Inside job? How cultural outsiders write, translate, and read cross-­‐cultural crime fiction

Abstract

My research combines cognitive, cultural and translation studies approaches to examine the writing, publishing, translation, and international reception of cross-­‐cultural crime fiction, taking as exemplars two novels set in New Zealand by French crime writer Caryl Férey: Haka (1998) and Utu (2004). I first situate Férey against corpus norms of South Pacific French crime fiction and of New Zealand crime fiction and show that he differs in significant ways, not least in his choice to write from within New Zealand and Māori culture. However, comparing Férey to ‘good’ ethnic crime fiction, which takes an informed ethnographic perspective, reveals that he does not succeed in writing himself inside these cultures. I then explore what motivates Férey to depict these cultures and how this relates to market demand. In an interview-­‐based qualitative case study situating Férey alongside his French and English-­‐language publishers and his professional readers, I identify recurring themes in his writing before identifying and analysing his borrowing from other texts. In analysing the American English translation of Utu (2011b), I then argue that cultural choices alienate New Zealand readers, while linguistic choices mean readers in English have less opportunity to connect intellectually and emotionally with the text. My reader reception study, which is the first empirical, longitudinal, cross-­‐cultural, novel-­‐ length reception study of the influence of a text on readers’ (cultural) opinions, shows with statistical significance that fictional information is absorbed into factual beliefs and opinions about a culture; not only do cultural outsiders change their opinions about a country based on a novel set there, but fiction even changes some prior beliefs of cultural insiders away from correct to incorrect positions. Approaches from cognitive literary studies illuminate both the writing and reading of cross-­‐cultural and crime fiction; I investigate the learning of facts from fiction and discuss mechanisms for enhancing the intellectual and emotional engagement of readers that writers of crime and cross-­‐ cultural novels can exploit. In summary, my research has import beyond these works and the borders of the countries concerned. My investigation into decisions taken by Férey, his editors, and his translator illuminates the impact – both positive and negative – of cross-­‐cultural crime fiction on readers.