An Interpretation Of The Best-selling Of The Da Vinci Code In China

The Da Vinci Code has received warm welcome since published and has been listed one of the six best-sellers throughout the history. After Chinese edition was issued in 2004, a heat wave of Dan Brown was launched in China as well. Now the best-selling of The Da Vinci Code has turned out to be a popular culture phenomenon, which has caused widespread academic concern. Scholars try to explore and explain this phenomenon from various perspectives such as religion, literature, history, semiotics and so on. Unfortunately, most of them are confined to a single aspect, that is the artistic value of the novel itself. An important dimension of recipient is ignored. By means of cultural research and with assistance of Andre Lefevere's patronage theory and certain media theory, this paper will put the successful translation and rapid spread of this novel into Chinese cultural context to explore the deep reasons of its best-selling. Meanwhile, the author hopes to obtain some enlightenment which is beneficial for the production and dissemination of Chinese popular literature so as to promote its healthy development.It's no doubt that the best-selling of The Da Vinci Code can not be separated from its own artistic value. Employing a completely new creation conception, the novel places classical culture in post-modern context for interpretation and deconstruction. Unconstrained fluctuations of the plot, excellent narrative skill together with rich knowledge connotation break up the boundary between serious fiction and popular fiction so that it can satisfy various expectations of different groups of readers. This intellectual suspense novel, which appeals to both refined and popular tastes, has irreplaceable social significance and academic value in the field of culture study.However, the artistic value itself can not totally constitute the novel's great success. The great impact that the patronage has on rapid spread of the novel together with the unity between the novel's theme and poetics and Chinese current cultural context make its widespread dissemination possible and necessary. In order to be accepted by Chinese readers, the language barrier must be broken through, which means translation is inevitable. Therefore, Andre Lefevere's translation theory is employed here to discuss the patronage's manipulation of translation. Here the role of patronage only refers to the publisher. And the issue will be analyzed from three aspects——the publisher's control of translation selection, the publisher's choice of translator and its impact on translation strategy, and the publisher's influence on translation quality. At the same time, because of industrialization of publishing industry, the patronage always takes advantage of mass media to influence people's attitude toward a certain cultural product through a variety of advertisements and so on, which will furthermore affect the sales of the product. So we must admit the best-selling of this novel can not be achieved without the publisher's excellent marketing strategy.Besides, the author believes there are some deep social causes for the best-selling of the novel. So the essay will take Chinese present cultural environment into consideration. The development of economy, the increase of income, the formation of community, the boosting of cultural needs and the advancement of media industry provide necessary conditions for its best-selling. And the unity between the content and aesthetic appreciation and Chinese present cultural context make the best-selling come true inevitably. Nowadays, Chinese culture is being in change and transition: integration of popular culture and elite culture, prevalence of the culture of consumption and strong impact of visual culture. The novel's own traits and its mode of transmission quite fit in with these changes, which leads to its final success.The Da Vinci Code reflects the public's needs and follows the production rules of mass culture. Close combination of production and marketing contributes to its best-selling. Through exploring this phenomenon, we will get some revelation for the direction and path of our popular literature's development.