Translating Jin Yong’s Wuxia world into English: an interview with Gigi Chang

This interview was conducted via the Tencent Meeting platform on June 23, 2021. With the launch of A Heart Divided in March 2021, English readers finally have access to Jin Yong’s Legends of the Condor Heroes (射雕英雄傳, hereinafter referred to as “LCH”) in completion. The interview between Lin Chen and Gigi Chang, one of the translators of LCH, was designed with an emphasis on the translation process and operation of the editing team. Involving language, culture, society and other aspects of the English translation of Jin Yong’s wuxia novels, main topics discussed include the translation strategies, the process of translation, revision and publication, and the differences between Chinese and Western literature and their influence on translation, allowing readers and researchers to learn more about the implied decision-making process that has shaped the final translation product. With details of the communication and cooperation between the translators and the editing team, the conversation provides valuable first-hand materials for process-oriented research on the Condor trilogy translation project and sociocultural studies of the agents involved in translation.