Guest of Honour 2009 China
Guest of Honour 2009 China
Presentation of a young literary and cultural scene and considerable potential for publishing business.
China will present itself as Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2009 (14 – 18 October). At a ceremony held on 31 May 2007 in Beijing, the relevant agreement was signed by Liu Binjie, the Chinese Minister of General Administration of Press and Publication, and Juergen Boos, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
“The Guest of Honour appearance is an opportunity for China to expand its book and rights business relations with many countries in the world, to present the diversity and variety of Chinese culture and tradition and not least, to spread Chinese publications worldwide”, is the Chinese government’s comment on its commitment. There are plans to send a large delegation of publishers to Frankfurt for the occasion.
“China, one of the oldest cultural nations, is currently experiencing radical change at a rapid speed, such as we can scarcely follow as outside observers”, says Juergen Boos, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair. “As Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair in two years’ time, China will present its modern literature and culture to a world public, reflecting this dynamic process now under way in the country. We are pleased to be able to provide a platform for cultural and political dialogue and for literary exchange, for which there is without question a demand and a need to catch up.” At the same time, China’s Guest of Honour appearance would give the international book industry opportunities to make business contacts with the booming economic nation to a new degree.
The Chinese book industry is undergoing radical change
There are around 570 state-run publishing companies and many smaller publishing companies are now pushing onto the expanding book market. Around 222,000 titles were produced in 2005 for an education-minded readership which is increasingly developing into a middle class with money to spend. In 2005, the government created a funding programme for translations from Chinese which has already subsidised the translation of more than 200 titles. When it comes to German rights and licences, China has for years been one of the top purchasers. In 2005, 555 rights were sold in the Chinese region, with children’s and teenager books being particularly popular. According to China Book Review, internationally speaking, a total of 9,328 rights and licences went to the People’s Republic last year. These titles serve to set an example in terms of content quality and book design and often become bestsellers in the country.
In Germany, where China is rightly admired as a great “ancient cultural nation”, there is little familiarity with more than the classics “Traum der roten Kammer” or “Jin Ping Mei”. Some libraries also include one or other of the works of Lu Xun (“Die wahre Geschichte des Ah Q”), the great early 19th century writer. But when it comes to the literature of modern China, there are translations of only a few contemporary authors such as Wang Shuo (“Herzklopfen heißt das Spiel”), Mo Yan (“Das rote Kornfeld”), Alais (“Roter Mohn”) or Hong Ying (“Die chinesische Geliebte”), dealing with different aspects of the huge realm. Though living in France, the Nobel prize winner Gao Zingjian writes in Chinese. There is still much to be discovered in this literature which often provides the material for the much better known films by Zhang Yimou or Chen Kaige.
The presentation of a Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair brings a different look every year to the major cultural event that is the Frankfurt Book Fair. From 1976, when the Guest of Honour programme was launched at the Frankfurt Book Fair through to 2006, 22 countries and cultural regions have been presented. Catalan Culture is Guest of Honour in Frankfurt in 2007. Turkey follows in 2008 and after China in 2009, Argentina will continue the series in 2010. For the guest itself, the appearance has a two-fold significance. Apart from the huge attention given to the literature and culture introduced in exhibitions and in a wide-ranging programme of events, the book industry from the Guest of Honour also benefits: it is presenting its market on the international platform of the biggest book fair in the world.
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