Web serials are the some of the biggest black sheep in the translation industry, the crazy in the corner to avoid. Why?

Oh we’re hardly literature, no self-respecting, proper translator would touch *that*, it's just... *snort*

This has been on my mind for a while: a thread. 1/X

Our unfavored child status is hardly a secret. While many of us stick strictly to our circles, some of us venture out to celebrate this successful cultural export story.

Hundreds of millions of views roll in each month to gasp over wuxia, xianxia, and palace drama. (2/X)

Readers in EU debate others from LatAm about their fav plat authors, which face slapping was most satisfying & pursuit of dao. It’s an amazing, wondrous & humbling sight.

But when web novels are mentioned, translators are sometimes met w/ pauses, raised eyebrows, or tiny smiles.

Or an actual snubbing. I was at an industry happy hour once and delighted to find a CN> EN translator who did novels. “Cheers, from one literary translator to another!”

“Huh? What? Okay…” came the response & setting down of le beer.

Ohh. One of those.

One of who? (4/X)

(As collated from colleagues over the years), one of those who feel translators that explain CN medicine, name pills/formations & over Taoist philosophy/Buddhist scripture (sometimes all in the same novel!) to the tune of 6K+ characters/day are lower quality & less worth (5/X)

I've always found this highly baffling. Why aren't we building each other up & learning from one another, instead of playing w/ marginalization? Isn't it better to follow the spirit of our craft and empower instead?

Is nursing a sense of superiority really that important? (6/X)