Readers’ reception of translated literary work: Fortress Besieged in the digital English world

Abstract This article explores English readers’ reception of Fortress Besieged as a translated literary work in the digital space, based on descriptive statistics, sentiment analysis, and content analysis of their comments at categorized dimensions. This study discovers that English readership online tends to devalue the translators’ craftsmanship, especially the interlingual transfer of cultural contents, and the sluggish pace of this novel’s storyline. However, the generally successful preservation of the humor and satire of the source text is appreciated. Through bringing cyberspace readers’ voices to the academic frontier, this study highlights the necessity of a fluent plot, cultural transfer challenges, and the adornment of figurative language when translating novels for English readers.