A Study on the Development of Detective Story in Late-Qing and Early-Republican China from the Perspective of Polysystem Theory

Abstract

The detective novels, in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, carried a big weight in Chinese literary works, with the characteristics of mass audience, large quantity and deep influence. Since detective novels were originally imported and translated into Chinese by translator, their translation has attracted the attention of a large of scholars. Base on the polysystem theory proposed by Itamar Even-Zohar, an Israeli literary theorist, this paper will analyze the reason for the rise and the increasing popularity of translated detective novel in that period.