@article{ART003383710},
author={Chang-Soo Lee},
title={How Translation Discourse Changes across Goodreads Ratings: Computational Evidence from Korean Literature in English},
journal={The Journal of Translation Studies},
issn={1229-795X},
year={2026},
volume={27},
number={3},
pages={169-191},
doi={10.15749/jts.2026.27.3.006}
TY - JOUR
AU - Chang-Soo Lee
TI - How Translation Discourse Changes across Goodreads Ratings: Computational Evidence from Korean Literature in English
JO - The Journal of Translation Studies
PY - 2026
VL - 27
IS - 3
PB - The Korean Association for Translation Studies
SP - 169
EP - 191
SN - 1229-795X
AB - This study examines how readers discuss translation in Goodreads reviews of Korean literature translated into English and how these discussions vary across star ratings. The dataset comprises 143,806 reviews of 44 translated Korean literary works. Reviews explicitly referring to translation or translators were identified through three node families (TRANSLATION, TRANSLATE, and TRANSLATOR). Binomial logistic regression showed that the frequency of translation discourse differed significantly across ratings: translation was mentioned in 12,855 reviews (8.9%), most often in two-star reviews, with its proportion declining steadily from two to five stars. Rating-specific collocational networks further revealed a corresponding shift in lexical associations. Lower-rated reviews more often linked translation to uncertainty, loss, inadequacy, and linguistic difficulty, whereas higher-rated reviews increasingly associated it with fluency, aesthetic appreciation, successful mediation, and named translators. These patterns were gradual rather than categorical, as criticism remained present in highly rated reviews and positive evaluations also appeared in lower-rated ones. The findings show that readers' overall evaluations are associated both with whether translation is mentioned and with the language used to discuss it, while confirming that Goodreads star ratings cannot be treated as direct measures of translation quality or translation-focused evaluation.
KW - Translation reception;Korean literature in English;Goodreads reviews;translation visibility;collocational networks
DO - 10.15749/jts.2026.27.3.006
ER -
Chang-Soo Lee. (2026). How Translation Discourse Changes across Goodreads Ratings: Computational Evidence from Korean Literature in English. The Journal of Translation Studies, 27(3), 169-191.
Chang-Soo Lee. 2026, "How Translation Discourse Changes across Goodreads Ratings: Computational Evidence from Korean Literature in English", The Journal of Translation Studies, vol.27, no.3 pp.169-191. Available from: doi:10.15749/jts.2026.27.3.006
Chang-Soo Lee "How Translation Discourse Changes across Goodreads Ratings: Computational Evidence from Korean Literature in English" The Journal of Translation Studies 27.3 pp.169-191 (2026) : 169.
Chang-Soo Lee. How Translation Discourse Changes across Goodreads Ratings: Computational Evidence from Korean Literature in English. 2026; 27(3), 169-191. Available from: doi:10.15749/jts.2026.27.3.006
Chang-Soo Lee. "How Translation Discourse Changes across Goodreads Ratings: Computational Evidence from Korean Literature in English" The Journal of Translation Studies 27, no.3 (2026) : 169-191.doi: 10.15749/jts.2026.27.3.006
Chang-Soo Lee. How Translation Discourse Changes across Goodreads Ratings: Computational Evidence from Korean Literature in English. The Journal of Translation Studies, 27(3), 169-191. doi: 10.15749/jts.2026.27.3.006
Chang-Soo Lee. How Translation Discourse Changes across Goodreads Ratings: Computational Evidence from Korean Literature in English. The Journal of Translation Studies. 2026; 27(3) 169-191. doi: 10.15749/jts.2026.27.3.006
Chang-Soo Lee. How Translation Discourse Changes across Goodreads Ratings: Computational Evidence from Korean Literature in English. 2026; 27(3), 169-191. Available from: doi:10.15749/jts.2026.27.3.006
Chang-Soo Lee. "How Translation Discourse Changes across Goodreads Ratings: Computational Evidence from Korean Literature in English" The Journal of Translation Studies 27, no.3 (2026) : 169-191.doi: 10.15749/jts.2026.27.3.006
