This preprint examines the reception of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in East Asia, with a primary focus on China and comparative glances at Korea, Japan, and other Asian contexts. Challenging the Western-centric orientation of existing Goethe scholarship, the study argues that translation, rather than mere transmission, actively shaped Goethe's image and canonization in the East. Spanning the period from the late Qing dynasty (1890s) to the present (2020s), the analysis traces three interconnected dimensions: translation as cultural transformation, image as constructed reality, and canonization as a process of literary and cultural legitimization. Drawing on translation studies, reception theory, and comparative literature, the study reveals that Goethe's journey to the East was not a simple transfer but a complex process of appropriation, adaptation, and reinvention. The Chinese reception arc moves through four phases: first encounters (late Qing), the May Fourth generation (1910s–1920s), wartime and socialist transformation (1930s–1970s), and the reform era to the present (1980s–2020s). Korea and Japan offer parallel but distinct paths of Goethe reception. The study concludes by reflecting on the implications of this Eastern reception for Goethe's concept of Weltliteratur, arguing that world literature is not a static canon but a dynamic process of cross-cultural dialogue. Email: xia.bo.poetry@outlook.com
Bo Xia (Fri,) studied this question.