The state’s role in “worlding” a popular national genre: The case of China and Liu Cixin
The state’s role in “worlding” a popular national genre: The case of China and Liu Cixin

Summary/Abstract: This article investigates the transnational publishing field of Liu Cixin’s science fiction and his road to consecration in the U.S. literary market. By adopting Pascale Casanova’s mapping of the international literary field and Pierre Bourdieu’s categorization of capital, this study analyzes how the state, in its incarnated form of a state-owned publisher, has mobilized the economic, cultural, and social capital of the agents in the field, which eventually helps the author cross over the linguistic-literary gap. In the process, the state shows its potential as a propellant for “worlding” a popular literary genre.

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