Localization Practice of Black Myth: Wukong from the Perspective of Translation Norms: A Case Study Based on Chesterman’s Theory

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-511-9_52How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Chesterman’s Translation Norms; Game Localization; Black Myth; Wukong; Multimodal translation

Abstract

This paper takes the English localization of the Chinese AAA game Black Myth: Wukong as a case and applies Andrew Chesterman’s theory of translation norms to analyze the process across four dimensions: expectancy norms, communication norms, relation norms, and accountability norms. Representative culture-loaded terms and character dialogues—such as yaoguai and the Broken Shell—are examined. Under the dual objectives of commercial success and cultural fidelity, the localization team faces inherent tensions and contradictions in adhering to accountability norms and relation norms. A close analysis reveals that the localization of Black Myth: Wukong largely meets target audiences’ expectations for cultural authenticity and immersive experience, while maintaining narrative coherence and cross-cultural acceptability through foreignization and creative translation strategies. This research demonstrates that Chesterman’s translation norms theory, though originally applied to traditional texts, also provides an effective explanatory framework for the localization of multimodal interactive audiovisual products. The findings expand the application scope of translation norms theory and offer valuable insights for practical game translation.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Chengzhen Jin
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/31
TI  - Localization Practice of Black Myth: Wukong from the Perspective of Translation Norms: A Case Study Based on Chesterman’s Theory
BT  - Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Literature, Art and Human Development (ICLAHD 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 465
EP  - 475
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-511-9_52
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-511-9_52
ID  - Jin2025
ER  -