of 2022, the overseas market size of Chinese online literature exceeded 3 billion yuan, with a total output of more than 16000 online works and over 150 million overseas users, covering more than 200 countries and regions around the world

After more than 20 years of 'sailing to the sea', Chinese online literature has grown into a young and middle-aged member of the world's literary and artistic family, telling the world the story of China and enriching the spiritual and cultural nourishment of global readers.

According to data released by the Online Literature Center of the China Writers Association, as of the end of 2022, the overseas market size of Chinese online literature exceeded 3 billion yuan, with a total output of more than 16000 online works and over 150 million overseas users, covering more than 200 countries and regions around the world.

With the trend of online articles' going to sea 'gradually becoming larger, the dissemination radius continues to expand, and the coverage continues to expand, problems such as insufficient translation power, weak intellectual property protection, and more homogeneous themes urgently need to be solved. Recently, reporters interviewed multiple experts and scholars to propose strategies and suggestions on how to high-quality "go global" online literature.

Human machine collaboration is the guarantee of translation quality

Translation is the first level for online articles' going to sea '. In the view of Professor Ouyang Youquan from Central South University, Chinese translation is inherently difficult, and literary translation is even more difficult. Faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance are the basic standards for literary translation, and online literary translation is no exception.

The translation of online literature 'going to sea' should try to meet three standards: accuracy, fluency, and artistry. "Chen Dingjia, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the translation of online literature should convey the meaning of the original text as accurately as possible, including various semantic, cultural, and emotional connotations. Translators should have good language expression skills to enable the translation to be read naturally and fluently in the target language. In addition, attention should be paid to conveying the cultural information carried by the original text, striving to present the cultural characteristics of the original work in the target language, so that readers can feel the unique charm of the original work.

The huge volume of single works and the massive number of "going to sea" works, coupled with a shortage of translation talents, have become an important factor affecting the large-scale and high-quality "going to sea" of online literature.

In 2018, the first domestically independently developed online literature artificial intelligence translation system was launched. The application of artificial intelligence has improved translation efficiency and the number of works' going to sea '.

However, while pursuing efficiency improvement, artificial intelligence translation inevitably loses text quality and diminishes the original color. Professor Xu Miaomiao from Capital Normal University observed that for authors who love writing plot and are not too concerned about style, machine translation is basically not a problem, but for authors who love their own language style, it is fatal. "This kind of translation lacks uniqueness and can only translate content rather than style.

Ouyang Youquan believes that the translation of current online literary works still relies on human "refinement". At present, the drawbacks of artificial intelligence translation are obvious, but the development direction of "machine translation" is correct, and "human machine" cooperation can ensure quality.

Cracking the dilemma of "novel being stolen in three seconds as soon as it is published"

Piracy has always been a stubborn obstacle in the development of online literature. High technology and online media have improved the efficiency of publishing and disseminating online literary works, and have also highlighted the problem of insufficient copyright protection. Some novel updates and chapters are pirated within a few minutes of being uploaded, or are fraudulently used to obtain click through traffic by using popular online literary works. As soon as a novel is published, it is stolen in three seconds, "said an online author. Overseas pirated websites can copy the legitimate content in just one second.

Piracy is easy, but safeguarding rights is extremely difficult. The head of overseas business of Yuewen Group stated that due to factors such as difficulty in obtaining evidence overseas, difficulty in monitoring infringing content, and difficulty in cracking down on small websites, the cost and pressure of Chinese online literature companies' overseas rights protection are high, making it difficult to protect their own intellectual property rights, which is not conducive to the long-term development of the "going abroad" business.

Yan Jingming, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Writers' Association, suggested that the implementation of the "black and white list" system should be promoted, and the "black list" of infringing and pirated online service providers should be regularly publicized; Enhance the crackdown on piracy and the punishment and compensation efforts, and increase the cost of illegal and criminal activities related to piracy and infringement; Provide professional strength to support Chinese online literature enterprises in cross-border rights protection.

A member of the Network Literature Committee of the Chinese Writers' Association, Suoluo Suoluo, suggested strengthening communication and coordination with the legal departments of countries and regions where overseas markets are located, reaching a consensus on protecting the copyright of online literature, and providing legal protection for the "going abroad" of online literature; Online literary platforms and authors should have copyright awareness and actively contact foreign legal institutions to protect their own rights and interests; The platform should also take corresponding measures to protect original works, such as applying for copyright registration with relevant institutions, improving copyright trading procedures in accordance with the law, and increasing the function of restricting arbitrary copying and editing of pages, in order to minimize the risk of piracy.

Holding "ID card" and "pass", from "approaching" to "entering"

Due to differences in regional culture, language and writing limitations, and vastly different reception habits, online articles may also encounter difficulties in adapting to local conditions.

In the view of Alsophila spinulosa, similar to the domestic reading market, overseas readers' acceptance of online literature is also diversified, and their aesthetic taste is directly influenced by cultural background.

He believes that online literature can overcome the symptoms of being "acclimatized" by holding an "ID card" in hand, showcasing the excellent traditional Chinese culture and the development and changes of contemporary China to overseas readers, and utilizing cultural differences to form aesthetic expectations; On the other hand, it is necessary to hold a "pass", that is, to use stories to convey the common values of humanity, and to tell stories that readers from different cultural backgrounds can understand and be interested in.

Readers from different ethnic groups, countries, and cultural backgrounds may have cultural and aesthetic differences, which may lead to different understandings or even misreadings of translated works, "said Ouyang Youquan. He suggests that online translation should grasp the social and cultural differences of the work in the destination country, allowing the translation to open up the "pleasure channel" for overseas readers, achieve the dissemination from "approaching" to "entering", eliminate the cultural barrier of "not conforming to local conditions", and move from cultural simplicity to cultural integration.

Chen Dingjia pointed out that the international dissemination of online literature requires strengthening international cooperation and exchange. International writers and scholars can be invited to participate in activities such as literary festivals and seminars to promote exchanges and mutual learning between different cultures. At the same time, establish diversified publishing and distribution channels to promote online literature to the international market more widely.

Xu Miaomiao suggested that in order to export high-quality works, it is necessary to select good works that can represent the excellent traditional Chinese culture and carefully polish them in conjunction with the target country's market. If you want to output story models and creativity, you need to collaborate with local companies and combine local culture for creative transformation.

Make contemporary Chinese stories enjoyable to read

Looking at the works of the online article 'Going Abroad', there are relatively few excellent works that reflect contemporary Chinese reality themes, making it difficult to meet the huge demand of overseas audiences. In the eyes of Alsophila spinulosa, overseas readers are also curious about the real life in China, and they often see foreign friends expressing their surprise after arriving in China in short videos. Alsophila spinulosa stated that there are some shortcomings in the current creation of realistic themes, such as some works only satisfying the information of the theme itself and accumulating materials, lacking artistic processing; Some works lack emotions and are difficult to impress. These works cannot provide new experiences and experiences about China, making it difficult for overseas readers to enjoy them.

How to tell more good stories of contemporary China to the world? The key is still to write articles on the word 'speaking', "said Ouyang Youquan. He pointed out that on the basis of grasping the content orientation of the story, we should tell a good story that people love to read, rather than simply preaching our way of life and values. He suggests seeking cultural coherence, such as works that integrate different themes into a "broken circle" that are more popular overseas, and audiovisual works adapted from online IP are also more easily accepted by audiences from different cultural backgrounds.

Chen Dingjia found that people-oriented stories often achieve good results in overseas dissemination. "Online literature can focus on character images and emotional expression, and through delicate descriptions, present the character images and emotional experiences in China's current reality to the world, triggering resonance among readers.

(Reporter Liu Jiangwei from this newspaper)

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