This issue also marks a significant milestone in the study of western narrative theory in China。Over the last twenty years or so，through the efforts of Professor Shen Dan of Peking University and a few other Chinese scholars，students in China have been able to learn a great deal about western narrative theory。Indeed，Shen Dan’s own scholarship as well as her work in arranging the translation of several important books of the 1990s for publication by Peking University Press and in overseeing the translation of the Blackwell Companion to Narrative Theory have been crucial for the spread of western narrative theory in China。Having attended the 2007 Chinese Narratology Conference in Nanchang，I have seen first hand how eager so many Chinese scholars are to enter into the kinds of conversations carried on in these essays，and I am，therefore，genuinely delighted that these translations will make these particular conversations more accessible to China’s community of narrative theorists。I also look forward to the day when the exchange between China and the west becomes more of an equal partnership，more of a situation in which western narrative theorists have access to English translations of important books and essays in narrative theory by Chinese scholars。I believe that this translation series is moving us closer to that period of partnership。
James Phelan
Distinguished University Professor of English
Ohio State University
Editor，Narrative