Abstract: Translation of Chinese American literature can be regarded as a special genre of back-translation. Given that no source text exists in the process of back-translation， it is called rootless back-translation. This paper attempts to explore rootless back-translation in the Chinese American novel Joy Luck Club from the perspective of reception theory. Comparing the two Chinese versions by Tian Qing and Cheng Naishan， it presents different translation strategies and methods adopted by different translators， which proves that different translators may be concerned about different target readers and have different translation purposes. It is suggested that translation of Chinese American literature be put into the framework of reception theory and the effects of such translation factors as translation purpose， translation strategy and method， translator and readers upon rootless back-translation be explored so as to guide the Chinese translation practice of Chinese American literature.

Key words: Chinese American literature, rootless back-translation, reception theory, Joy Luck Club